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Toy Poll

Share ideas for making your own parrot toys. What are the best things for parrots to play with? Show pictures of parrots with toys.

Do you make or buy your parrot's toys?

I make most or all of them
4
16%
I make some but buy some
12
48%
I mostly buy them but occasionally make some
5
20%
I buy all my parrot's toys
4
16%
 
Total votes : 25

Toy Poll

Postby Michael » Fri May 10, 2013 8:51 pm

Do you predominantly make or buy your parrot's toys? Why?
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Michael
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 6286
Location: New York
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot, Cape Parrot, Green-Winged Macaw
Flight: Yes

Re: Toy Poll

Postby KimberlyAnn » Fri May 10, 2013 11:32 pm

I do both.

Why I buy some toys...

I can't form Plexiglas, so I need to buy those (Emmi's favorite toy is plexiglas tabs on stainless steal chain) from the bird shop. That's just one example of stuff that would be hard for me to find the pieces to make. Or think of! So those types of toys are bought. Since I'm a preschool teacher and make sure I have lots of different materials for the children to explore, I want the same for Emmi. I'm crafty! But there are some things I just can't make.

Why I make some toys...

Since Emmi is still young and new to foraging. I started her off small and every few days to a week, I take it up a notch. This way I know where she is at developmentally (I'm sorry, I'm a teacher and I can't turn it off lol) and don't have to run to the store to buy a harder foraging toy every time she gets too smart. Emmi loves ripping paper. Most of the toys with paper that I have seen...unsafely made! I see this a lot. That or $15 for a toy that will be destroyed in two days? No thanks! (But thanks for the idea! I will make it at home, using safer materials and for much cheaper!) Sometimes I get an idea for a toy and just can't find what I'm looking for in a store or online. I order or buy the parts and make the toy. If she does not use it, I can tear it apart and put the pieces with other pieces she will play with. All of a sudden she likes the previously undesired pieces and yay! More enrichment! Plus, I know what she likes to do and can make toys that I know she will love. Who wouldn't want a personal toy maker? That's living the high life. :)

There are toys that just can't be bought or can't be made at home. Buying and making toys ensures Emmi is a very happy Green Cheek...And I bet making toys have saved me at least $100 so far.
My family: "Emmi" Green Cheek Conure (12/15/2012), One husband, two step kids, and one baby boy born in January 2015!
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KimberlyAnn
Amazon
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 610
Location: Sacramento, California
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Green Cheek Conure
Flight: Yes

Re: Toy Poll

Postby JaydeParrot » Wed May 22, 2013 6:43 pm

I've made all the wooden perches for inside my bird's cage, cuz all the bird stores near me didn't sell anything bigger than a cockatiel perch and even they weren't the correct length for my :senegal:'s cage.

I've bought a pumice perch and few other toys from pet stores, but my birds have always seemed more interested in hand made toys such as a washed elderflower branch (to chew off the bark) and a cardboard box with parrot sized holes and a ladder cut into it (takes less than five minutes) so it's impossible to accidentally fly in and get trapped inside the box.

Essentially it's safer to make the toys yourself, cuz then you know what was used to make them, I went off 'corner shop' pet stores after a guy sold me a rusty and gloss painted parrot ladder (didn't really check it till I got home). I took it back to the store and the guy exchanged it for a less rusty one and put my original ladder back on the shelf to sell to someone else. I was irritated but common sense told me not to bother getting into an argument with this guy over a £2 parrot ladder.

Come on... More people need to vote!
JaydeParrot
Poicephalus
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 346
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: 2 Senegal Parrots.
Flight: Yes

Re: Toy Poll

Postby feathermum » Tue May 28, 2013 6:01 pm

well i have mostly bought mine...and am kicking myself in the butt!! i spend anywhere between 30-60$ a wk in toys & perches!! i have been just recently learning how to make my own...still trying to figure the color thing...my birds LOVE colord wood to chew.. i do make some foraging toys...soon i hope to make 80% of my own toys...but safety wise i'm still nervous of some things...
~ THE MORE PEOPLE I MEET,THE MORE I LOVE MY PARROTS~
feathermum
Cockatiel
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 69
Location: new england~ US
Number of Birds Owned: 4
Types of Birds Owned: 1 m nanday conure, 2 jenday conures and S.I. Eclectus F
Flight: No

Re: Toy Poll

Postby Michael » Tue May 28, 2013 7:44 pm

Wow you spend a lot! Lucky birds!
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Michael
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 6286
Location: New York
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot, Cape Parrot, Green-Winged Macaw
Flight: Yes

Re: Toy Poll

Postby LadySaphine » Tue May 28, 2013 8:38 pm

I mostly buy my toys but I know how to make these knotted friendship bracelets. I just make a lot of knots for her to play with and she loves tearing them apart. Once I made origami waterbombs (kinda like an inflatable box) and put sunflower seeds inside, then strung them up. She loved tearing the paper and getting the seeds.

And yeah, I came here from Youtube. xD
Peanut - :gcc: Yellow-sided Green Cheeked Conure. Rest in peace, my Peanut.
PJ- :bluebudgie: Cobalt Budgie
Steve- Image Turquoise Lineolated Parakeet
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LadySaphine
Conure
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 155
Location: North Carolina
Number of Birds Owned: 4
Types of Birds Owned: Budgie, Turquoise Lineolated Parakeet, two button quail hens
Flight: Yes

Re: Toy Poll

Postby feathermum » Tue May 28, 2013 8:48 pm

exactly why i need to learn how to make them!! lol i will be in the poor house for bird toys :shock: but really i do need 2 start being more frugle...i hope while i'm on here i can learn how to make some of their fav. toys ;)
~ THE MORE PEOPLE I MEET,THE MORE I LOVE MY PARROTS~
feathermum
Cockatiel
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 69
Location: new england~ US
Number of Birds Owned: 4
Types of Birds Owned: 1 m nanday conure, 2 jenday conures and S.I. Eclectus F
Flight: No

Re: Toy Poll

Postby Strawfrawg » Fri May 31, 2013 9:37 pm

At first I bought everything but after watching what Marvin is drawn to and how quickly he destroys things, I decided to make most of my own and it is somewhat cheaper. I keep the metal hardware from purchased toys and get parts from Doctors Foster and Smith, craft shops, and the bird and small mammal sections of pet stores. I'd love to see links to websites for parts...maybe somebody has found one I don't know about.

It seems that as Marvin is growing up he actually prefers foot toys and parts to "finished" toys, s quite often I just let him steal from the stash and fly away with what he wants to play with.

I've posted about making paystands and have been doing a lot of that. It's addictive. Always looking for the perfect combo for every space. I'm also about to start making swings and ladders. They cost waaaay too much, IMO. I'm also working on a couple of tunnels.
Marvin Beakman - DNA sexed male Senegal
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Strawfrawg
Conure
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 228
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Toy Poll

Postby feathermum » Fri May 31, 2013 10:57 pm

Strawfrawg wrote:
I've posted about making paystands and have been doing a lot of that. It's addictive. Always looking for the perfect combo for every space. I'm also about to start making swings and ladders. They cost waaaay too much, IMO. I'm also working on a couple of tunnels.



I agree! what about rope swings & bungies? do you make those? I am very interested in learning how that could be done...if anyone does that & what kind of rope do u buy? when u make ur ladders & swing, what do u use? wood? do you color your wood, I am trying to find what ppl use to color their wood. and ideas in genral for making toys :?
~ THE MORE PEOPLE I MEET,THE MORE I LOVE MY PARROTS~
feathermum
Cockatiel
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 69
Location: new england~ US
Number of Birds Owned: 4
Types of Birds Owned: 1 m nanday conure, 2 jenday conures and S.I. Eclectus F
Flight: No

Re: Toy Poll

Postby Strawfrawg » Thu Jun 06, 2013 5:47 pm

I buy sisal or untreated hemp rope/string for everything. I've made a couple of swings, but Marvin isn't much of a swinger at present so I haven't worked too hard on perfecting a method.

I also buy this inexpensive toy a lot...Marvin loves it and destroys it in a couple of hours, except for the center vine twist which I then use for swings or footholds on the side of his cage (since his cage is all vertical wire...hate that):

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=13344

This company sells a lot of toymaking parts, including handy leather strips (like fettucine) to use for string.

I just answered your post about dyes...see that thread for suggestions. Things painted with those have to be allowed to dry for several days before they set to the point where they don't bleed much when wet. I'll have to get some pictures posted of some of the stuff I've been making. I'd love to get a table at the local flea market and sell them but Marvin goes through toys so fast I need whatever I make!
Marvin Beakman - DNA sexed male Senegal
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Strawfrawg
Conure
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 228
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot
Flight: Yes

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