How often do you buy toys?

Hi again!

Back in November I adopted an older (almost 18-years) jenday conure. When she arrived for a whole month I didn't buy her any new toys to help her adjust, but then realized that the "toys" she had she didn't play with. She was VERY bored with them, never touched them once. They were harder toys, one was all 5" thick wood block pieces and the other was dog raw hides so I was confused as to why they were in her cage to begin with. At that point I bought her 3-4 toys and quickly found out that she's a very destructive little critter.

In less than the past month I've spent close to $100 on new toys for her... Which she rips apart anywhere from a few hours to a week after being put in her cage. Now this is great because she had issues plucking so this is helping her feathers grow but I just bought these toys!! :17:

I've had parakeets for 5 years now and probably haven't spent anywhere close to $100 yet on them since it takes them a good 3-5 months to destroy a toy and I constantly have to swap them out since it takes them so long. That's not happening with the conure.

How often do you buy toys for your birds and how much is a realistic amount to budget for them?

you should try pinterest and looking into making your own toys to save some cash! plus I bet it would be fun

kimbell said:

you should try pinterest and looking into making your own toys to save some cash! plus I bet it would be fun

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I would love to, I already tried with one toy but she didn't touch it at all. I cut the shoelaces off of 6 pairs of sneakers so I'm hoping I can turn that into something for her to play with.

Go to the Home Depot and hit up their "cut and cull" bin. Yesterday I bought a 2X4, a 1X4 and a 1X8, all full length boards (though warped and cracked) for two bucks. Those, along with other bits and bobs from my toy bin, will make a dozen or more toys of various sizes for my flock.

ETA: I go for the untreated pine for toys.

I just want to say GOOD for YOU for making the little guy happy! At last...

My guy likes low-budget stuff... paper towels, stainless steel washers/screws/links, clearance kitchen utensils, stuff like that.

I buy toys at least once a month. At most 2 months.
I mostly make toys with cardboard, scraps from my arts (I make sure they are bird safe) those cardboard rolls from paper towels, and paper. I also used some of those things you put coins in (I don't know what they are called). My birds are very, Very, VERY Destructive.

It is much cheaper to make your own toys, I spend around $30 on toys, and $0 to make my own.




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I binge-buy all kinds of pieces parts when I see them (wood, leather, beads, chain, clasps, nuts/bolts, coconuts, kids toys). I build some toys and put the rest away. When we need more toys, I break out the boxes (and I mean full boxes of parts and old toys that can be re-used or partially re-used) and build some more. Change out the toys and put all the extras away.

This weekend will likely be a toy making weekend - I came home to all kinds of destruction last night ) toys pulled off the cage and toothpicks everywhere - it was like a mini tornado hit! I swear, if I could only find a way to market the toothpicks (wood slivers left from wood toys) I'd be very well off!
I have lots of full length un-treated lumber that will I will cut, drill and make into toys. This is also done in bulk, I cut and drill way more than I need to replenish the toy boxes.

I only buy pre built toys when I see something I really like and/or can't make.

So, I guess to answer your question I only binge periodically but look for ideas and watch for deals all the time.

The bigger the Parrot the deeper the toothpick pile under them!

That all said, as stated above, DIY is the only salvation from the high costs of chew toys.

When you are visiting the big box store, remember to stay clear of the treated lumber!!! Also, target 'trim' grade lumber, which is softer than construction (structural) grade lumber for mid to smaller Parrots. Mid to larger Parrots have the Beak force to cut harder wood, 2 x 4's, 2 x 6's as an example.

Remember that there are always those toys that for whatever reason are not liked. They make perfect pieces for something else.

Have Fun!!!

Like many things, depends on the bird. My sun conure and Senegal would destroy their toys, meaning I replaced them frequently. The sun conure really only seemed interested in chew toys, so I bought a bunch of toy parts (wood blocks and sisal twine) and made them myself. He needed a new one every couple weeks. The Senegal I found didn't need to chew as much and mostly did so when he got bored with a toy, so I rotated his non-chew toys to keep him from chewing on them and found that I only had to replace the chew toys a cople times a year. My lovebirds had no interest in any toys I tried giving them, but I realized they liked those strips of woven palm leaves you can shred, so I bought a big roll of that and tied it in their cages, replacing it when it wore down to the knot. They also liked toilet paper tubes, however the female used strips of those to make nests so I stopped giving them to her (the palm shreds in such a way she couldn't tear it off and weave it into a nest), though I kept giving them to the male.

With my current birds, they're completely non-destructive; they seem to have no interest in chew toys and surprisingly little interest in chewing my shirts. They do have a couple bells, and I'm thinking they also might like food puzzle toys and preening toys, but since haven't gotten tired of their bells and are still treating my apartment as a novel experience, I haven't given them new toys yet. I've heard that you should rotate toys every month or so, but that seems to be average. With the Senegal, every 2-3 weeks seemed to be a better rule (except the food puzzle toy, which he never got tired of), whereas my current birds haven't gotten tired of their bells in almost two months I've had them. I personally think a good rule of thumb is to take out and replace a toy they haven't destroyed when they get bored with it, and to replace a chew toy when it starts falling apart (usually when it's half to 2/3 destroyed).

I spent a day or two reading extensively online about toy safety when I recently came home with my conure. Went to the pet store to check out their toys, and it felt like almost every "don't" was represented there!

If I see a nice toy in a store I might splurge on it, but comparing the two options, I came to the conclusion that DIY is typically both safer and cheaper if done right.

israel_gcc said:

I spent a day or two reading extensively online about toy safety when I recently came home with my conure. Went to the pet store to check out their toys, and it felt like almost every "don't" was represented there!

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Did you go to a general-purpose pet shop? I had the same reaction to on multiple issues (not just toys but cages, perches, and of course food) with the pet shop I got my first birds from. Then I discovered there was a specialist shop who breed their own birds (to get one from them you need to visit with the bird several times while they educate you on its care), and it was amazing to for once see everything done right!

Sadly there's no specialist bird store in Austin anymore (thought there's a couple that are better than your run-of-the-mill stores), despite having over twice the population of my home area. Since the Austin area has a lot more bird breeders than my home region, I find the absence even more surprising.

gavagai said:

israel_gcc said:

I spent a day or two reading extensively online about toy safety when I recently came home with my conure. Went to the pet store to check out their toys, and it felt like almost every "don't" was represented there!

Click to expand...

Did you go to a general-purpose pet shop? I had the same reaction to on multiple issues (not just toys but cages, perches, and of course food) with the pet shop I got my first birds from. Then I discovered there was a specialist shop who breed their own birds (to get one from them you need to visit with the bird several times while they educate you on its care), and it was amazing to for once see everything done right!

Sadly there's no specialist bird store in Austin anymore (thought there's a couple that are better than your run-of-the-mill stores), despite having over twice the population of my home area. Since the Austin area has a lot more bird breeders than my home region, I find the absence even more surprising.

Click to expand...

Haha yes, it was a general pet store. Not aware of any specialist stores near me, unfortunately. This country is a few years behind the US when it comes to pet services, and prices are higher for what is available (the prices get marked up like 5 times vs prices in the US; I've checked). So the situation with me is a probably little more extreme than it is for most users here.

I have had good results with aquarium equipment from (North American site) bigalspets.com - they have a lot of parrot supplies too at good prices. (Or at least prices that look good to me!)

I had to leave JoJo for a week and am in Memphis. When I left, I promised him I would bring back something nice! There is an off the wall pet store here(Jim's Pets), but! Not open weekends, closes 4pm! Can't make it there before EOD! A bit stressed, not wanting to get a Petco/Petsmart throwaway!

I buy toys like every 2 weeks. Not because Ollie totally destroys them (he does eventually) but because I just can't stop. It's an addition...I just love him having new things to play with and do. We have this giant clear plastic box with the toys in it. Every 2 or 3 days I switch all the toys in Ollie's cage/play stands. It's so much fun!

If I had to buy a new toy for every time my bird destroys something, i would be broke!
Customizing toy building for your birds is a real trial or error thing. I like to take note of what aspects my birds like on their toys as well. Some of my birds have preferred chewing up wood while others like leather or just paper. I like to buy a variety of toy parts and see what works best for their play. it is so rewarding when they like it! I think my favorite toy accomplishment is when i half sewed a lot of large buttons/large colorful beads onto a thin piece of fabric and my 'too loved to try to pull them out because she is less of a chewer and more of a ...dissassembler? Lol