Kiwibird
Well-known member
- Jul 12, 2012
- 9,539
- 111
- Parrots
- 1 BFA- Kiwi. Hatch circa 98', forever home with us Dec. 08'
In the spirit of halloween I thought I'd do a thread on toys I use "zombie" parts for off old, "dead" toys I brought back to life:43: I don't usually post pics of these kinds of toys because they don't look super nice, but I think a lot of people could learn about getting more bang for your buck out of store bought toys! These tips may not work for big chewers, but most birds don't ruin a whole toy, though the whole toy will go in the trash when parts get ruined!
So when your bird chews up part of a toy or doesn't even look at it/hates it, what do you do with it? Don't toss it out quite yet because parts are no longer safe or usable or loved by the bird in it's current form! I throw mine in a drawer when they get too ripped up, become dangerous or Kiwi simply did not like them/paly with them. I let them collect over a couple months and end up with a bunch of things that look like this:
About every 2/3 months, I'll set aside an afternoon, pull them all out and get to work salvaging what I can. That involves disassembling the toys and tossing out anything that isn't worth saving. I usually go by more than 1/2 chewed off wood blocks=trash time, just the edged nibbled=keeper. I also remove anything dangerous, including on toys I find at garage sales ext... Once I've got them apart, I will take the nibbled wood beads outside and lightly sand the chewed edges to remove big splinters. Then I wash EVERYTHING under HOT running water, "need it" or not! Expect wood beads or dyed rope to bleed and get lighter. I promise your bird won't care. You will want to dry on an old towel you don't mind getting slightly tie-dyed. With the rope, when it's wet it is very easy to just kind of rotate it between your fingers and have the "frayed" part go right back to how it should be so it can be re-used. And yes, there were a few more toys I took apart than in the pic above, but this is what I came up with yesterday in totally usable parts of otherwise unusable toys:
Once they dry, then you'll just need to put them back together! One of the reasons "my toys turn out good" is using parts from store bought toys that are pre-drilled and designed to be in parrot toys. And by keeping rotating them as long as they are safe and useful, I save a ton of money on toys. I mean, have you SEEN how much big parrot toys are these days
And to think, Kiwi (and every birdie else) doesn't care if theres a few nibbles off the edges or the dye is faded!
Drilled a few extra holes in this very common coconut toy, and added a foraging cup inside (which you cannot see)
Kiwi doesn't really need a preening toy, but I found an old budgie toys, took off the bells and got to thinking what I could do. I'm sure Kiwi will play with it, but this is a really easy toy for those of you with pluckers and over preeners to make! Just cut micro fleece into strips and tie it around a large ring!
This braid used to have numerous wood beads, but he untied the knots and took them all off. Hopefully I can get him excited about all these java wood chunks I bought on MSBS. So far, not even nibbles, and I've used them in a couple toys. He just unties them, flings them and poops on them
Not very pretty, but totally functional! Just all old, slightly chewed beads
Same here, not a pretty toy, but lots of chewing, knots to untie, beads ext...
Hope everyone starts saving those old toys from now on so you can also "bring them back from the dead"!
So when your bird chews up part of a toy or doesn't even look at it/hates it, what do you do with it? Don't toss it out quite yet because parts are no longer safe or usable or loved by the bird in it's current form! I throw mine in a drawer when they get too ripped up, become dangerous or Kiwi simply did not like them/paly with them. I let them collect over a couple months and end up with a bunch of things that look like this:
About every 2/3 months, I'll set aside an afternoon, pull them all out and get to work salvaging what I can. That involves disassembling the toys and tossing out anything that isn't worth saving. I usually go by more than 1/2 chewed off wood blocks=trash time, just the edged nibbled=keeper. I also remove anything dangerous, including on toys I find at garage sales ext... Once I've got them apart, I will take the nibbled wood beads outside and lightly sand the chewed edges to remove big splinters. Then I wash EVERYTHING under HOT running water, "need it" or not! Expect wood beads or dyed rope to bleed and get lighter. I promise your bird won't care. You will want to dry on an old towel you don't mind getting slightly tie-dyed. With the rope, when it's wet it is very easy to just kind of rotate it between your fingers and have the "frayed" part go right back to how it should be so it can be re-used. And yes, there were a few more toys I took apart than in the pic above, but this is what I came up with yesterday in totally usable parts of otherwise unusable toys:
Once they dry, then you'll just need to put them back together! One of the reasons "my toys turn out good" is using parts from store bought toys that are pre-drilled and designed to be in parrot toys. And by keeping rotating them as long as they are safe and useful, I save a ton of money on toys. I mean, have you SEEN how much big parrot toys are these days
And to think, Kiwi (and every birdie else) doesn't care if theres a few nibbles off the edges or the dye is faded!
Drilled a few extra holes in this very common coconut toy, and added a foraging cup inside (which you cannot see)
Kiwi doesn't really need a preening toy, but I found an old budgie toys, took off the bells and got to thinking what I could do. I'm sure Kiwi will play with it, but this is a really easy toy for those of you with pluckers and over preeners to make! Just cut micro fleece into strips and tie it around a large ring!
This braid used to have numerous wood beads, but he untied the knots and took them all off. Hopefully I can get him excited about all these java wood chunks I bought on MSBS. So far, not even nibbles, and I've used them in a couple toys. He just unties them, flings them and poops on them
Not very pretty, but totally functional! Just all old, slightly chewed beads
Same here, not a pretty toy, but lots of chewing, knots to untie, beads ext...
Hope everyone starts saving those old toys from now on so you can also "bring them back from the dead"!
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