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Everyone knows that houseplants are a great way of making your home a pleasant and fresh environment for living and being in touch with nature. I have a lot of plants in my house, and since I love animals too, I started thinking about buying a parrot a while ago. Not knowing which plants are safe for parrots, I did my research and came up with a list of the most popular houseplants safe for birds.
If you have the same problem, or you’re thinking about decorating your house with flowers and other plants, but you already own a pet bird, it’s very important to know how to choose houseplants that are safe for birds. As you know, they are curious creatures, and they will try to play around the plants and eat them.
So, let’s find out what plants are safe to go with!
The List Of Houseplants Safe For Birds
If you’re unable to train your bird and make it stay away from the plants you want to buy, this list will be essential for your purchase. Some plants can be toxic for your feathered friends. That’s why you should read this list of houseplants that are safe for birds and do your research if you want to have a beautifully decorated home while keeping your pet bird safe.
1. Bamboo plant
Bamboo is a plant that can look very stylish in your home and it can be beautifully combined with other plants. It’s completely bird safe, durable and it will give your home an attractive and modern look.
2. Jade plant
If you don’t have much experience with plants, this one is a great choice because it has a unique look and it is very easy to care for. Since it is low-maintenance, you will be able to grow it even without previous experience.
The unique look can be combined with an interesting pot, and the best part is that it is completely safe for your bird.
3. Boston Fern
If you’re more into the exotic looking decor in your house, this plant won’t disappoint you. It’s an interesting and rich plant that won’t harm your pet even if it will probably attract the bird’s attention and curiosity because of the look and its beautiful green color.
4. Spider plant
Another easy to grow and an interesting houseplant that is completely bird safe. Its exotic look will make a great addition to your home decor, especially if you have a chance to keep it in a hanging basket.
5. Hen and Chicks plant
This plant will look its best next to a big window next to which the plant will have a lot of sunlight during the day. It has a cute, unique look that can be combined with other, bigger plants, and you won’t have to worry about the safety of your pet.
6. Orchid
Almost everyone loves the beautiful blossoms of this houseplant. If you have more experience with growing plants, feel free to buy this stunning and elegant houseplant since it is bird safe.
Even though it’s not toxic, it is very delicate and hard to grow so try keeping your feathered pet out of reach, if you want it to be beautiful and last longer.
7. Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera is certainly one of the most popular houseplants. It has a variety of medical qualities that are beneficial to humans (especially for the skin), but also to birds and other pets.
It’s one of those plants that are useful yet super easy to grow and maintain. If you add the fact that it’s one of the houseplants safe for birds, this plant is almost a must in every household.
8. Impatiens
Since I adore colorful things (no wonder I’ve chosen a parrot as my pet!), I was so happy to find this one on the list of the houseplants safe for birds. This plant comes in every color of the rainbow, and it’s so easy to grow which makes it a good choice even for those who don’t have any previous experience. Enjoy these colorful flowers without compromising the safety of your pet.
9. Roses
If you can’t help but having fresh cut flowers arranged in your home, you’ll be happy to know that roses are safe for birds but only if they haven’t been chemically treated. If you want to be sure that they are pesticide free, try growing roses yourself so you can be sure your arrangements will be both beautiful and bird safe.
10. African Violets
Since these violets flower many times during a year, with its small but very pretty blossoms your home will almost always be colorful and stylish, and most importantly it’s one of the houseplants safe for birds.
The list is obviously much longer, but I wanted to mention only the most common plants since the majority of people will want to buy or already have these.
Additional Safety Measures
Since plants are part of the diet for many birds, even though these plants aren’t toxic and your bird will feel fine after consuming them, it would be better if you somehow managed to keep your pet away from them.
Eating too much of anything could cause problems with birds’ stomach, and they certainly won’t feel their best even though the plants aren’t toxic. Another reason to keep them away is a mess they are going to make.
I remember having two parrots while growing up. The first day we bought them, we let them out of the cage for a bit, and they were left unsupervised for a couple of minutes. When we came back, the room was a mess, and my mother’s beloved plants were ruined.
Since we didn’t have any experience with birds as pets, and we were scared because one of the parrots was acting differently, we immediately took it to the vet and thankfully all of the plants were bird safe. Our parrot only ate a little too much of it.
In the end, other than the mess, everything was fine. That’s why this time I did thorough research since I wanted to be ready for my new friend. There are some solutions for avoiding a possible mess your bird could make. Let’s mention a few of them.
1. Bye-bye toxic plants
If you’re like me and already have a house full of plants, but you can’t resist buying a cute bird as your pet, you will definitely want to remove all of the plants that can be dangerous for your new friend.
If you’re not willing to do that, at least make sure those plants are in a different room, so your bird doesn’t come near them.
2. Let your bird fly in another room
Keeping your plants on higher shelves may be a solution when you have other pets, but it definitely won’t stop our feathered friends because they can easily reach them.
That’s why it would be a good idea to let your bird out of its cage in a room without flowers and houseplants. It’s the safest and the cleanest solution.
3. Keep an eye on your pet
If your bird is not trained, you should always be in the same room with it when letting it out of the cage. In this way, you can stop the bird when you notice it is too close to your houseplants.
Try occupying its attention with seeds and other food by placing it far from the plants.
4. Teach your bird what’s off-limits
If you want to be able to leave your pet unsupervised without consequences, you have to consider training it. They are intelligent and can be very stubborn so keep that in mind and be patient because the training will take time.
You can try using a wooden stick and teaching your bird that a wooden stick should be the chewing alternative. Don’t forget to encourage your bird with some treats (fruits or food that your pet doesn’t eat on a daily basis) when it does something right.
5. Secure the plant pots
Since birds can easily reach the plants that you put higher, and the ones that are in hanging baskets, be sure those are secured and difficult to knock over. You can try using pots that are heavier or even using something underneath that will keep them in place if your bird flies near them.
When I told my family that we are getting a parrot, they joked around saying that it’s the only thing missing to confuse our living-room with a jungle, since it is full of many different plants and blossoms. I wanted to get a rabbit, and now the parrot – I will become a zoologist soon enough!
And while I made sure to sort everything out and keep only the non-toxic plants in the room that the parrot will live in, I would still like to train it. I’m familiar with their intelligence and ready for the challenge.
Do you have any advice for me? Should I hire a professional or try to train it myself? If you have any additional information about houseplants that safe for birds, feel free to comment and share your experience!
