Toy Box Suggestion

If we could give you just one suggestion it would be to give your bird a "toy box" with lots of toy parts and foot toys.  We use a plain wicker basket with a handle hung over a large perch in the middle of the cage.  We also have some extra food dishes that hold small toys and toy parts.

Inspect Daily: We clean out the basket (and the cage floor) every night.  Everything is inspected and dirty items are cleaned.  We refill the basket completely to the top and put it back in her cage in the morning. 

Where to Buy: We get the baskets at craft stores.  We find they run 40-50% off sales about every 6-8 weeks.  After the discount, we pay $4-7 per basket.  Our cockatoo goes through one or two baskets a month.

SAFETY: Keep the basket pretty close to the bottom of the cage.  Our bird chewed through the handle of the first two baskets while she was in the basket.  She was very surprised when the basket crashed to the floor.  We wrapped the handle with rope to prevent her from chewing the handle so fast but we don't need to do this any more because she doesn't chew the handle very much.  Depending on the size and weight of your bird and the basket, you may want to tie the basket to the perch (doubled laces or rope work well).  That way the basket won't flip over if your bird climbs on the handle.

Remaking Old Toys

Bird owners tell us about toys their bird won't play with.  Here's how to remake old toys. 

Inspect.  First, check the old toy for any safety concerns such as broken parts, loops that could trap your bird's head or feet, or sharp edges. Discard anything that is unsafe.

Assemble Supplies.  Gather your old parts to recycle.  Clean the old parts.  Set up new parts.

Design.  Decide if you're going to make hanging toy, foot toys, or both.  There are many suggestions for toys on our toy parts pages.  You can also remake an old favorite toy with new parts.

Build.  Put the toys together.  We usually make many toys at one time.  This saves time on set up and clean up time.

Toy Making Basics

How to Color Bird Toys 

Many bird owners are interested in coloring wood and rope themselves.  Here are a couple options for dyeing toys.

• Cake Food Color (Paste or Gel)
  You can purchase cake food color gel or paste where cake decorating supplies are sold.  
  • Add a one-ounce jar of color to one quart of hot water.
• Natural Food and Vegetable Coloring
  Many foods can also be used to color or dye toy parts.  They're messier and harder to use than the cake food color.  
  Make sure any food item you use is clean, fresh, and stored properly to avoid contamination by bacteria or mold.
  • Red - beet juice
  • Blue - juice from canned blueberries
  • Yellow - boil onion skins (brown paper portion) in a small pan with water and a teaspoon of white vinegar.  Let stand (cold) overnight.
  • Green - mix blue and yellow
  • Purple - mix red and blue

These colors have sugar in them.  Store and use carefully to avoid spoilage.  Allow the wood to dry completely before storing.

Homemade Toys

• Wicker basket (unfinished wicker) filled with toys and pieces (wood, rings, pacifiers, acrylic toys, chain, etc.)  Hang low in cage or put on floor.  
  • We hang the basket over a perch and wrap the handle with Paulie Rope to keep our bird from chewing through the handle so quickly.  We remove the basket at night to clean and inspect for safety.  
  • Watch for sales.  The craft stores put wicker baskets on sale several times a year.
• "Toy box" (extra food dish) filled with wood pieces or large beads/rings daily
• Stainless steel (SS) bolts, washers, and wing nuts threaded through plastic chain.  Thread beads or rings on the bolts too.  See Hardware page.
• Shredded paper (clean from our office shredder) sometimes stuffed in a Kleenex box and tied to the side of the cage.  Hide a peanut or other treat inside.
• Toy in a Box.  Put a nut or toy in a small box.  Our bird's favorite is an almond hidden in a small box.  See the foraging toy pages for more suggestions.
• Wrap toy parts or treats in clean, dried corn husks (tamale wrappers) and tie the ends with cotton rope or leather laces.  Option: Slide beads or rings over the rolled up ends of the corn husks instead of tying them closed.
  Note: Depending on where you live, corn husks may be called corn shucks.  
• Foot toy "rattles" made from beads, rings, and rope or leather lace.
• Plastic chain hung with toy parts (beads, rings, pacifiers, wood, etc.) tied to it

Interactive Games and Toys

• "Ring toss."  We have a platform with a stainless steel bolt and use 1, 2, and 3-inch plastic rings.  
• Climbing on people and using them as play gyms.
• Visit other rooms in the house.
• Hopping up and down the stairs.

Interactive Toys   *from Bird Talk January 2009 Issue

Inexpensive Toys to Make for Your Bird

How to Attach Dice or Small Beads:

1. Tie a knot in the Paulie rope. 
2. Trim the end so the knot will be against the die or a small bead. (Leave about ¼ inch of rope past the knot.)
3. Hold the item with pliers, not your fingers.  Put a little hot glue in the hole. 
4. Push the end of the rope into the hot glue in the hole (all the way to the knot) and hold about 5 seconds.

    
  Sample toy.  Add more 'legs' to make a 'spider toy.'

SAFETY:  Do NOT use a glue gun near your birds.  It makes some smoke.  We glue in the garage.

HINT:  We like to make toys (that don't require the glue gun) while our bird is watching.  She gets pretty wound up by the time we're finished.  Of course, we never build toys where our bird can see them unless the toy is for her.  Enjoy!