I take pride in making little pieces for my animals. From a six foot hutch for my rats to bits and pieces for my birds. Currently my girl has a whole study to herself, no cage whatsoever.

 

She was dozing here, she hates the camera!

 

This is a little shredder toy that i made from some raffia, pony beads and leather cord. It's really simple, just poke the raffia through the little ring so that it's half on either side, fold it down, and tie it with a little more raffia. The i tied in a piece of leather cord and added some beads! Too easy!

 

Bea, hew do you get the nuts and washers to attach to the perch, in your natural perches.

You need a hanger bolt, half of it is a screw, and half a thread. You drill a hole in the perch, screw in the bolt, then attach the rest.

Here are some bead toys I made for my budgies.

Oh wow!! :fear That looks fantastic!

My stuff from My Parrot Shop arrived today and i was eager to make my very own Baby Disco. It was TONS easier that i would've guessed, and the only thing i'm not happy with is the rope i used to join the quick link, but that's okay, the birds will still like it!

 

To make it i got a wiffle ball, enough pacifier beads to poke into all but 4 of the wiffle ball holes, an o-ring, a bell, a little bit of cotton rope, and a quick link!

 

Stuff the pacifier beads into the holes leaving two up the top and two down the bottom empty. Then attach an o-ring into one and add two extra pacifier beads and a bell. Then using the rope add the quick link up the top.

Too easy! Took me about 5-10 mins! It was cheap too, all up it would've cost me about $7 which is a lot cheaper than the $20 i would pay to buy one made.

 

The other toy i've been planning to make all week is this:

Very simple and very fun for the birdies! I've had the idea in my brain for several days, only took a couple of minutes to make too.

 

Now i'm waiting on more beads to arrive so that i can make more, and i still want to get my hands on some raffia because i am thinking of a fun idea which involves raffia and a wiffle ball!!

The toys are really cool !!!

Bea you are so creative!!

that's really neat, you have very good idea's

Edited August 30, 200717 yr by birdluv

Good work Bea, they are great! I am guessing that you get special beads and rope, not those you would get at a regular craft store?

No, i had to order the stuff from My Parrot Shop

That's good so everybody knows.

 

 

Ah Bea, l see with your little ladder there in the distance the colours on the beads have run onto the wood - mine did that too! Only last week, l was washing it in some soapy water and the colours started running

 

P.S. Great toys! I have had a go at making one (its a swing) but l will have to wait until my batteries charge for my camera before l take pictures. Although, Sherbet doesn't really like it because its not very stable (it doesn't just go back and forth - it also goes around in circles)

I got crafty again this afternoon!! First of all a brilliant (in my opinion, (Laughing out loud)) idea came to me when i was lying in bed this morning and was taking my time getting up!

I think it works for holding a till roll! I was thinking how nice a little ladder would be, and that sliding a till roll onto one of the rungs would be a good idea. And then i thought that using those useless dowel perches that come with new cages would be perfect and FREE to make the rungs of the ladder! I cut the perches into evenly sized pieces and then painted them with food colouring. Once they were dry i drilled the holes and got to work!

 

Next, and all credit for the idea goes to a friend of mine cause i wouldn't have come up with it, is the crazy paper stick ball! An instant hit with my tiels (of course it is, they can destroy it)!

 

And that idea led to this idea!

The budgies have the double crazy stick ball at the moment, but it will no doubt end up in the shredder cage of the tiels eventually. I felt like i was over run with wiffle balls so this seemed like a great way to use a couple up in a way that they would be enjoyed!

 

And this was the linking system i used on these toys. They're some great plastic links Boomberry sent me from England. To close them up i just used a little star shaped pony bead.

 

Looks pretty too!

 

And of course here's some photos of the toys in use.

Bailee having fun with his birdy toilet paper, hehe.

 

Cookie trying to decide what that thing actually is...

 

I've now run out of beads again, hehe, but i should have a big package of them arriving in the mail on Monday *fingers crossed*.

:greenb:

 

I had a shot at making a beaded swing...

 

Sherbet doesn't like it though, she prefers her plastic $1.80 one

 

In total, it cost me about $20 to make. The beads came in "friendship bracelet" packs, which also included letters and string. These packs were $9 each, even though l only wanted the little beads! The swing above cost me $2.00, the wire (thats under the beads) detaches from the wooden perch so l could thread the beads on.

 

So, there you have it, my first attempt of being crafty and Sherbet doens't even like it!

To find cheapo beads check places like Hot Dollar, The Warehouse or The Reject shop. I found a key ring making kit that came with some beads and some scoubies (those plastic braiding strings) for $2 a packet. In the past i've also found decent sized bags of the beads for $2. Definitely worth looking.

Scrounged together the last few of my beads and made this toy, Bailee thinks it's a lot of fun - he likes anything i make. :ausb:

 

My beads got here! Here's a toy i just made, another way to make use of a till roll.

 

 

And another!

Some "Shredders" i ordered from My Parrot Shop arrived today so i made:

 

And as i was on a roll i kept on making. First is a little dice toy.

 

And this is just too adorable if you ask me! I pulled apart a cheap olympic ring toy and added pony beads before putting it together again. I was going to glue it, but i found it to be unnecessary!

 

 

And in other exciting news mum cleaned out a draw in my/her desk and i've used it for toy making supplies!

Wow, there are some amazing ideas in this thread. Bea, you are so creative! There's some wonderful work here. I'm inspired to give it a try. What kind of thread/rope material is suitable? I'm worried about using something that is too weak or that will fray and loop around their toes. I have plenty of beads and craft things lying about, just waiting to be used

I've been using either scoubies (plastic braiding string) or supreme unbleached cotton from www.myparrotshop.com - they've got other types of string too, and good prices, you should check it out. I've ordered from them a few times now and the service is wonderful.

I use scoubies too. I have a big box of them. The only problem I find with them is that you have to use big beads and I can't find any.

The only problem I find with them is that you have to use big beads and I can't find any.

They're perfect for pony beads and you wouldn't want to use beads smaller than that anyway. They'd be a choking hazard.

Here's a couple more.

 

 

And