What can I make with plastic chains?

[MomtoPercy]

So I came across this plastic chain in a local store and had to have it :54:
It is thick hard (but not the brittle type) plastic and the links in the chain are about 3cm long.

Now that I have three metres of the stuff, it's just sitting there... Any suggestions on what I can make with it for Percy?

What do you do with chains?

 

[Betrisher]

I hang things from plastic chains (eg. a wire hanging plant basket lined with paper and full of chewy toys). I have it hanging in festoons from the playgym (which is suspended from the ceiling) so my Galah can climb up and be King of the World. I've used it to make a swing (attached a thick piece of curtain rod with screw-in hooks). You can hang short lengths from a single curtain ring and put a whiffle ball on the ends of each. Oh, and you can tuck things into the links and make a sort of foraging/shredding toy.

If you're worried about potential toe damage (depends on the size of your bird), you can thread sisal rope through the links to reduce the likelihood of a toe getting caught.

 

[MomtoPercy]

Excellent tips, thanks!

 

[Megapixel]

Just yesterday, I cut some lengths of sisal rope and untwisted the three main strands and tied a couple of pieces to a few of the links on some plastic chain. I haven't given it to the birds yet.

 

[MomtoPercy]

Just yesterday, I cut some lengths of sisal rope and untwisted the three main strands and tied a couple of pieces to a few of the links on some plastic chain. I haven't given it to the birds yet.

I have a huge ball of sisal rope but I've nevr used it. All the "sticky outie bits" look like claw trappers to me . Don't you find your fids' claws get trapped in it? I'd love to use it because I like the natural look it has so I'm keen to hear about your experience with it, if you don't mind?

 

[Betrisher]

I hate the stuff, but my birds love it! Over time, they eventually pluck off all the sticky-outy bits and the rope is very serviceable, lasting much longer than cotton rope does. Also, sisal is a lot less likely to shed off 'fluff' that a bird could swallow. (My birds don't chew much on rope so it's not a worry for me, but yours might.)

If you check on YouTube and search under 'eye splicing', you can learn how to splice a loop into the ends of your rope. This is extremely useful for hanging it from perches or looping it through itself - now that I've learned how, I'm finding I eye-splice nearly every bit of rope that comes my way. LOL!

I've used thin sisal for wrapping circular swings and pvc perches. I've got a huge piece of 1" thick sisal which I'll eventually drape artfully through the big cage (not sure how just yet - but I have eye-spliced the ends in readiness ) I've hung a piece of knotted sisal (ie. knots ever six inches or so) from our suspended playgym so that Dominic can climb up there. Oh, and I've used it (eye-spliced at both ends) to hang an OpShop icebucket which is filled with shredded paper, bits of pasta, plastic bottletops, wooden chewy toys and peanuts in the shell. If the stuff you have is thick enough, you could wind it onto a straightened-out wire coathanger and use it to make an orbit or bendy perch.

So yeah. It's not the nicest stuff to handle, but it really is good for birds.

 

[MomtoPercy]

Oh boy, such cool ideas! Wonder if I can call in sick at work today....

 

[Betrisher]

Oh, I could write you a note! (I used to write sick-notes for my sister when we were kids - I was really good at copying Mum's signature).

 

[MomtoPercy]

LOL @ Betrisher! Thanks, please email it to my boss. I will pm you the details.

 

[Calace]

I have a length of plastic chain from one side of the cage to the other like a bridge. Ollie likes to hang upside down from it!