"makeyourownbirdtoys"

Welcome to MakeYourOwnBirdToys.com - DIY bird toy parts

Anyone had experience with this? I always hear mysafebirdstore and I don't think i've ever heard of this one, is it any good?

A Bird Toy - Parrot Toys & Toy Making Supplies
also found this one

Owlet said:

Welcome to MakeYourOwnBirdToys.com - DIY bird toy parts

Anyone had experience with this? I always hear mysafebirdstore and I don't think i've ever heard of this one, is it any good?

Click to expand...

I ordered from them once. Fuji, my Moustache Parakeet, loves the little maraca rattles. I ordered 3 items from them. It arrived on time and was good quality. They even gave me a little free gift of small foot toys for my bird. I had a very positive experience ordering from them.

Let me give you my first-hand experience with making bird toys as well as stands/perches/play-gyms, as I have made ALL of my parrots toys as well as many, many, many stands and play-gyms out of both PVC and different wood branches. My mom is an artist and was an elementary art teacher for 33 years, so she is the queen of DIY arts and crafts, and she also happens to be a life-long parrot owner/breeder, so I learned everything that I know from her. She has always refused to pay the stupidly expensive prices for store-bought parrot toys; as she has always said, "They're just going to turn the thing into toothpicks in less than a month, I'm not paying $20 for that!"

I just looked through those 2 links that you posted above for the sale of the parts/pieces to make your own toys (I'm not familiar with any of these online retailers, as I've never once ordered any of the parts I have used online). After looking at all of the parts that they sell and the prices they charge, I'm going to say that 80%+ of these different pieces are available at local stores for a fraction of the price that they are from these online places, plus you don't have to pay any shipping charges obviously...I've had this conversation with different friends/colleagues who own birds and have wanted to get into making their own toys and/or stands/gyms for them, and they never believe me until they actually go to the stores and look for themselves...

In the last year or so, all Walmarts have drastically expanded their "Arts and Crafts" sections, as well as their hardware/fittings sections. You can buy pretty much any of the smaller wooden, rattan, etc. parts from any Walmart's new arts and crafts aisles for a fraction of the cost of these places. I was amazed when I first looked at a Walmart on the advice of my mom, as I had never known they sold these kinds of things...but they do now, a ton of them. Any of the colored or non-colored wooden parts, such as the blocks, beads, sticks, etc. they sell, and they are all colored with vegetable dye that is safe for birds. They also sell a ton of different bird-safe, natural twine/rope/string/burlap/leather/cording/rope, as well as all of the metal chains, rods (including the flexible metal rods that are used in many of the store-bought toys you find at pet shops), clasp/fittings/S-hooks, etc. in their 2 or 3 aisles in their hardware/tool area. They also sell all of the rattan balls and such, not in the arts and crafts aisles, but rather in the aisles that include the fake plants/flowers and the supplies to make fake flower arrangements. In fact, I just bought a bag of different-size rattan balls/spheres from my local Walmart about 2 weeks ago to make some Green Cheek toys for $3...

Actually the first place I always go and look for bird-toy parts is The DollarTree (not the Dollar General or whatever they're called, but The DollarTree)...Believe it or not they have a pretty large arts/crafts/toys/tool/hardware selection, and they sell a lot of the wooden pieces, both colored and non-colored, like different size sticks, blocks (they sell the sets of wooden alphabet blocks too that I've incorporated into toys), beads, balls, etc. in their craft aisle. They also sell a lot of the hardware/fittings, as well as a pack of 3 large rolls of natural hemp rope/twine in the tool aisle. They also sell a lot of children's toys that can be incorporated into bird toys, as well as baby stuff. The other thing that I found at The DollarTree is a HUGE selection of very sturdy, well-constructed gift boxes in their craft aisle. I don't know why they have so many different gift boxes, but they have tons and tons of them, all different sizes and shapes, and they are not the flimsy cardboard ones either, they're really sturdy, thick cardboard gift boxes that are great for birds to just tear apart. I buy these all the time to make foraging boxes/toys for both my Senegal and my Quaker who have larger and much stronger beaks than my Cockatiel, Green Cheek, or Budgies. These gift boxes hold-up extremely well against the beak of my Senegal Parrot, and he absolutely loves it when I make him a new foraging box out of these and hide his almonds in the shell for him to find. And of course, everything at The DollarTree is $1, so that's why I start here first, then I move to Walmart.

The other 2 places that have a HUGE selection of arts/crafts stuff are TJ Maxx and Ross. These 2 stores are good for the different size rattan balls, boxes, and stuff to stuff foraging boxes with, like the shredded paper that is different colors, etc.

Of course Michael's is the best place, they have EVERYTHING that they sell on from these online retailers, and they tend to be about the same price, though you don't have to pay any shipping. They have ALL of these parts/pieces less the metal/stainless fittings that you can buy at Walmart, although in their jewelry section they do have the leather/cording/twine. As far as wooden, plastic, and rattan/wicker parts, Michael's is the best place...The big deal with Michael's is that they quite often (right now actually at my local store) have sales where seemingly everything in the store is between 40%-80% off, it's crazy. I just bought a really cool, large, multi-colored plastic chest with I think 20 or 24 little pull-out bins to hold little parts/pieces/fittings, they've had them forever for $30 I think, I just bought it for $7! I also bought a couple packs of wooden rods, sticks, and balls for toys that are usually $5 a bag, and I got them for $1 and change each, they were 70% off. So when I'm shopping for bird-toy parts I always swing by Michael's, as I always know they have everything I'll need, but you never know when the stuff will be drastically reduced in price. I actually also bought a $40 3-tier cart on wheels for $16 and change! So it's always a really good idea to swing by Michael's first to see what might be on-sale for between 40%-80% off...

For a lot of the metal/stainless fittings/screws/nuts/bolts/washers/rods etc., as well as ALL of the PVC tubing/fittings for my perches/stands/gyms, I just go to Lowes, as they have EVERYTHING, much, much more than Home Depot, especially if you're talking PVC fittings and tubing (they have at least 10X more PVC fittings than Home Depot, I don't know why but they do), and it's nice to be able to buy the stainless "nuts and bolts" in the quantity you need for cents...my local Lowes has 4 or 5 entire aisles of different diameter PVC couplors/fittings/accessories, and they're cheap.

I think you have better stores than me.. I've scoured both craft stores in my vicinity (Michael's and hobby lobby) and couldn't find much that Lincoln would enjoy. I've only been to my dollar store once and they had little to nothing in terms of really anything. I haven't looked at Wal-Mart craft sections though. My boy will not touch any hard wood or plastic though so I have to stick to soft papers and card boards and straw like plastic and the like. I'll have to look at Lowe's if I ever need more PVC supplies. I still have a lot left over from when I built his stand but I got all that from home depot.

One thing worth buying online if you have to is stainless steel bells. I bought a couple from “my safe bird store” because they can be used again and again.