Are bromeliads safe to have in Finch Avairies??

[spoton]

Hi,

Am thinking about re-doing the plants in / around my aviaries and was wondering if bromeliads are safe to put into aviairies?? Am thinking that they maybe would be seen as "greens" by the feathered tenants. Anyone have any info on this?

Thanks in advance

[Tintola]

Depending on which birds you are keeping in with the Brom's they should be safe(the birds that is) Bromeliads are the same family as the pineapple which is edible. The scrub turkeys around my place eat the tender soft hearts of the Brom's. I think almost any birds , except softbills, would chew them to shreds, leaving a not very attractive sight. Go to plan "B"
as they wouldn't look in keeping with anything else but tropical, rainforest softbills.

[GregH]

As Tintola said bromeliads are probably not toxic and are so tough that I don't think a finch could put a dent in one. A word of caution though - many are capable of holding a resevoir of water in their centers which might become fouled with droppings and represent a disease risk especially for coccida. There are many genera that don't have this pool of water so choose these. Most bromentiads are epiphytes that have high light requirements and are frost sensative so be careful where you put them. The fluffy seeds of Tillandsia spp might make good nest lining too.

[Mel7610]

Like gregH said and I feel the larger variety's could become a bit of a hazard with e well in the middle if this comes water filled it's a nice size for the finch to climb in get wet and then unable to get out.smaller variety's would be ok and i think they would thrive on the bird poop as they feed from their leaves and they LOVE bird poop!!I have seen succulantants in aviary's untouched!just a thought.