It sounds like a lot of work, but it really is very simple, and as I said earlier, the average cost per perch is 50 cents. The hardest part is cutting the seams and waiting for the cement to cure.  Good luck!


You don't need to hold the molds in a 2x4 with holes drilled in it......that's just how I do it because I make a lot of them. ANY method that you can hold each individual mold straight up during and after pouring, is fine.

The 2x4 I use is about 18" long and holds about 20 molds.  The holes were drilled using  wood bit, and are spaced about 1" apart. This is a little larger than the outside diameter of the PVC pipe.....that way, once you've got the bottom and seam of each mold taped up, you can place the PVC mold into the 2x4 and pour your cement.  A lot of people don't have this kind of wood bit, so a tin can could be used to stand the molds straight up in,  instead.  But the 2x4 is definitely the EASIEST way to hold the molds straight.  Of course, if you want to make your perches a little wider in diameter, your holes in the 2x4 would also need to be the appropriate size.

Cement, does not have rocks, but is a free-flowing powder. Mortar is a mixture of cement, sand, lime, and water. Concrete is a mixture of gravel and cement (or mortar). I call my perches cement, even though technically they're mortar. (Most people don't know what mortar is). I use a ratio of 3 parts sand to 1 part cement, but if your hubby would feel better, let him go 2 to 1 ratio. When I first started making these, I used straight cement (no sand) and water. It took longer to set up and the finished product was too smooth, even after sanding. The reason these perches take so long to set up, is because there is no air flow inside the mold, and the mixture is surrounded by a non-porous surface. I let mine set up for AT LEAST 1 week. If you don't do this, your perches will fall apart when you remove them from the molds. These perches, ONCE hard, are not toxic.

PAT B from the Tiel Talk pages, brought up an interesting question and made a suggestion that we are going to follow. It makes very good sense if this stuff bothers people it WILL harm our birds.


I had voiced concern about the alkaline residue on newly un-molded concrete perches and whether this could be hazardous. I asked about a muriatic acid wash to neutralize the alkalinity.

We agreed that it is wise to read and follow label instructions when using ANY product.

But I still wondered about my original question, so I went to another bulletin board on decorative concrete and asked. Many of the people that post to this board are professional contractors and work with these chemicals on a day-by-day basis, so I figured they'd know if anyone would!
And a fellow who identifies himself as "Concrete Man" (gee, do you suppose he's related to BirdMom?! ;-) came through.

Newly unmolded concrete surfaces can have a pH as high as 10-12 (pH readings run in a range from 1 to 14, with 7 being neutral, numbers above 7 being basic - alkaline - and numbers below 7 being acidic. Either extreme can hurt you.). He said this pH level could cause burns as severe as those caused by an acid with a pH of 4-5 and he says he has known of professionals who have neglected to wear gloves before the concrete surface had been rinsed getting 2nd and 3rd degree burns!

He supported the idea of rinsing with muriatic acid solution and following up with a THOROUGH water rinse. At this point, he says the surface should be at a pH of 7 (which is neutral) and should be at least as safe as a sidewalk is to walk on for humans.

A woman by the name of Stacy Valentine suggests:
Acid wash, water rinse before acid dries then ammonia rinse( 8 parts water to 1 part ammonia ) then water rinse again.
The ammonia neutralizes the acid.

My own thought on this, since I'm not sure I like the idea of ammonia (alkaline) being the last thing on the perch before you give it to the birds, would be to follow this up with a much more benign acid which happens to be vinegar (acetic acid).

All of these, of course, assume VERY thorough water rinses, and a scrubbing wouldn't hurt, either!

And all of these are ideas not yet tested. But I would still be leery of giving my bird a freshly de-molded concrete perch without some further cleaning/neutralizing. 

I believe that PAT B did a good job of research. Pat B deserves a "pat on the back", or at least a "Thank You, Pat".