Allee
Well-known member
Start with the perch, cut the perch with the size of your bird and the available space for the swing in mind. Natural, hard wood is best, if you use dowels, buy hard wood rather than pine, soft pine will split when you attempt to drill. I used crepe myrtle because I have a huge supply and it's the perfect wood for perches and toys. The budgie perch is birch. If you cut your own perches, you can drill through the center of a piece of wood, lengthwise, then cut slices to use for decorations. DO NOT drill your hand, I've done it, it's very painful. I scrub my wood with a bristle brush and hot water, rinse well and bake at 200 degrees fahrenheit for an hour.
Poppy's perch is wrapped with sisal cord. This isn't necessary but I wanted a pedi perch that will be easy on her feet. The sisal can be removed at a future date for a different perch texture.
For the sisal perch, you will need two holes drilled at each end of the perch, half inch apart for small, 3/4 inch for the XX-Large.
For the sides of the perch, you will need a cheap hoola hoop, the smallest diameter you can find, no glitter or metallic plastic (the method used for glitter and metallic colors is dangerous if chewed), color doesn't matter it will be covered. Cut the hoop pieces for the size swing you want. Be sure both pieces are the same length. They are curved so mark your pieces before you cut, don't let the optical illusion throw off your measurements. Drill a hole through both ends of the hoop pieces.
To put the swing together, I used untreated sisal cord but you can use SS chain, cotton rope, or colored sisal. For the largest swing I used two pieces of sisal, folded to form a loop, I used an SS ring threaded onto both pieces of cord before feeding the cord into the hoop pieces. Cut your sisal long enough to attach the perch with enough left over to tie a knot and have a few extra inches to attach toys or you can unravel the sisal and tie knots at the ends.
There is a little more than 1 1/3 yards of fleece in Poppy's swing. Lay out your fleece and cut it into strips. Make sure you cut the strips so they stretch. I don't measure, I cut a practice strip and tie it onto the hoop and adjust until I have a strip about the right size. You'll want very sharp scissors if you're making a big swing. You can use pinking sheers but your hands will hate you for it.
Tie one fleece strip through each of the four holes in the hoop pieces. This will anchor the other strips and cover the ends of the hoop pieces. Tie the knots as tight as possible, spiral the knots as you tie them and push them up close, if you line the knots up straight, all the fluff will be on one side of the swing. You can trim off the excess fleece to shape the swing. Unravel the sisal cord and attach toys or tie knots in the ends of each strand.
The toys attached to Poppy's swings are rattles found in the baby section of any department store. They come with a cloth bracelet that closes with velcro. Poppy won't chew into them but if your bird is a chewer, use toys that you know are safe for your bird.
Poppy is still grounded from the computer, but she wanted to say hi and let you know that she has slept in her swing for two nights now and she hasn't been incinerated and her feet have not melted. Her old swing is still her first love but she's thinking she may keep the new one.
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