Made AWSOME inexpensive Large Parrot swing/toy

[Shadows Mum]

Hey Everyone, I thought I would share with you a design idea my 8yr old son developed. 90% of the materials were bought @ the Dollar store and my birds LOVE IT! I felt silly because I had just spent 400$ on two "Atom swings" & my son wanted me to buy a third for his room. When I said no, he made his own... He bought a Hula Hoop, package of wiffle balls, & a loofa bath sponge from dollar tree. We went to Home depot & bought 8ft of cotton rope & a hook for the ceiling. We wrapped the hula hoop in rope & made a loop for it to hang from the ceiling. We tied several lengths of rope thru the wiffle balls and tied them to the hoop, made a hole thru the loofa and did the same (knots @ both ends of hole then fastned it to the swing. We hung it from the ceiling and the birds adore it! My son seen a "preen ring swing" yesterday so now he wants to add strips of fleece to the top of it aswell... I found fleece baby blankets at Dollar Tree aswell! So we will be cutting those into strips & tying them on also. The best part is, all my birds like it... Small, medium & large. I feel stupid for spending hundreds when this thing hasnt even cost me 20$ yet!

[Toyer12]

Well done you.....we love making our parrot toys. It saves us a fortune and the whole family and their friends join in. I am always looking for new ideas and copying them and as you say if you put in a bit of effort and some imagination the Dollar Store is great for materials.

[marie83]

Excellent, I really do like the idea. just be very careful using cotton, it doesn't break easily and a bird can easily get caught up in it even if it looks in good condition.

[Shadows Mum]

Excellent, I really do like the idea. just be very careful using cotton, it doesn't break easily and a bird can easily get caught up in it even if it looks in good condition.

This was my husbands concern also... He prefers using Sisal rope usually. But the guy at Home Depot couldnt gaurentee that the sisal they carried was un-treated so we went with cotton which was gaurenteed to be untreated. I watch them very closely on all toys though AND I regretted to mention that we also use "vet tape" as a foot grip layer over the rope.... We do this even on store bought toys because its colorful, grippy, safe, and can be removed & replaced if it gets dirty looking or poopy. Lol. Vet tape increases the life of our toys and helps prevent toenail snags. I will try to post a pic when I have more time. Just be sure to wrap the hoop well with whatever material you choose to use as hula hoops are plastic and can be chewed thru by larger beaks.

[pionus]

That sound like fun. I'm glad your birds enjoy it.

[glosh22]

I am really interested in the atom swing your son made. Do you happen to have a pic? We would love to try that!!! Thanks!!!

[lights106]

I can't wait to see a pic! I am needing more places for my gcc!