# canaries - bioactive aviary?



## Helly2010 (Mar 6, 2011)

hi,

i hsve an indoor aviary for 7 canaries. i want to have, if possible, a plantrd one or rather, a bioactive one to break down waste. 

I'm aware of how these guys chew on plants, and Pooing on them too, of coursr!! 

id like peoples thoughts on this if possible?

many thanks, and apologies for auto correct!


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## henry415 (Apr 1, 2012)

Canaries, and most birds, if in any sort of density will destroy a planted aviary. If, say, you kept a pair in a 6X7X4 aviary and planted laurel and ivy and other such resistant plants you may do ok, but their droppings will still turn the leaves white over time.


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## Helly2010 (Mar 6, 2011)

i appreciate the knowledge! jyst to double check :

the aviary is 6 foot long, 4 foot high, and 2 foot deep. 
i have a total of 8 plants, hanging and ground, to hopefully put in there. 
from your reply, is this still too little?


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## Zerox Z21 (Oct 10, 2012)

Unless you've already picked plants, I'd suggest something tough and unpalatable; conifers and pines are unlikely to be eaten by a canary. Ivy also seems a good choice if it can get established. As for poo with any plant, a daily rinse might help which simulates how rain might clean things like bird poo away. This will also be watering your plants! Otherwise simple manual removal might be useful, if rather labour intensive.
Try to select tough, woody plants. It may also be advisable to let the plants get well established first so they might be able to tolerate the ravages of the birds better.

Not sure what you mean by an indoor aviary but that might limit what plants you could have too; if it's comparable to a normal house situation, many plants will not be happy due to temperature and/or lack of light.


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

Personally if I knew the plants were non toxic I'd try it and see how it goes, I can imagine you will need lighting if you don't already have it to encourage the plants to thrive. I'm not sure how a bioactive substrate system would be with birds, if you try it please let us know how it went. Good luck and pics will be required of course


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