Made Jacob some cheap and easy to make toys

Valyndris

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Apr 24, 2019
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Jacob the blue and gold macaw
So first off, Jacob is a blue and gold macaw so these are macaw sized toys. I have a bunch of large macaw size beads from previous toys from the past years back when my mother bought toys for him (she had him for 15 years till I recently adopted him in late April). I have a giant box of leather, cutting thin pieces is the hardest part of making toys but with a good knife it's not too bad. I have a roll of that brown rope, not sure what it's made of but it's safe for birds. I get pine wood at the store and have my mother cut and drill holes in it for me as she has the tools for it. Getting wood this way is so much cheaper than buying new toys especially when they don't even last a week. Just make sure you get wood that is safe for your bird, like I said I get pine. I also get some cheap artsy stuff usually found at the dollar store, hard to explain what it is but it's on at least one toy I will put a picture of, it's kinda something like basket weave but comes in a roll.

So here are some pictures of the toys I've made for Jacob, most toys use the skeleton of an old toy and it's pretty much just like refilling the toy yourself, other toys are just on a skewer and those take like a minute to make.

Sorry this one is a bit blurry, the pipes are from a past toy that was purchased and the rope, beads, rings, and wood are what I added.
t82nfLh.jpg


This next one is just a simple skewer, it has that basket weave stuff I was talking about, some leather I cut and of course some wood, and beads for color, even a dice with a hole drilled in it, there is also metal keys, not sure where my mother got those but I have tons. This toy also has paper straws which are really cheap (found at dollar store during Easter time), makes for something fun to chew and rip off with the addition of adding color.
QtGZKxp.jpg


This next toy was originally a rope toy filled with leather, this is how I refilled it with my own cut up leather and added paper and plastic straws.
HkDxHEG.jpg


This one I forgot to take a picture before hanging it, it's the one in the back. Similar to the first toy, the pipe part was from and old toy and I just refilled it with wood and beads using that brown rope I have.
NLrsyl5.jpg


This last toy was made from what was once a perch. With holes now drilled into it, it is now a toy, making it the same way as the first toy. Ropes with wood and beads.
qW21VTv.jpg


I actually enjoy making toys for Jacob and it is much more fulfilling when he plays with something you created yourself rather than bought. :blue1:
 

Tami2

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Well Done! :smile049:
Have you compared the price to make versus cost to buy?

I save a lot of beads & other stuff (that is salvageable of course) from store bought toys & I recycle them w/ wood blocks, & leather. But, I've never made a toy from scratch.
 
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Valyndris

Valyndris

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Apr 24, 2019
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Jacob the blue and gold macaw
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Well Done! :smile049:
Have you compared the price to make versus cost to buy?

I save a lot of beads & other stuff (that is salvageable of course) from store bought toys & I recycle them w/ wood blocks, & leather. But, I've never made a toy from scratch.

It saves so much money, I haven't calculated it but I spend probably 10-20% of what I would pay from buying new.
 

Terry57

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Your recycled toys look amazing! It definitely saves a lot of money, I make all the toys for my guys now, and I can make sometimes 6 toys for the price of one by adding new toy parts to the recycled ones.
I also love the skewers, they make it so quick and easy.
 

Ellie777Australia

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I'm inspired Valyndris. Excellent and fun looking toys. Time to get off my butt and use all of these left over pieces of toys I've been saving for a rainy day project!
 

GaleriaGila

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Well done!

Great construction! Recycling is a great strategy. The poor ol' Rb has to make do with some homespun recycling, too... paper towel rolls, soda pop bottle caps, plastic condiment bottles, paper and plastic picnic supplies, paper napkins...

I intersperse those with recycled acrylic toys and such, and he thinks he's getting good stuff.

Well, anyway, he's no more likely to reject this stuff than expensive toys!

I'm still recycling some elements of toys from Terry57! Some gifts keep on giving, ya know.


Toy-making is such an intimate and loving interaction. Great thread.
 
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Valyndris

Valyndris

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Apr 24, 2019
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Jacob the blue and gold macaw
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Well done!

Great construction! Recycling is a great strategy. The poor ol' Rb has to make do with some homespun recycling, too... paper towel rolls, soda pop bottle caps, plastic condiment bottles, paper and plastic picnic supplies, paper napkins...

I intersperse those with recycled acrylic toys and such, and he thinks he's getting good stuff.

Well, anyway, he's no more likely to reject this stuff than expensive toys!

I'm still recycling some elements of toys from Terry57! Some gifts keep on giving, ya know.


Toy-making is such an intimate and loving interaction. Great thread.

At least with parrots almost anything can be a toy, I give Jacob a tissue box once in a while, it lasts between an hour to a full day. I hang it by poking holes in the bottom and putting plastic C hooks in and then hang it on the side of his cage:
rGu2TIM.jpg


Here is a video of Jacob having fun with his new tissue box "toy":
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSLxeaDSSw8&t=13s"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSLxeaDSSw8&t=13s[/ame]

Other cheap toys are of course empty paper towel rolls, phone books minus the cover, and recently he had fun with an old shirt. I was going through old clothes to donate and I had two old work shirts with logos on them so they couldn't be donated, Jacob had lots of fun with that and took all the buttons off for me. Here is a video of him playing with the shirt:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Pc1VI-ZAE&t=55s"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Pc1VI-ZAE&t=55s[/ame]

His favorite toy and thing to chew is actually very cheap and can be purchased at the dollar store, he likes to chew little plastic cups and boats made for babies. I put them in something like a bucket, one location I put the boats in is actually a bowl made so not spill seeds and the other location I put cups is just a big bowl screwed to a skewer with big plastic beads. Here is a video of him chewing a little plastic boat:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjtgYrVAxU"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjtgYrVAxU[/ame]

He spends so much time every day chewing and tossing these cups and boats, I usually have to pick them up 5-7 times a day, they are so cheap and he has so much fun with them, hope this idea helps others out with giving their parrots fun and cheap toys.

If you like Jacob he has tons of videos on his YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmINkk1qFtsZMycy5_84FFg

:blue1:
 

AmyMyBlueFront

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Well done!

Great construction! Recycling is a great strategy. The poor ol' Rb has to make do with some homespun recycling, too... paper towel rolls, soda pop bottle caps, plastic condiment bottles, paper and plastic picnic supplies, paper napkins...

I intersperse those with recycled acrylic toys and such, and he thinks he's getting good stuff.

Well, anyway, he's no more likely to reject this stuff than expensive toys!

I'm still recycling some elements of toys from Terry57! Some gifts keep on giving, ya know.


Toy-making is such an intimate and loving interaction. Great thread.

At least with parrots almost anything can be a toy, I give Jacob a tissue box once in a while, it lasts between an hour to a full day. I hang it by poking holes in the bottom and putting plastic C hooks in and then hang it on the side of his cage:
rGu2TIM.jpg


Here is a video of Jacob having fun with his new tissue box "toy":
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSLxeaDSSw8&t=13s"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSLxeaDSSw8&t=13s[/ame]

Other cheap toys are of course empty paper towel rolls, phone books minus the cover, and recently he had fun with an old shirt. I was going through old clothes to donate and I had two old work shirts with logos on them so they couldn't be donated, Jacob had lots of fun with that and took all the buttons off for me. Here is a video of him playing with the shirt:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Pc1VI-ZAE&t=55s"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Pc1VI-ZAE&t=55s[/ame]

His favorite toy and thing to chew is actually very cheap and can be purchased at the dollar store, he likes to chew little plastic cups and boats made for babies. I put them in something like a bucket, one location I put the boats in is actually a bowl made so not spill seeds and the other location I put cups is just a big bowl screwed to a skewer with big plastic beads. Here is a video of him chewing a little plastic boat:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjtgYrVAxU"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjtgYrVAxU[/ame]

He spends so much time every day chewing and tossing these cups and boats, I usually have to pick them up 5-7 times a day, they are so cheap and he has so much fun with them, hope this idea helps others out with giving their parrots fun and cheap toys.

If you like Jacob he has tons of videos on his YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmINkk1qFtsZMycy5_84FFg

:blue1:

LOL...OMG!..Jacob is such a beautiful character:D! I almost fell out of my chair watching the tissue box thing,but when I saw the shirt thing..."Go get it!..Throw it!" and he did..you'd think he was a doggo!!! Awesome vid thanks so much for sharing :p:D


Jim
 
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Valyndris

Valyndris

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Apr 24, 2019
248
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Canada
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Jacob the blue and gold macaw
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Here is a box fort I made for Jacob, it lasted less than 2 days but it was pretty much free, I cut out a door hole and 2 little windows, hung a rope inside and put wood and plastic blocks on it to add a toy in there and also but some of his cups and his rubber duckies in there.
c7D8rbC.jpg


Here's a video of him enjoying his new box fort, mostly having fun just destroying it.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkrQyShBGmw"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkrQyShBGmw[/ame]
 

Scott

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When I had Macs, would purchase large sections of untreated 2 x 4* lumber and have them cut to one foot sections. Drilled a hole in center and strung two or three blocks to hang from cage roof. They were incessant chewers and were delighted converting them to tooth picks!

*2 x 4 inch lumber is a common building component. Perhaps you have a different name in Canada?
 
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Valyndris

Valyndris

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Apr 24, 2019
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Jacob the blue and gold macaw
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When I had Macs, would purchase large sections of untreated 2 x 4* lumber and have them cut to one foot sections. Drilled a hole in center and strung two or three blocks to hang from cage roof. They were incessant chewers and were delighted converting them to tooth picks!

*2 x 4 inch lumber is a common building component. Perhaps you have a different name in Canada?

Same thing, I get pine wood as it is safe for parrots. Well more like my mom gets it, cuts it and drills holes in it for me to make the toys. She has all the tools, Jacob was hers up until late April this year as she can no longer care for him but at least she can still help out. He is still her baby, I consider him my little brother but I am like a mother to him now. :blue1:
 

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