homemade toys

[cathy]

Hello:
Just wondering what your favorite bird's toy is and looking for ideas for making homemade toys.This is a great site.So many friendly people with great ideas.

[TooLover]

We used to have a separate category just for homemade toys. Kev - can we create another one?
I have found that each of my birds has their own likes and dislikes. The fav in my house is beads of all shapes and sizes, tied to paulie rope. I order or buy a toy with cool beads and recycle as they are torn apart as they don't chew the beads, they just like taking them off the rope.
My newest baby, the U2, actually enjoys cardboard boxes more than anything else. He also enjoys paper towel cardboard holders, etc.

[BrianKing]

Use koolaid to dye the wood.

[The Outlaw]

Do yourself a favor and save a lot of mess, time and money. Don't waste your time with grocery food dyes, koolaid or Wilton dyes. They just aren't worth the time and trouble. Go to http://www.vitacritter.com/ and order some Exquisite color. It may sound pricey, but trust me, I dye wood in 50 batches and it lasts me for over a year. I buy red, yellow and blue. That runs about $30 and you can use it over and over again. You dilute it with alcohol instead of water. It makes the wood dazzle in seconds, dries in about 10 minutes and just looks awesome. In addition, the alcohol sterilizes the wood and preserves the the remainder of the color batches. I simply return what's left into the empty alcohol bottles. The average bird owner with 5 birds or less will likey use this stuff for 5 to 10 years before you need to reorder.

By the way, its a bad idea to dye with Koolaid for the big birds. It flavors the wood and has been known to lead to birds actually ingesting the stuff and having all kinds of gut problems.

THE OUTLAW

[BirdzRmylife]

Hey there,
My fids favourite toys of all time are wood! With chemical free areas you can cut some organic non-toxic branches, cut branches into slices, and then drill holes in them, etc! ITs a hit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apple branches are an all time favourite for fids of all sizes, and species.

ALSO, if you go to the craft store, you can buy balsa wood! It has an INDESIRABLE crunch and pizaz that no other woods can offer. My fids love it!!! Even the budgies!!!

STeven

[Lora, Archer, & Kira]

I love buying stuff like that at Dollar Tree. I got a set of three little bowls for Archer and Kira, and numerous cat dishes from them.

As far as toys, Archer loves bells, wood, rope, and his new favorite is a mini plastic rainbow colored slinky! It's so much fun to watch him play with the slinky... he attacks it, raises his wings, flares his tail... and he whistles at it sometimes too.

Next to that, I have a toy that I made out of wood pieces, rope, pony beads, and of course, a bell. Occasionally, I will thread in a couple "cheerio-like" vitamin treats, which he actually likes.