DIY Toys??

[Natalia]

What are your favorite DIY toys for your canaries/finches?

And what materials are safe to use? I'm scared of using plastic beats and stuff like that

 

[Natalia]

I posted this thread here because I wanted tips from other canary/finch owners, since Neo is a canary and I feel like they're more fragile than other species like parakeets or cockatiels

 

[Shyra]

Have you thought of making them paper toys to tear up and shred? You can use the mini paper cupcake liners used for candy to make a paper ball out of or stuff a small grapevine ball with shredded krinkle paper. I don't know if they would like to chew on some sea grass rope but I've had small wild birds that did. They might also like the chinese finger traps. Here's a picture of the paper ball I was talking about. This toy is for my grey. It has the mini candy/cupcake liner ball in the middle. It's the only pic I have of one of those balls. I used about 50 liners to make it. Cut each paper just on the pleated part into 8 sections or so this will they will flatten out and put a hole in the center to put a rope through. String a bead that is bigger than the center hole you made then each liner then another bead. Push them together as tight as possible then knot each end so that it makes a ball. If it's tight enough makes a great place to hide seeds or other foods for foraging. Plus it's pretty easy for any size bird to tear it apart. You can also use the liners to make flowers or other toys by using less of them or fill them with krinkle paper. One other thought would be to take some short lengths of 1/4" sisal and put a zip tie around them to hold them together and then unravel the ends for a preening toy.

 

[Natalia]

Thanks! I'll see what materials I can get and I will get creative with them

 

[Shyra]

Be sure and show us what you come up with.

 

[Nadia Bingo]

For more timid birds I've added some holes (via a hole puncher) to the paper cupcake liners. It gives them an easy starting point since birds seem to go straight for the middle of toys rather than the edges (at least in my experience).

If they are really new to a toy is can also help starting small, like 1 cupcake liner. Once they are comfortable with the material (in this case cupcake liner) then you can make it big and fun!

 

[Adam21]

Hey there, fellow Canary owner here. They actually love to push the beads up repeatedly with their beaks. So I have two toys hanging from the top of the cage with beads. I also got this 'Kabob' toy which are circle shaped thick chewy material which they enjoy shredding and swinging on. All from the local pet store.

 

[WeasleyLover]

My little cousin's school has a class canary, and the kids take turns taking him home on weekends (ugh). Anyway, when my cousin brought him home, and I found out that he had no toys, I made him some. The one that he loved was palm weave strung with beads in between. So simple, yet he loved it!

It looked like this, except his was smaller and not in loops, so that his head didn't get caught. I don't do the loops for my birds anymore either.

 

[Natalia]

Thank you so much! Tomorrow I'll go shopping for materials and see what I come up with