COLORED LOLLI-POP STICKS

[BirdCrazy]

Does anyone have a source for purchasing colored lolli-pop sticks? I hope you all know what I am talking about. They had them at the bird store that I frequent, but they are now out of them and unable to obtain anymore. They were such a hit at my house. I bent them in the middle, and sort of laced them through the bars in the cages. I have been able to find the white ones, but not the colored variety.

[LMPego]

I think I've seen them at Windy City Parrot. I just looked on their website and couldn't find them, but you can try calling them or going there. They are having an open house on Sunday with Michelle Karras.

[Lora, Archer, & Kira]

Originally Posted by BirdCrazy

... I have been able to find the white ones, but not the colored variety.

Why not just buy the white ones and dye them??

[BirdCrazy]

Thank you for the info about Windy City Parrots. I absolutely adore Michelle Karras. She helped me when I brought my Umbrella/Triton home. She's the best! Have you seen her new video, The Importance of Toys? As for actually dyeing the sticks - Are you serious? Between cooking for my flock twice a day and of course, all the cleaning that comes with it as well as the time that I actually spend working with and loving them all, I honestly don't have the time to sit and dye a thousand sticks! I also don't make my own toys! Frankly I am not sure how you would dye them without them getting soggy. They are just rolled paper. I think you would have to sort of paint each one individually....

[blueroseaviary]

Originally Posted by Lora, Archer, & Kira

Why not just buy the white ones and dye them??

I was thinking the same thing.... I'll bet the dyes that Outlaw uses would work perfectly, and it probably wouldn't take alot of time. They would probably be more economical that way too.

[BirdCrazy]

I am open to suggestions. Outlaw, what kind of dye do you use?

[blueroseaviary]

I stole this from one of her other posts:

Here's the link for Exquisite Dyes.

http://www.vitacritter.com/

[BirdCrazy]

Thank you Jill. You are, by far one of the most knowledgeable people in this biz! You may not have all the answers, but you sure no where to find them. I appreciate it!

[TooLover]

I purchased the dye that Nancy suggested; it is great stuff and lasts quite a long time as you don't use very much! Unlike kool-aid, food coloring, etc., this stuff really works!

[The Outlaw]

Believe me, I've tried them all. I just finished dying 50 pounds of pine wood chunks today. I only had to do red, green and orange, for I had plenty of the other colors already.

I took me about 1 hour to dye all of that wood. And the leftover dye is just returned to the alcohol bottle til the next time. The items that you dye will only spend a few seconds in the dye bath, then you simply let them air dry. I promise you that you will NOT find a better food coloring agent anywhere. I know. I once purchased powdered food dyes and they were very very expensive, hard to mix and easy to spill. The powder was like talc and I could never have a fan anywhere near when I dyed things.

I also dye cotton rope, leather strips and anything else that looks bleached from the sun. Sometimes, when I have a big toy in the cabana, it will bleach out after about a month. Understand, this is full sunlight in the summer. I simply dump it back into whatever colors I'm dying and quick as a wink, good as new.

Also, the person that created the colors is Cheryl Mertens, a licensed pharmacist. She has been using this same dye for years for her own birds. I know its safe.....I've used it for all of mine for over a year now. A word of caution to owners of white birds. If they enjoy soaking wood in water dishes, you may find a pink bird or whatever color they choose at the end of the day. Thank goodness, its only food coloring! My girlfriends U2 decided to play with the pink chunks one day. Her face looked more M2 when I saw her that afternoon (LOL).

THE OUTLAW