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Dec 23, 2009, 12:35am

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Topic: toys (Read 151 times)

woodysmom
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toys
« Thread Started on Mar 8, 2008, 10:04pm »

hi all. at the last bird club meeting I brought all the supplies for making your own budget-friendly bird toys. I thought you might all like a recap of what was there and where it came from:

Large bags of rafia are available from Hobby Lobby for about $4
small bundles of rafia were available the last time I was at the Dollar Tree, for only $1

Speaking of dollar Tree, they regularly have dog toys suitable for bird use (like the braided rope things we used last time), again, only $1-my foster birdies also liked the chains of shower curtain rings I would put in their cages-it's like 10 or 12 rings for a dollar.

Natural Wooden Sthingys are available in many places for around $1-$1.50 each- I drilled a hole in one end after I put the handle through a straw hat purchased from Hobby Lobby (under $2) and then ran a small piece of wire through it to be able to attach a quick link.

unfinished blocks/balls/wheels/shapes of wood can be purchased in multi-packs from Hobby Lobby, Prairie Gardens, Michaels or Walmart and then stained using a slightly diluted solution of food coloring. The more you dilute it the paler the colors will be on the blocks. Blocks can then be strung on wire or leather.

The wire I bought was from Lowes in a 200 ft roll for around $6

Packages of Leather string can be purchased from craft supply stores or Walmart.

The packages of brown paper bags were sold for 13 in a package at Hobby Lobby for around $2.- by cutting holes in the bag and filing the bag with the rafia, you can make your bird a great toy for around $0.81, an amount sure to make any budget happy!

One of the other toys I showed was the chinese finger cuffs filled with rafia. The finger cuffs are typically sold as party favors, though I was lucky enough to find these at the dollar tree (though I believe I bought them all out-sorry!) but they should also be available at places like factory card outlet or dallas and company. (let us all know if you find them someplace else as well)
The best way I found to insert the rafia was by folding over one end and pushing it through the fingercuff while holding it at its most compressed state. then when you have it through the other end, you can pull the ends out that you had folded over.

Muffin Cups, Coffee Filters and other multipack paper products are also a great option because you get so many pieces for the amount you spend.

Things like Rubber duckies, or the hard rubber style dog toys make a good addition to bird toys because they already have one of the holes that you need pre drilled for you. I DO NOT recommend using the soft rubber dog toys.

Many items sold for dogs or for children are usable for birds as well. Use your judgement, make sure they are not painted, don't have small or loose pieces, don't have any sharp edges and aren't made of a material that could be easily broken and eaten by your bird.

Anyone other tips or ideas that anyone has-feel free to share, I know that I am always looking for ways to avoid paying the big bucks for toys that my bird seems to go through in about 5 minutes!!!
Cindi R

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angelwings
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Re: toys
« Reply #1 on Jun 8, 2008, 7:15pm »

One of the best toys for the large birds is still just plain old pine 2x4's, drill holes in them and thread sisal string through them.

One of the best toys I have found for the smaller birds is the plastic chain, can put cotton material through them or just plain.

Angelwings

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hessflock
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Re: toys
« Reply #2 on Nov 24, 2008, 9:06pm »

Hello Every one,

Thinking about saving $$ but making your birdies very happy is by visiting the thrift stores or even the garage sales and getting all the belts you can, especially the leather ones, they come in all sorts of shapes and lengths. I use the leather belts for my medium and big birds, some of those belts come with designs like wholes all over, I hang through them all sorts of links, toys, rope, chains, etc. to make it more interesting.

The child size plastic belts, I use them for medium to small birdies (small amazons, conures, all the way down to the budgies). Again, I use the buckle to hung it from their cage and the wholes to add interesting toys. I have also seen the leather belts that come braided, my big birdies love them because they spend hours and hours trying to undue the braids, and once they are all undue, they play and chew on them.

When the big birds chew them and they still in a good size, I place them on the small cages for the small birdies, so you really get a very good use of them. At the end, the left overs (Bucles), I use them to string bells or place rolled magazines or newspapers. If you have any other idea, please share them with all of us.

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Birds on a Budget Admin
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Re: toys
« Reply #3 on Nov 27, 2008, 7:18am »

How great an idea, I am going to try that and make sure you tell us about somemore of the great toys you make out of things we would never think of. I love the mop head I have got to get to the dollare store and get some. We all know how expensive toys are and how much fun the babies have and let me tell you all this lady can make some fun toys.

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