what does everyone use for play stands

[sbrenton]

I am thinking about building a temporary play stand for my B&G while I look / save for a better stand. Would like to get a good one now but between the cage, toys, vet and rescue of Tweety Bird I am already a little strapped.

Does anyone have a favorite place to order good stands? Any advice on the type of stands that are best for these big guys?

thanks,
-Steve

 

[MomtoPercy]

Why don't you make him one from some bird safe branches? You could get branches for free.

 

[CrayZbirdlady]

Hello! I wanted to get a play stand for my YSGCC and after looking at all the ones available and how expensive they are I decided to make my own. I was thinking of getting a cat tower and converting that into a bird play center by adding toys, huts, and other fun stuff for my bird but realized I had a cornered 5 tiered shelving unit that was badly under used that would be perfect for the job. Me and my husband worked on it together and it was so much fun to create! Its surprizing how much stuff you can find at your local craft store that can create fun toys for your bird. I used a heavy duty netting that wraps from tier to tier for her to get from one level to another. I also took the idea of a cat scratching post for the legs going all the way of the structure. I wrapped a thick rope around all the legs going up and down so she can use her claws to grip that also as a way of traveling up and down from level to level. I used wooden pegs and some heavy twine to make some latters for her and puchased a bag of bells and some beads from the craft store that I made into toys and put them all over for her to play with. I have a level with a water and food dish. Lastly for cleaning purposes I sectioned some fleece to place on each level so that I can remove them and put them in the wash when needed. All in all this project cost me less that $40 and its a structure that I can move from room to room so she can be were ever she wants to be. She loves it infront of the window during the day. I hope this helps. I am so glad that I made mine for her and was amazed at how easy it is to create toys that would be sold for about $10+ at your local pet shop.

 

[RavensGryf]

Hi Steve, MomtoPercy has a good idea (she always has good DIY ideas)! Also, how about PVC pipe? Many people make their own stands from it. Remember, since it will only be temporary, it doesn't even have to look great (or it can if you want lol).

 

[MangieSun]

I found this one on eBay for under $100

I had planned on making one but caved an bought instead. I like this one because it's easy to clean.

 

[MangieSun]

Here is my other stand. I got it for $230 at a local bird shop. Jasper loves it.

I also found a smaller version of this on craigslist for under $50.

 

[Anansi]

@CrayZbirdlady: Any chance of you posting pics of that play station? I'd love to see it.

 

[sbrenton]

Thanks for all the ideas! I would love to see pic's of the stand you made CrayZbirdlady. That sounds awesome. I think i will start with the PVC since I can do that quick and fairly easily tonight.

@MomToPercy .... how do I know if a branch is bird safe? Could I use branches from any tree outside or do I need to avoid certain trees?

thanks again!!!!

 

[Mike17]

I've made two stands out of old office chairs which were destined for the rubbish bin. I only use the 5-legged base, and remove the castors, replacing them with rubber feet. The most expensive part is finding 30 or 32mm dowel to fit down the hole left by the chair shaft. The feet ended up being fairly expensive because I got them from US, they're sold as hifi speaker feet, originally I'd intended using door stop rubber (the old- fashioned type which are screwed to the floor to stop the handle hitting the wall) but they're $3-4 each in this country. The feet from US weren't overly expensive, but US post is ridiculously expensive so the speaker drivers & other parts I bought at the same time (because the minimum order is USD50 anyway) ended up more than doubling in price.

 

[tab_xo]

I make all of my stuff for Fargo

Australia doesn't sell gyms for macaws, so i have to make them with the branches from around here !

It is cheap and keeps him occupied!





His favourite gym is actually a giant cat gym He loves it so much, and it is SUPER easy to place toys and perches on it!


and this is the natural gym i made- It is the one at the window, hard to see in the room pictures..

But it was really easy to make as well!

 

[MangieSun]

Wow! Birdie Disneyland. How amazing that you did all that. Fargo is a lucky bird

 

[Mattroma]

Tab's I mean FARGO's room is absolutely amazing.
eBay has some larger metal play stands around 150. I bought one and modified it a little. Removed dowels and replaced them different size branchs. Being that it is metal, it's relatively easy to clean.
I am leaning towards make a large tree play gym. That way I can swap them out every so often to keep things fresh. Think it was percysmom that had a picture of hers, and I'm feeling kinda inspired.

 

[Anansi]

@Tab: Wow. Just........ wow!

 

[getwozzy]

This is my most recent one- it hangs from the ceiling



I had to dismantle it from this version because my toddler kept trying to play in the base (which had sand in it--ooo! A sand box! )

 

[sbrenton]

@getwozzy .... what did you paint the playstand with? I picked up some pvc yesterday and plan on making a play gym today or tomorrow. If I could pain it that would be awesome. I didnt want to use paint since i figured it would be toxic to tweety.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Here are some AWESOME DIY ideas: http://www.parrotforums.com/do-yourself/37154-new-diy-perches-coqui-savannah.html

I personally use 2 combined HUGE Java trees for my big macs.

@ sbrenton: The PVC isn't painted, it's wrapped with vet wrap.

 

[getwozzy]

@getwozzy .... what did you paint the playstand with? I picked up some pvc yesterday and plan on making a play gym today or tomorrow. If I could pain it that would be awesome. I didnt want to use paint since i figured it would be toxic to tweety.

It's not painted- that's lots and lots of vet wrap hahha I picked up a bunch of rolls cheap at my local farm/feed store

 

[NightProwess]

wow!
I'd love to have a room like that for River. Fargo is one lucky bird!
lol, his room is bigger than mine

Thanks for sharing.
what wood did you use? and never thought of the cat gym.... hmm... I have one that Garfield doesn't use, he prefers my pillows lol. Maybe River could get some joy from it =D

 

[KeroRocks]

Woof Meow in Derry, NH has a 40% off sale on their JAVA trees this weekend!
I have one and I love it. you can see it in the pic.

 

[Anansi]

@KeroRocks: Nice! Am I right in estimating that tree to be around 5 feet tall by around 3+ feet wide? And I love the climbing surfaces along the trunk! If we can figure where to put one, we would love one like that. Do you know if they ship?