Why Bottlebrush, why you need it, your parrot needs it, and why it's all I've ever used?

Thanks for taking the time to visit this page.  To understand how truly unique what I offer is, you need to understand what Bottlebrush is, and why it can literally change your birds life.  

Imagine this!!  A wood safe for our parrots that looks great, was soft and chewy on the outside, yet hard enough on the inside to last.  Soft, rich natural bark texture your birds will love to stand on without slipping.  Sounds like the answer for us and our parrot companions.  Too good to be true?  Doesn't exist??  Guess what, it does exist and here it is.

Let me introduce you to Bottlebrush.  Bottlebrush is a decorative landscape tree that was originally imported to South Florida from Australia.  (Hey Cockatoo owners, your 2s will take to this stuff like water).  

Bottlebrush Looks great.  Attractive shapes, a light blond to lt. brown color.  Lets face it, you want something that looks great, this is going into your home.   

In the wild, birds choose the trees they spend time in.  These trees would have natural bark, and that's important for birds, here's why.  

Look at your birds feet.  They're designed to grip naturally textured barked branches without holding on or gripping,  like you and I wearing tennis shoes on a slippery floor.  Standing on hard, slippery perches requires gripping, and that's not good for your birds feet.  In fact, foot problems are a real problem with captive parrots.  

With Bottlebrush, they don't have to grip or hold on at all.  They can comfortably stand in place on thick or thin perches.  When I build my gyms, I use a wide variety of perch diameters specifically for your birds comfort.  Lets face it, your parrot spends virtually all his time on his feet, doesn't he deserve the best perches to stand on?  Nothing is more important than the perches they stand on. 

Most Play Gym materials are unnatural and uncomfortable for your parrot.  They require foot gripping, and it's not uncommon for parrots to actually fall off their perches, especially when sleeping.  Again, in the wild, your bird would choose where they perch, and they would never choose hard, slippery perches.  And, as for Manzanita, why would parrots from the rain forests of the world want to stand of perches from the Nevada Desert?

Bottlebrush is 100% comfortable for your parrot, they will love standing on it.  And, if their feet don't hurt, they will be happier, and feel better.  And, if your bird feels better, you're going to have a happier household.  That's why I'm in this business.  

Now to the good part for your parrot.  

Next to eating and breathing, your parrot has to chew.  Providing your parrot with the right chewing material is as important as the right diet and the right type of attention.  

Bottlebrush encourages your parrot to chew and gnaw.  They can't resist that soft and chewy bark.  They'll happily spend hours and hours working on and chewing Bottlebrush.  In fact, I could actually describe Bottlebrush as CandyWood for your parrot, they'll love it that much.  

Now to the good part for you.   As I've said,  bark is soft and chewy,  but the wood underneath is hard but not too hard.   Your parrot will have a great time chewing on the Bottlebrush bark.  However, once they chew through about the first 1/4", the wood underneath gets harder and harder the deeper they chew.  Your parrot will be challenged by Bottlebrush.  You will see him (or her) working feverishly on a spot, removing a strip, than happily chewing it up.  This is without a doubt the biggest advantage to using Bottlebrush.

Your parrot has a chewing need that must be satisfied.  Chew toys that are destroyed in no time don't satisfy that chewing need.  They're also expensive for you and frustrating for your parrot.  In fact, I believe many parrots develop a condition I call  CHEWING DEFICIT. 

I describe chewing deficit and a gradual frustration parrots develop because of a lack of proper chewing material.   Understand this.  Most parrot toys are made from White Wood.  White wood is cheap and light.  The toy companies color this wood, and make big, elaborate chew toys and charge YOU a lot of money.   When you spend $15.00, $20.00 or more on a chew toy and your parrot destroys it in no time, that's by design so you buy more.   I used to build chew toys out of Bottlebrush and my local dealers wouldn't buy them.  Why, they lasted too long.  

Chewing up these chew toys is like you and I chewing on Styrofoam, no flavor, texture, aroma, nothing.  Your parrot needs to work at chewing, and needs to gnaw.   Most chew toys are basically worthless for your bird, and expensive for you.  Over time, they get more and more frustrated, and develop Chewing deficit.

Many stop chewing, they give up.  These toys are boring, and not worth the effort.  Doesn't mean they don't still need to chew and gnaw, they just can't find the right wood to satisfy this need.  

However, there's another aspect to chewing that most parrots can't satisfy, and that's gnawing.  Gnawing is critical and the only way a wild parrot can keep their beaks properly shaped and conditioned.  After all, a wild parrot doesn't get groomed.  Gnawing is actually the most important aspect of chewing, yet very difficult to provide.  

Wood for gnawing can't be to hard or too soft.  Manzanita, Java Wood, Wooden Dowels, Grapevine and most other wood used for birds is good for US, it's really hard so it will last, and really bad for your bird.  

Bottlebrush is perfect for gnawing.  Not to hard, and not too soft, right in the middle so to speak.  They CAN gnaw on Bottlebrush, and if Chewing Deficited, they can satisfy and pay off their chewing deficit.

How long will Bottlebrush last.  This question is entirely up to your parrot.  Initially, it will look like your parrot is making serious progress.  I've had people tell me that at the rate their parrot is chewing, the Bottlebrush branches will be gone in weeks.  That is normal and actually a main advantage of Bottlebrush.  I stated earlier that your parrots have a need to chew, a thirst for chewing.  Some have a chewing deficit.  Bottlebrush will quench that need in a matter of weeks.  Plus, the outside is soft and chewy and easy to chew.  Over weeks and months, you will see this chewing diminish.  Your parrot is satisfied.  You will see your parrots scream less, be better adjusted and happier.  When they feel the need to chew, they will find a spot, and you will HEAR them chewing and gnawing.  After several minutes, they feel satisfied.  It works.

Consider this.  How long do you expect to have your parrot?  5 years, 10 years, longer.  How much do you currently spend monthly on Chew Toys?   Well, consider the branch assemblies of my Play Gyms to be one big chew toy.  Once you get your gym, you won't need to buy any more chew toys, don't waste your money.  Your bird will chew and gnaw the branches of his Play Gym. 

What happens after years of chewing.  Sometime in the future, after years of chewing, you may want to replace the branches on your Play Gym.  That is easily done and costs from $50.00 to $80.00, depending on the size of the play gym you have.  And, when that time comes, You should be HAPPY to replace them, after all, your birds been chewing and gnawing like crazy, you've saved lots of time and money by NOT buying chew toys.  Everyone wins.   

Let me clearly state my point here.  Bottlebrush is the best wood there is for your bird, period.  I don't say that because I use it, I use it because it's the best.  From a business standpoint, it's a disaster, here's why.  

Bottlebrush doesn't grow in the wild.  It's a landscape tree that only grows in shopping centers, professional office complexes and single family homes.  It isn't available commercially, so I spend one day a week personally harvesting and cleaning that weeks supply of Bottlebrush.  I can never get enough.  To make matters worse, South Florida got hit hard by Hurricane Wilma in 2005, and tens of thousands of Bottlebrush trees ended up in chippers and landfills, UUGGHH.  Bottlebrush is the reason I'm still a one man operation after starting to build these gyms in 1992.  

Today, right now, I could pick up the phone and order truck loads of Manzanita, Buttonwood, Grapevine, Driftwood, PVC, Wooden Dowels or the other material play gyms are made of and produce 50+ gyms a week.  I could jump on the Manzanita bandwagon and retire in 5 years.  

And, if I built the exact same gyms as I do now, except I substituted those other types of wood for Bottlebrush, your bird wouldn't like their gym, wouldn't use it for more then an hour or two, and end up being caged most of the time.  That's not what I offer, and not what you and your bird want.     

I'll never use anything else, your birds deserve the best, and that's Bottlebrush.  Bottlebrush is the secret ingredient and the reason birds love my stuff so much.  As I said before, parrots fall into two categories.  Those who've never had the opportunity to experienced Bottlebrush, and those who won't use anything else.  

Since 1992, I've built over 10,000 of my floor gyms. thousands of hanging gyms and tens of thousands of Bottlebrush in-cage perches and toys.  If you live in the southern half of Florida, you might see my stuff in your local, mom and pop bird or pet shop.  However, if you life elsewhere, you'll likely never see my stuff because I just can't get enough Bottlebrush.  So, the only place to get it is here, on my site, or thru my distributor, The Golden Cockatoo.  

My Bottlebrush Parrot Play Gyms, as well as the toys and chew stuff I offer, will satisfy your parrots chewing need and guess what, your parrot will be happier and satisfied.  Giving your parrot Bottlebrush will literally change their lives, and yours.  Try it, you won't be sorry.

And, I realize many of the skeptics among you will assume I'm overselling the benefits of Bottlebrush, and might even find my claims hard to believe.  No problem at all.  Want to see what my clients and my birds think of me, my company and Bottlebrush, visit Bottlebrush Happy letters.

However, there is a better way for your parrot to live, and you've found it.  All you need to do is give my stuff a chance.

So, that's my story.  Where would you like to go from here? 

Does the concept of your parrot living in a tree during the day, and using your existing cage as a roost interest you?  If you have an open mind and find the concept intriguing, please read Can my parrot live cage free? 

I have lots of info pages, see my Table of Contents page. 

For those of you looking for a gym, but not sure what to look for, visit Lets compare parrot play gyms. How to choose the right Parrot Play Gym for your bird. 

For Play Gym questions, visit Frequently asked play gym questions, FAQ. 

For those of you looking for help understanding your parrot, visit, Ask Rio, Parrot tips, Tricks and training. This is my articles page. I stand on my soapbox and HOWL!

If you have questions, and prefer to discuss them in person with me, feel free to call me, Wayne (954) 989.7067, or e-mail your questions and I'll answer them asap.    

I build everything myself.  Try my Bottlebrush stuff.   I guarantee both you and your bird will be delighted, if not, return them for a full refund.  You can't lose.

Wayne