Why I rarely waste money on parrot toys!

[Kiwibird]

As many of you know, I tend to give Kiwi baby toys from the Goodwill (which he LOVES) or make my own. Every once in a blue moon though, I buy him a parrot toy at petsmart. It's not that I don't love him, but my god is it a waste of money.

I bought him a $15 leather and wood bead toy recently and just hung it in his cage about 15 minutes ago. After breakfast, he went up, took out the knots and flung all the beads right to the floor (some landed right in poop) Toy destruction time= 5 minutes flat. Now he wants more toys! I have some plastic hangers I'll be making toys out of later (and will include photos). I know everyone looks for good deals and most of you make some of your toys, but am I the only one who thinks they make the ones in the store deliberately easy to destroy so owners have to keep shelling out $$$ all the time:20:

 

[Ann333]

Lol i guess im lucky to have a smaller birdy. It takes him a while to get through a favorite toy. Usually at least a week (depending on the material). But yes if i had a bigger bird i would definitely make a lot more of his toys, because you're right haha. Sneaky toy makers, we are onto you!

I have been trying to start making more toys, it is fun and a lot cheaper! I cant wait to see pics of your hanger toy, maybe it will give me some ideas.

 

[Newbsi]

Im waiting too....

 

[SoCalWendy]

Oh, I definitely waste my money on bird toys because I am just too lazy to make them. I also wouldn't have a clue as how to get started either. I am dead in the creativity department. I can repurpose like, a plastic hanger by hanging (store bought) toys off of it, but thats about how far I get when it comes to creativity.

 

[OOwl]

Oh, I hear you, but my RB cockatoo has one toy that PetSmart sells for about $9 that he could destroy in a single day (and DOES!) but, WOW, how he enjoys it! They sometimes put them on sale (both in store and on their website) and I stock up. I give him those when I need a day of peace (working on a deadline, have to be gone most of the day, when we're sick, or when I have guests staying here). I make toys, too, but he's used to those. He's a wood chewer and, sadly, Goodwill just doesn't have much in the line of parrot-safe woods. My Grey likes the baby toys.

I'm also not that good at making toys. I did buy the straw-cutter tool, though. My birds LOVE toys with those curly straw shreds and it was just too expensive to keep buying those. Now I curly-cut straws while I watch TV. But for the most part, I'm not at all creative or handy at making bird toys.

 

[Christinenc2000]

2 x 4's is my go to. Also most any cardboard. I read some time back that you check goodwill story. I do that now and then here.

 

[MyFlock]

I keep telling myself I need to this, I have yet to do it. I've probably spent near $1,000 on toys within the last two months alone!

 

[Taw5106]

Agreed! Venus is my toy lover. I save popsicle sticks, toilet paper rolls (empty), bottle caps, plastic spoons, and she loves to destroy my hair ties while my hair is tied so I keep plenty of those around.

 

[PaulaB]

I agree the store bought toys are so expensive and my birds dont really like the store ones. We make our own toys, way cheaper or we use baby toys for them.

 

[Mimsy01]

We make our own mostly. Foo is usually frightened by the toys from stores anyways. I have to wear it for awhile. If I'm wearing it, then it's cool. We just cut up wood here, get big bags of popsicle sticks, we buy sisal, fleece, palm leaves and rope in bulk, the kids have a huge closet of old stuffed toys and we just use all that kinda stuff. I am a regular at the dollar tree, thrift stores and the art supply stores. If we want more color i just soak stuff in a food dye, vinegar and water mix.

Between Foo and the rats we go through a ton of stuff.

 

[Newbsi]

speaking of parrot toys... I just got a box from Dr Foster and smith. I think she is good for a bit now

 

[Ann333]

Ohh! I want to go shopping at my safe bird store and buy toy parts!! Then i could make SOOOO many toys!

 

[Kiwibird]

I keep telling myself I need to this, I have yet to do it. I've probably spent near $1,000 on toys within the last two months alone!

OMG that would bankrupt us

 

[AJBirds]

I love the idea of making homemade toys, but I just don't do enough of it! My biggest issue with homemade toys is regarding their safety. I worry too much, and I'm always stressed that Pixie might ingest some rope or unsafe metal/plastics/glue/something.

For instance, I've given her cardboard TP rolls to play with, which I'm pretty sure are ok, but I still worry about the glue used to hold the TP together.

Also, making toys takes so much time! Which I just don't have enough of. (And yet, I have enough of it to read/post on here )

Finally, toy stores are just soo tempting! Since I live in Australia, Pixie has loved almost every toy I've bought her off myparrotshop. I tend to buy the ones that are harder to destroy, and have shredded parrot-safe colored paper for refilling shredding/foraging toys with. In terms of destructables, she also loves inexpensive wicker balls. Yep, I'm also one of those people who's spent 1000s on their bird, but so far the toys (plastic, leather, stainless steel) have held up, so it doesn't feel like tooo much of a waste. And yes, I'm justifying a bit Especially since I'm planning to extend Pixie's outdoor play area (in my study) with more toys!!