Flower stick ****tutorial*** pic heavy

I started with a piece of poplar this time.
Pre drill holes, I drilled four holes at the top, middle and bottom for the flowers. In this toy I also drilled several larger holes for straws. Follow the shreadable carnation thread by momtopercy to make the flowers. http://www.parrotforums.com/do-yourself/42308-shreddable-carnations-pic-heavy.html [/URL][/IMG]
I then pulled straws through the straw holes (optional)
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Tie a knot at the end of a rope that is around 12 inches long. Cut a square piece of cardboard, poke a hole in the center, run it down to the knot. Take a set of coffee filters and push them down the rope
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Tie a knot on the other side of the coffee filter to tighten the filters together.
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Pull the flower through one of the holes and tie a knot on the other side of hole.
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Push another flower down the other side of rope and tie it off the same way the first flower was done.
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Repeat the process for remaining holes.

Finished result
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Excellent shredding toy!

Great tutorial! Thank you

Thank you for Sharing!!! I'm gunna have to try to make this!

That was excellent

Really nice design. Your bird is sure to love this... I haven't met a bird who didn't like shreddable toys. Inexpensive too!

Ingenious!!! I'm definately going to make one of these for Percy!

Thanks so much for sharing

Its a very fun toy to make. I hid prizes in each flower *nuts, beads, paper* and I stuck a few peanuts in the straws. It takes a about an hour to make and your birds could destroy it within minutes (depending on size) but they will love it. It is pretty easy to repair after its been made the first time.
Im glad everyone liked the new toy and would love to see what others have come up with

Is this a branch from a tree you cut yourself? If so, do you have to treat the branch like baking it or something to ensure there's no bacteria etc.? I used to have a chin and they LOVE apple tree branches, but if you get your own from local trees, you had to bake them first. The toy looks amazing!

DanR said:

Is this a branch from a tree you cut yourself? If so, do you have to treat the branch like baking it or something to ensure there's no bacteria etc.? I used to have a chin and they LOVE apple tree branches, but if you get your own from local trees, you had to bake them first. The toy looks amazing!

Click to expand...

Yes, if you use wood from the yard you have to sterilize it. My method is baking it for 2 hours at 225 degrees.
you can use pine dowels or pvc pipe to make this toy as well which is a little easier.

Macawlover12 said:

DanR said:

Is this a branch from a tree you cut yourself? If so, do you have to treat the branch like baking it or something to ensure there's no bacteria etc.? I used to have a chin and they LOVE apple tree branches, but if you get your own from local trees, you had to bake them first. The toy looks amazing!

Click to expand...

Yes, if you use wood from the yard you have to sterilize it. My method is baking it for 2 hours at 225 degrees.
you can use pine dowels or pvc pipe to make this toy as well which is a little easier.

Click to expand...

OK good to know, thank you! Yes I was thinking of using a dowel but my neighbor used to give me pieces of apple tree and was wondering if I could still use that. Good to know it should still be baked, should be done anyhow just in case there's bugs under the bark etc. Are fruit tree branches OK for a Caique?

Dan

I think apple is ok but check out Safe and Dangerous Woods for a more complete list. I usually stick with pine, poplar, and spruce. Make sure you get it away from roadways (fumes from cars and road treatments) and away from farmland that have used pesticides.

i a so going to have to make that!thank you!!!!!!

I also made flowers that I tied to various parts of the cage. Makes for more foraging opportunities and makes the cage pretty I love the coffee filters because they fluff very easily and I can buy them in bulk from bj's for very little money. If you plan to dye them, you may need to double the dye recipe. I used 8oz of alcohol and .50oz of food coloring. The filters really soak up a lot of liquid.

To make them more challenging I drilled holes in Easter egg halves and pulled the flowers through them so they are hidden in the egg half. It will force the bird to chew through the pedals, rather than just going for the treat part of the flower.