homemade toys

[chickenjones]

Does anyone make their own parrot toys? I have blue crowns (a pair) and playing for them is chewing so I am thinking I should start making toys to save some dough. Anyone tried this and had a successful design?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I start with a toy base and just start adding parts. The toy base can be a stainless steel chain or some cord. I have a lot of things that will thread through a 1/4" hole. Leather, poly cord, SS chain and several ropes out of natural materials. I usually get it from places that sell parrot toy parts, so they don't have any toxic treatments on the natural ropes or leather. I can reuse the base over and over, just adding new chewables.

You just need a safe link to attach it at the top and a knot at the bottom, to keep things from falling off. In between, I just thread a few things, tie a not, thread some more, tie a knot. Sometimes I use a whiffle ball or wicker type ball and thread cords through it, then add things to the "legs." I've also used a long chunk of wood and drilled holes through it in different directions. Then I thread cords and ropes through the holes. Sometimes I use a length of plastic chain and thread the cords through it at different places.

I have different toy parts I put together. I usually use marbella beads as colorful spacers. They're like a hard acrylic or really hard plastic bead. I have wood beads, too. Sometimes I add some marbella rings on top of a bead, to grab or clink together.

I use a lot of flat wood shapes that have a hole drilled in the middle. My parrot loves to bite the tips off of wood stars. He also loves maple leaf or snowflake shapes. Sometimes, I just take a 2x2 and cut slices or cubes off of it. Then I drill holes through them. One year for valentine's day, my husband gave me my own little vise for working on toy parts, which helps a lot with the cutting and drilling.

My parrot also loves shredding types of things. I tie palm fronds, rope sections and raffia onto the toys. Paper string is good, too. You can also use strips of paper towels. I also have leather shapes that my parrot likes to bite into.

I also like to use ropes to hold notched craft sticks. My parrot likes them better than plain Popsicle sticks. I hold a section of the rope with one hand and slightly untwist the rope with the other. Then I insert the craft stick into the gap. This works great. Sometimes I add beads with larger holes in between the craft sticks, as I work along the rope.

There are also some balls woven out of rubbery type strands. They used to be called something like knobbly wobbly balls. I insert the craft sticks and also lollipop sticks in those. They're very grippy, as well as being colorful. Then I just hook a link through it, to hang it.

I also have treat cages and a treasure chest with holes in it, that I stuff with different toy parts, corks, tissue paper and seeds as a treat to forage through and pull apart.

Those small little cups for in bathrooms are a favorite, too. I buy the plain paper type, with no plastic coating. I just poke a little hole in the bottom and string them on. They are fun to chew just as is. I also hide things in the cup and put either another cup or a flat wood slice on top, as a lid. It's a nice foraging cup. Sometimes I put undyded tissue paper or raffia bits in it, to hide the treat, too. Or, you can hang them upside down, like a bell.

I've also reused a lot of parts from old toys that were chewed up. Clips, chain, beads, etc. The plastic and stainless steel parts get washed. The leather and rope parts get reused until they look like they need to be tossed.

 

[chickenjones]

Woodland Woman:
that was so awesome of you to share your secrets with me! It looks like I have some work to do- but it will be so much fun!

Thanks!

ChickenJones

 

[bagendhens]

some of the most mundane things can become the best toys.

some of jack (my macaw) favorites include simple wiffle balls, those raffia chinese finger traps, untreated woven wreath bases (they dont last long though lol) cardboard tubes from out of toilet paper or paper towel rolls, plain sisal rope, dog toys...

today i made him a new toy, i had a candelabra but the candle holders welds had broken so i never use it (its zinc free stainless) so i took the candle holders off, wraped the whole thing in untreated sisal, made a sisal net (im planning on redoing the net out of a cotton rope and longer, but ive neer made net before so i was proud of myself lol) and hung some wood blocks and bells attatched to chain. he loves it and it took about 1/2 hour to make. (ill take a pic tomorrow)

but honestly...his absolute favorite toy is a wiffle ball, i got 3 for a dollar at the dollar store...
i also like to get the brightly colored cocktail straws and shove them into the wiffle ball sticking out all over, it doesnt take him long to pull the straws out but he LOVES it! lol.
even something as simple as paper passed through a shredder gives him hours of playtime...and as a bonus, gives me hours of clean up

the dollar store is a good source of cheap bits and bobs to make toys.

my suggestion is take a look online at actual bird toys, then try and replicate/modify that design, the hardest part is finding bird safe items, everything needs to be unpainted and baby safe dyed is ok as long as its kid safe, but paint i never trust.

 

[Akane]

I have much smaller birds but here are some toys I made. All toys use hemp string

Manzanite branch pieces, palm leaf shredders, and pony beads

Birdy bagel, willow rings, palm shredders, and pony beads

Wooden dowel ladder in process

Spruce cones rolled in seed and egg white then baked

On the left hand side of this photo is a half coconut drilled and stuck on a metal rod for a treat basket

I've also got one out of manzanite and palm shredders with a large cuttle bone in the middle but no pics.

You can find supplies for larger size toys on a lot of sites
http://www.birdsafestore.com/default.asp?
http://www.cabirdnerds.com/index.html
http://bobosplayhouse.com/ - got an awesome 15' grapevine from there.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Akane, those are great toys and your aviary is wonderful. Your birds must really be enjoying life. My parrot loves to shred pine cones, too. He doesn't even need them coated in anything. I'll have to check out those links. I've ordered from the Bird Safe store, but not the others.

Kirby loves the toys I make so much more than what I used to buy for him. Over the years, I've just learned what things he likes to chew or play with and what he doesn't like. So, his toys are designed just for him. That's even better than saving money! In the past I did waste money on toys he didn't chew on or play with. The wood blocks were too big or the wood was way too hard for him. That doesn't happen any more and he is happier, too.

ChickenJones, what kinds of things do your birds like to chew on? What are their favorite types of toys now?

 

[domino7]

I just use popsicle sticks from the craft store. I thread them onto a thick wire, and hang them. My conure makes short work of them. I dyed them at first, so they looked more like the store bought toys, but have discovered that she doesn't care what color they are.

 

[chickenjones]

Hi Everyone! Thanks for your ideas. Honestly, I haven't had my pair that long. They were breeder birds. My MIL stopped breeding birds and sold or gave away most of them. She knew I loved her blue crowns so she offered to me. FREE. They love each other. They also pluck each other. They are half naked all the time! I started thinking, maybe they are BORED OUT OF THIER MINDS! I tried a few flashy store bought toys but they won't mess with them. They have a real branch as a perch and and a cement/stone perch. The love to chew on the real branch so I thought would would be a good place to start.

They were hand fed birds. They have been a pair for about 10 years so they are not very tame. They will talk to you and dance though if you sing to them- which my 7 year old loves to do! They don't attack you or anything, but they have never been allowed to fly out of the cage- not for years anyway. I am just trying to make them a happier home. We are going to build a walk in avairy soon too. We just added on to our chicken coop so the parrots are next!

I love the ideas and the pictures!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Natural unsprayed branches of a safe species that they can strip bark and leaves off of is always entertaining. I think I'd definitely try some of the softer chewables, too. Things like paper, palm fronds, raffia, that sort of texture. Birdie Bagels and Shredders are good, too. Plus some of the softer woods, like pine, rather than the really hard woods. They might like preening the end of a piece of untreated sisal rope, too. You can untwist it slightly at the end, to get it started and make it look more appealing.

Are they good eaters? Do they like a lot of different foods? That can be another way to enrich their lives. You can even weave a small leaf of edible greens or a large sprig of parsley through the cage bars. I've done that with dandelion leaves and flowers, too. I remember pressing seeds into a grape that was cut in half, to get a budgie to try a new food.

 

[chickenjones]

Well they eat a pretty good diet but I am just introducing other things. They tasted banana. Yesterday they ate the birdy bread my MIL has been trying to get them to eat FOR YEARS for me I guess because I heated it up.

Today I have them some of a boiled egg. They are investigating it right now. I don't know how often to try new things with them. I don't want to freak them out by introducing too much. They live outdoors by the way and the weather is going to be beautiful here this week. I figure now is a great time to offer them new things since they are out of their box and not closed up for the winter!