Some of my DIY toys for parrots

[CaitlinRice413]

[CaitlinRice413]

[charlieandkiwi]

These are awesome! Thanks for sharing!

[marie83]

Please please be careful with using thread and similar, they are not easy, if not impossible to break should a bird get its nail caught.
Natural fibres such as sisal is a much better alternative but I would still be skeptical about whether a smaller bird would have the physical strength to break the fibres.
Mine no longer have any rope type stuff in their cages but they do enjoy that type of toy so they still have them on their play tree as they are only out under supervision so I can intervene if anything goes wrong.

See this thread for more discussion on it viewtopic.php?f=22&t=8509

[CaitlinRice413]

[marie83]

Well it is entirely up to you but I prefer to use the stainless kebab sticks or leather laces purely because they are the safer options. As said before though, no toy can ever be 100% safe so you need to decide where to draw your line between safety and enrichment/fun for your birds. Not right to not care about safety but equally not right to stop giving them enrichment. I wont stop mine having rope or bells but I'm extra careful with the bells, they love them so much so I couldn't possibly ban them and ropes/threads are something they only get under supervision.

By the way, I did not want to sound like I am critisizing because I do like your designs, they look pretty professional just saying be careful

[Pricey_boy]

not sure if my birds would like scizzors or a mini saw for a foraging toy but i could always try

just kidding your toys are really good ideas

[pionus]

not sure if my birds would like scizzors or a mini saw for a foraging toy but i could always try

just kidding your toys are really good ideas

[Maria]

Thanks charlieandkiwi!
And thank you marie! I made these for my illiger's macaw that comes home to me in 2 weeks. I make similar things for my parakeets that have a lot less going on. I appreciate the info, I will be sure to watch closely and remove the toys when I am not there. The most disturbing thing is the possiblity of having the string wrap around a birds neck should I replace the string on the wooden blocks with leather lace or something? The rainbow stringy toy is pretty thick, but I would still keep an eye on it.

Yes, I would definately replace with leather lace, for these safety reasons. 1/8" diameter leather lace would be good to work with for what you're doing. It will also give you peace of mind, knowing that nothing can happen to your babies.

Leather lace is another good material substance for bird's preening instincts.

There are certain types of bells which are much safer than others. The long tube bells, which they can't get their beaks into, therefore they can't get to the clapper. And I've seen cow bells, the smaller ones which are made for birds to play with, they seem to be made so that there is no cut slit in the clapper, so the bird can't get their toungue caught and cut by it. And they're made strong, so that the bird can't break them apart, durable. Although they look the color of copper, some, so the only two metals safe for birds really is stainless steel and nickel. I have this parrot toy made of chain, with beads on it, and tube bells, which I'd bought from the parrot shop, and my bird loves to sing on it and loves the ringing sounds. But he can't hurt himself on it, because he can't get his beak inside the bells to the clappers. I have another small cow bell which came off another toy, and I saved it only, again, because of the way it's made. I can use it for a toy. Otherwise, I stear clear of bells. I saw this toy in the parrot shop the other day, big plastic ball with holes, inside was two small very soft plastic balls with tiny round balls in them which were bells, which were the size of bee bees. I thought oooohhh noooo, not safe, small parts like that he could swallow (the bee bee size ones), don't buy. He could definately chew apart those soft plastic balls inside in seconds, getting to the bee bee sized ones.

[Michael]

Nice stuff. Looks like it takes you longer to make these than it will for the bird to dismantle them

I don't bother coloring mine or doing anything fancy cause they are just as happy to chew wood whether it's colored or not.

I agree with the warnings about thread. Not a good idea. Birds have been killed by getting caught in it. Leather or better yet stainless steel chain/wire is better. The kebab skewers are an easy to use reusable device ideal for owner DIY.