Leather astroturf or something else

[Strider]

What is better to put on perches leather astrotruf or something else? I was thinking about leather because I can get cow hide really easily.

[Weasel]

The best perch surfaces that I know of are astroturf, Sisal rope and neoprene leather could work, but it is more trouble than it's worth in my book to try wrap and maintain on a perch.

[Strider]

Ok any other opinions?

[Riker]

i have one perch that i used neaprean(sp??) from an old wet suit. and it works well. plus if you soak it with water it works well to sharpen talons!!

[Strider]

That interesting.

[falconer]

Rubber cycle tyres
Already got the shape

[Allan]

A layer of foam bound over with a double winding of electrical tape works for me.It lasts for years and is easy to keep clean.

[Minca]

everything that I have read and heard has been that smooth things like electrical tape are what cause bumblefoot. That the bird needs texture. You've never had any problems?

[bobdale]

let your climate be your guide.
If you have lots of cold weather, stay away from rope or neoprene. If the hawk gets water in the rope and it freezes that could cause some problems. If you live in an area the has that kind of weather, use the door mat type astoturf. Other wise, i prefer rope... sisal

[Allan]

Dont believe everything you read....
My Hawks have been on these bows for the last ten years...No foot problems.I believe you saw the pic of my Harris over on Apprentice sat on one which Ive always used........Stainless steel...Hand made....Foam and electical tape.....The only case of bumble I,ve encountered was with a wild British Kestrel about 7 years ago.I cast him up and nicked the top of the swelling with a razor.The lump came out,as anyone else that has done it will know,as a small solid white onion....I filled the cavity with germoline for three days and he was hacked back 2 weeks later.

[Jay]

I have found beach towels to work great. I pick them up at the Salvation Army stores for $1 each. The astroturf I had was to rough and caused bumblefoot, and so did rope. The rope was great during the summer but once it got cold around here it caused problems. My vet said they had the same problem where he once worked and they found towels to be the solution. Towels are soft enough for padding yet have the texture for the bird, nothing better than them.

[Yarak]

My preference is "daisy mat" astro turf, followed by natural branches. I have seen both used with no long term effects. Jay as I have never heard anyone that used "daisy mat" astro turf that had foot problems maybe you could tell us how the perching surface got determined as the source for the bubblefoot? Thanks!
Yarak

[Jay]

It was easy to figure out. The bird got it the vet reomended somthing elese and I tried it. The towels cleaned it up, so I went back to the astroturf to see if that was the cause, sure enough bumblefoot started to come back.

Problem is I think I have crap astroturf, it is to rough. My sponsor uses astroturf in his mews and has never had any problems, but it is not the same stuff I have. Other problem I see is now is maybe I did not have enough padding under the astroturf. But with used towels being cheaper than astroturf and perviding perfect feet I see no reason to go serching for another padding that might work.

We found the problem with the rope last season when my mew was found to have a problem that induced feather breakage. So the bird was teathered on a perch that had rope while I fixed the mews. Ends up snow storms hit and I couldnt work on the mews so the bird spent a month teatherd a make shift mews in my barn. Bumblefoot occoured only once the temp stayed down. Once put back in the mews with towels bumblefoot cleared up. Only in one case with the astroturf did the bumblefoot require medication the other cases I caught it before it was anything more than a little mark. The case that required medication also involved a nasty squirrel bite.

[Ooby]

Its funny yarak i never knew those door mats with daisys on em HAD a name haha, but thats what i use too.

Tried to get some neoprene to pad it but was too expensive, so i got some closed cell foam which is the same thing, but with out the cloth covering. Wrapped that around the perch, put a few wraps of electrical tape over it to hold it even, then secured the "daisy mat" over the perch.

[Austin]

Never seen too many tree limbs that were padded, I think making a perch soft for a hawk is a big problem. Another reason for bumble foot is due to the fact that a perch is too large in circumference for the size of the hawks feet causing it to put too much weight on only isulated areas of it's foot. And according to medical records, diet can also cause bumble foot.