My DIY Playgyms I just made!

Blancaej

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Apr 5, 2013

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Middlebury, VT

Parrots

CAG Quincy - BD 3/27/00. Gotcha 6/00 ~ GW Macaw Savannah - BD 6/21/93. Gotcha 4/13 ~ B&G Macaw Coqui - BD 9/3/03. Gotcha 10/13 ~ Blue Crown Conure Sidney - BD Unknown Approx 5 Years Old. Gotcha 6/15/

• May 29, 2013

• #1

So I finally finished these new great play gyms and t-stands I made for my birdie buddies! I've made them from PVC. I found this great book that gave me directions on how to put them together. Which was really helpful. I tried making a pvc perch years ago and it was way to flimsy. So having step by step help in designing it was great!

Here are some pics:

Savannah's Play Gym

Savannah's Play Gym

Quincy's Play Gym

Savannah's T-Stand

Quincy's T-Stand

I was able to build in a swing on both gyms. They are both getting used to them and haven't really moved around on them much, but I figured that will improve with time! The newspaper on the floor I may opt not to use. My floor is protected with plastic which is easy to clean. So I think whipping up the mess and sweeping should be enough. I think they are so new that I just was trying to keep them looking pretty for the pics! I haven't tried the t-stands yet, but look forward to having a couple of good portable perches to use around the house! Next on my DIY list is window/shower perches and possible car perches for going back and forth to work only!

 

W

weco

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Nov 24, 2010

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Nanday, suns, parrotlet, Patagonian

• May 29, 2013

• #2

Nice job Blanca.....are you looking for a career in the construction industry ? ? ?

 

OP

Blancaej

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Apr 5, 2013

2,329

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Middlebury, VT

Parrots

CAG Quincy - BD 3/27/00. Gotcha 6/00 ~ GW Macaw Savannah - BD 6/21/93. Gotcha 4/13 ~ B&G Macaw Coqui - BD 9/3/03. Gotcha 10/13 ~ Blue Crown Conure Sidney - BD Unknown Approx 5 Years Old. Gotcha 6/15/

• May 29, 2013

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• #3

The guy at home depot thought I was doing a plumbing job! I'd rather make chocolates! Lol!

 

brianlinkles

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Aug 17, 2011

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Oakwood, Ohio

Parrots

i am the mom of three parrots:
Dorothy- African grey (cag)
Bowie- blue and gold macaw
Nellie- hyacinth macaw
Reggie- hyacinth macaw
Marnie- white bellied caique

• May 29, 2013

• #4

those look great! What book did you use?

 

OP

Blancaej

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Apr 5, 2013

2,329

5

Middlebury, VT

Parrots

CAG Quincy - BD 3/27/00. Gotcha 6/00 ~ GW Macaw Savannah - BD 6/21/93. Gotcha 4/13 ~ B&G Macaw Coqui - BD 9/3/03. Gotcha 10/13 ~ Blue Crown Conure Sidney - BD Unknown Approx 5 Years Old. Gotcha 6/15/

• May 30, 2013

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• #5

I got the book on Amazon. Here is the link:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Parrot-Toys-Play-Areas-Some-Parrots/dp/0967882001/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369923506&sr=8-2&keywords=parrot+book+toy"]Parrot-Toys and Play Areas : How To Put Some Fun Into Your Parrot's Life: Lauren Shannon-Nunn, Carol S. D'Arezzo: 9790967882009: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

I paid 16.95. It looks like it's on sale right now!

 

antoinette

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Jul 6, 2009

13,114

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Sunny South Africa !!!

Parrots

African "Grey"
"Mishka"
Male
7 Years old

• May 30, 2013

• #6

It looks wonderful
You have done a great job
Your birds sure are going to have hours of fun and entertainment in it

Better not show Mishka oh no.....................

 

OP

Blancaej

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Apr 5, 2013

2,329

5

Middlebury, VT

Parrots

CAG Quincy - BD 3/27/00. Gotcha 6/00 ~ GW Macaw Savannah - BD 6/21/93. Gotcha 4/13 ~ B&G Macaw Coqui - BD 9/3/03. Gotcha 10/13 ~ Blue Crown Conure Sidney - BD Unknown Approx 5 Years Old. Gotcha 6/15/

• May 30, 2013

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• #7

Thanks Antionette! It will be nice to see them actually move around on it at some point. But being the creatures they are, they must approach with caution!

 

lotosha

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Jun 29, 2012

757

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A pair of cockatiels
And pair of African Greys

• May 30, 2013

• #8

Very impressive! Was it hard to do it?

 

OP

Blancaej

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Apr 5, 2013

2,329

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Middlebury, VT

Parrots

CAG Quincy - BD 3/27/00. Gotcha 6/00 ~ GW Macaw Savannah - BD 6/21/93. Gotcha 4/13 ~ B&G Macaw Coqui - BD 9/3/03. Gotcha 10/13 ~ Blue Crown Conure Sidney - BD Unknown Approx 5 Years Old. Gotcha 6/15/

• May 30, 2013

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• #9

Not really, took a little time but the PVC is pretty easy to work with. I did use a saws all & drill. So power tools are helpful! Using the manual PVC cutter was a big pain in my butt and was taking forever! So using the saws all was much better!

 

Kalidasa

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May 8, 2013

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Michigan

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1 green cheek conure (Kumar)
2 male budgies (Charlie and Diego)

• May 30, 2013

• #10

They look really nice! Lol! Isn't that the way they are? We go out of our way to provide them with something new, exciting, and they're like "what the heck is this?" And act like its a monster to be approached with caution!

 

OP

Blancaej

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Apr 5, 2013

2,329

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Middlebury, VT

Parrots

CAG Quincy - BD 3/27/00. Gotcha 6/00 ~ GW Macaw Savannah - BD 6/21/93. Gotcha 4/13 ~ B&G Macaw Coqui - BD 9/3/03. Gotcha 10/13 ~ Blue Crown Conure Sidney - BD Unknown Approx 5 Years Old. Gotcha 6/15/

• May 30, 2013

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• #11

Yeah and of course I am super excited because I just made them and want them to try everything out now! But it doesn't work that way with our birdie friends, patience, patience, patience! LOL!

 

F

Fredkat

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Jun 2, 2013

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• Jun 2, 2013

• #12

love these. I like the way you have attached the metal cups to the ends. I am trying to figure out a good way to make a stand for an atom. My friend has a small too. She needs something for her. I want it to look nice though. She will tie rope on it when I've finished my part. Yours are awesome.

 

J

JerseyWendy

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Jul 20, 2012

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• Jun 3, 2013

• #13

AWESOME job on those playstands and T-stands!!!

Have Savannah and Quincy started moving around on them yet?

 

getwozzy

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Feb 26, 2013

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Oregon

• Jun 3, 2013

• #14

I've been wanting to build a jungle gym for Jackie, and after seeing your pics I seriously need to build him something cool like that!!! I'm jealous haha

 

OP

Blancaej

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Apr 5, 2013

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Middlebury, VT

Parrots

CAG Quincy - BD 3/27/00. Gotcha 6/00 ~ GW Macaw Savannah - BD 6/21/93. Gotcha 4/13 ~ B&G Macaw Coqui - BD 9/3/03. Gotcha 10/13 ~ Blue Crown Conure Sidney - BD Unknown Approx 5 Years Old. Gotcha 6/15/

• Jul 16, 2013

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• #15

Thanks to Fredkat, JerseyWendy & Getwozzy for the replies. I hadn't checked this post in a while! Quincy is finally moving around on his new playgym and playing with the toy rubber ball in the middle. He loves swinging it in circles. He also loves chewing off the vet tape!

Savannah on the other hand avoided the pvc at all costs. So I slowly replaced some of the smaller perches with natural wood. I also removed the colorful vet wrap awhile ago. She does not do well with colored toys or a colored play gym. But I took it a huge step forward and replaced the entire top with natural wood perches just last week. And now within just a few days, she has been all over it! Yay! Here are some pics.

Here is a all natural toy I made her this past week. She won't touch colored toys. I had one in her cage that was colored for over a month and she would not touch it. I made the below all natural toy and she is starting to chew on it already. Yay!

 

OP

Blancaej

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Apr 5, 2013

2,329

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Middlebury, VT

Parrots

CAG Quincy - BD 3/27/00. Gotcha 6/00 ~ GW Macaw Savannah - BD 6/21/93. Gotcha 4/13 ~ B&G Macaw Coqui - BD 9/3/03. Gotcha 10/13 ~ Blue Crown Conure Sidney - BD Unknown Approx 5 Years Old. Gotcha 6/15/

• Jul 17, 2013

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• #16

I forgot to add that I will be making Coqui one of these.

 

J

JerseyWendy

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• Jul 17, 2013

• #17

The playgym looks PHENOMENAL, Blanca...as does the toy!!! Isnt' funny how "little" changes can make a world of a difference to the birds?

I'm so glad Savanna is all over the gym now, and even happier that she's trying out that awesome toy you made. I have an idea of how you may get her to accept more colorful things: On the same toy you made, you can cut a strip of colorful cotton fabric and attach it to see if she wants to "preen" it. My Ripley wanted nothing to do with colorful things in the beginning either, and the colorful cottons strips got him going, along with breaking and debarking natural wood.

 

OP

Blancaej

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Apr 5, 2013

2,329

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Middlebury, VT

Parrots

CAG Quincy - BD 3/27/00. Gotcha 6/00 ~ GW Macaw Savannah - BD 6/21/93. Gotcha 4/13 ~ B&G Macaw Coqui - BD 9/3/03. Gotcha 10/13 ~ Blue Crown Conure Sidney - BD Unknown Approx 5 Years Old. Gotcha 6/15/

• Jul 17, 2013

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• #18

Great idea Wendy! I was thinking of trying to make a fabric toy because she loves preening my bright colorful t-shirts I wear for work. Only problem is, I don't want holes in them! lol! But I love your idea of adding a single strip of fabric on the toys she will touch. That way she can slowly adjust. Thanks for the awesome idea! :thumbup:

 

torrap

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Jun 10, 2013

494

4

CO, USA

Parrots

Marley-YSA (hen) -hatched 07/20/2006;
Simba-DYHA (hen)-hatched 06/23/2003

• Jul 17, 2013

• #19

I don't blame Savanna for liking all natural colored toys and perches, I like them like that too.......
What a great job on all these projects! I still have to try the combination PVC and natural wood myself. Yours look great! How do you connect the wood perch to the PVC? Is it screwed in or just pushed in tight?
My bird likes colored wood, so I brew hibiscus tea yesterday and placed bunch of wood into the brew....and they are all bright magenta as of this morning...........more toy making for me tonight.....

 

OP

Blancaej

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Apr 5, 2013

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Middlebury, VT

Parrots

CAG Quincy - BD 3/27/00. Gotcha 6/00 ~ GW Macaw Savannah - BD 6/21/93. Gotcha 4/13 ~ B&G Macaw Coqui - BD 9/3/03. Gotcha 10/13 ~ Blue Crown Conure Sidney - BD Unknown Approx 5 Years Old. Gotcha 6/15/

• Jul 17, 2013

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• #20

I like the tea idea Torrap! The branches are all screwed on with stainless steel screws. Screwing the ones onto the pvc was easy! It was the one's perches screwed into each other that was difficult, luckily my hubby came to the rescue and helped me with those!