Theres been alot of talk on here about ideas for toys lately and a couple of people on other boards have implied they would like to know what other ideas people have for keeping their birds entertained. I would certainly love to hear other peoples ideas so I thought between us we could make a thread with a list of ideas that we can share.
For more expensive ideas maybe people could put a rough price on the cost of building the toy, also if certain toys should only be used under supervision post a warning on it (ok that should be all toys but lets face it, that just isn't practical).
My ideas are cheap and primarily focused on foraging although they don't have to be for foraging at all.
**You can make new toys out of old ones.
**Egg cartons (unused of course) can be hung up, attached to side of the cage or put on the bottom. You can keep them intact or cut them into ''cups''- fill with a treat/shredded paper/small toys or whatever your bird enjoys.
**Same can be done with those small dry fruit cartons (the snack sized ones) as with the egg cartons. Hang them up, fill them, attatch to other toys etc.
**Bun cases or small pieces of plain paper can be used to wrap up pieces of dry food/small toys and placed around the cage.
**Paper cups can be cut up to make any size containers for foraging in. Again put them in the cage in a variety of different ways, hang them up, places them in food cups etc.
**You can drill small holes in wooden toys to help encourage chewing behaviours. You can also stuff these holes with shredded paper or dry treats.
**Coconut shells are good to make toys out of. So are pine cones but make sure you soak, dry them thouroughly then bake them to kill bacteria and remove any insects (don't burn them like I did lol).
**Kitchen roll tubes are good but some say the glues are not safe. You can create your own tubes by rolling plain cardboard up, putting small holes in the two ends and fastening them with leather strips.
**The untreated willow balls you can buy for small rodents are brilliant for hanging in the cage, sliding over a perch etc. They are fairly cheap, fun to destroy and you can hide things inside them. Be warned that some pet shops sell them pre-filled with monkey nuts so double check before you buy.
**Untreated sisal rope can be bought cheaply and used to make rope perches, cargo nets, ladders, swings, added to existing toys, hung up alone, used to hang other toys etc. (be cautious of small birds using any rope toys. Although sisal is deemed safe as it breaks easily, smaller birds may not have the strength to break it.)
**Buy a couple of good quality bells, you can then use these on various different toys to liven them up or swap them for the poor quality ones that usually come on pre-made toys.
**Unused popsicle sticks/drink stirrers/wooden clothes pegs can be bought cheaply and added to various toys or used to make a toy from scratch. (Be sure to snap clothes pegs in two so they can't hurt the bird and always remove any metal clips)
**Vegetable dyes can safely be used to dye toys, ropes and cardboard. You can make them at home by boiling strong coloured vegetables. The colour is very subtle on toys but safe. Food dyes bought from shops make stronger colours on toys but they will contain additives.
**Natural branches with leaves still attactched (please ensure both branch and leaves are non toxic/safe)
**Plastic bottle caps from pop bottles can be given as foot toys, attatched to other toys or used to hide treats underneath.
**Plastic wiffle balls are cheap to buy, can be left to roll free/used as foot toys, hung up, filled with dry treats, attached to the side of the cage, added onto other toys etc
Thats all I can think of for now but I'll add to this as I think of anything else.
** Drinking straws added to toys or bundled up in a cable tie.
** small tray filled with safe leaves, twigs, toys, teats etc to forage in