On the guinea pig list I used to read, it was generally accepted that
toxic volatiles from pine and cedar shavings used as rodent bedding led
to an increased risk of respiratory illnesses. It was repeatedly
alleged that researchers would not use cedar, though I never saw any
references to published results or guidelines.

People I work with use mice occaisionally, and they don't arrive from
the animal care facility in cedar bedding. Too bad, since the smell of
cedar is MUCH nicer than the smell of mice! (Males, that is...)

Since the surface area of the inside of a nest box is about equal to
that of one scant handful of shavings, and the nest box is not replaced
with fresh wood every couple of days, it's easy to believe that the
effect would be insignificant in this case.

--- Mike Patterson <celata at pacifier.com> wrote:
> I have been building and installing nestboxes made from
> unfinished cedar fencing materials for 15 years. I have had
> no trouble with bird dying from asphyxiation, I have never
> read of this in the refereed journals that regularly discuss data
> collected from nestboxes. Natural cavities are often built
> in cedar and other species with even higher turpine content.
>
> I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the sight
> suggesting this was selling nestboxes made out of something
> (probably plastic) other than cedar.
>
> I recommend, however that you build your own. A 5 foot
> 1" x 6" costs about $2.00 and is enough for one box. You
> can find free instruction for the box I use at:
> http://home.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/nestbox.html
>
> Jacki Bricker wrote:
> >
> > I've been doing research on the web about nest boxes, and have
> encountered
> > some conflicting information. My husband and I just ordered three
> cedar
> > nest boxes of appropriate dimensions, etc., to attract (hopefully)
> > swallows to our acreage.
> >
> > Several websites either sell nest boxes of cedar, or say when
> building
> > one, to use woods such as cedar or cypress. But I encountered
> another
> > website that said that the natural outgassing of the cedar wood can
> > asphyxiate the young. Is this true?
> >
> > Can any experts out there lend some advice? We need to cancel the
> order
> > very soon if cedar is bad for them. Thanks.
> >
> > -Jacki
>
> --
> Mike Patterson Alas, to wear the mantle of Galileo,
> Astoria, OR it is not enough to be persecuted
> celata at pacifier.com by an unkind establishment,
> you must also be right.
> ---Robert Park
> http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html


=====
Mike Wagenbach wagen13 at yahoo.com
wagenATuDOTwashingtonDOTedu Seattle WA

"I like to get to work early, so I can discard a pet hypothesis before breakfast." Konrad Lorenz

I'd settle for Happy Hour.

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