Making Toys for my Shop....What do you look for in a toy?

Danita · 9/27/10

I have designed a few toys to put on the website. I am mostly into the complete shredding toy.

I am wondering what others look for in toys?

birdlvr466 · 9/27/10

For me, stainless steel hardware, no dangling leather,rope etc. As natural as it can be in materials, and most importantly safety of the components.

saroj12 · 9/27/10

no head/body wedging gaps....so no bagels or rings bigger than 1" or smaller than 5" (for medium birds)

saroj12 · 9/27/10

also i avoid chains

birdlvr466 · 9/27/10

Yes I prefer no chains, even if they are SS. I like the whole toy to be chewable with a SS hanger, thats about it for metal if possible.

itzmered · 9/27/10

Soft thin woods that are easy for the smaller beaks to chew

GG. · 9/27/10

Safety of course, also a variety of textures and shapes

I like colors as well as natural items - I know the birds don't care as much, but I have to look at that toy hanging in there too

for my bigger beaks (CAG, BE2) The Paulie Rope or thin leather is a little harder for them to chew through than sisal, cotton or hemp, so toys strung on that stay together a little longer

For my small beak (GCC) she chews on softer woods like balsa or thin pine, thick paper, raffia, the palm/grass type shredders, loves bells and doesn't go through her toys in a day like the other two

Bokkapooh · 9/27/10

My birds differ.

Most of my adult cockatoos, which includes my mom's duck..er..I mean Mollucan cockatoo, Beeba, likes WOOD toys. Thick (NOT hard!!) wood toys! And lots of it! They love thin wood too, but they go through it so fast. So wood toys that are thick but not hard (not harder than pine) and either plain or colorful as (*most* of the adult 'toos dont seem to care on color of the toy) with leather strips to tug at or rope notes or hemp to tug at. They also would like a plastic toy or two on the toy, although it does not have to be in abundance, the plastic toy just adds variety and looks and things to tug at, pull and chew.

Opa, my male almost 3y.o U2, Emma, female U2 and Reo, male U2, all like and prefer THIN wooden toys, that are no larger than 3" wide, and only up to 1" thick, but preferably 1/2" thick. These guys LOVE plastic toys, and its a MUST. Not the large plastic toys but the small, cute, dainty ones. And lots of them. They also NEED to have COLOR to their toys. Nothing dull or plain. They also love shreddable toys, soft chewing shreddies.

Pua my RLA likes soft chewy shreddable too, of the yucca variety, but anything shreddable works

Squid also loves VERY VERY THING WOOD PIECES...which is impossible to find as a toy part, so I just buy small bird toys for her... but she also loves shreddable things too. Yucca

lotus15 · 9/27/10

I like what Pat and Saroj said and agree-- safety first!! I like my toys natural as well with undyed stuff mostly. For Lola I like LOTS of wood-- nice hard woods especially but thinly sliced or smaller for easy chipping, she typically doesn't care for things more than 1/2" thick or so.

For Charles I like smaller shreddables!

Danita · 9/27/10

Oh boy!!!
You guys will be so happy, these are what I have been making.
I often wondered about the chain.
So when toys are say strung on something, do you prefer it to be natural stringing materials or paulie rope? If it is paulie rope, how do you like it set to string things?
The thing I used to look for was items I couldn't make myself, not like I made them anyway :lol:

GG is my picture Dr. so I might have a pic or two today to post

Danita · 9/27/10

birdlvr466 said:
For me, stainless steel hardware, no dangling leather,rope etc. As natural as it can be in materials, and most importantly safety of the components.

How do you mean dangling rope? Like long ends? Just wondering because when you string a toy, it is on a longer piece of fiber.

Bokkapooh · 9/27/10

My 'toos chew through cotton rope toys very quickly. They do not chew through HEMP rope too fast. So I personally like to use either SS or nickel plated wire or chain or even the PLATIC chain as the "base" when making my own toys, and then using hemp going off that and connecting the toys, and adding leather and rope in between as things to tug and pull on, they can chew on these items without making the whole toy fall apart if they so happen to destroy the cotton rope or leather.

di_dee1 · 9/27/10

I string my tiels shredding toys on various thicknesses of birdsafe vegetable tanned leather. They love all the previously mentioned shredable stuff.
Son's lori goes nuts over ss bells and plastics on a ss skewer.
If I buy toys with bunches of cotton threads on it then they get cut off as these can be ingested, compact in the gut leading to a slow death in some birds.I have seen a necropsy photo of a tiel with this with a warning that it is becoming common, in an avian vet's newsletter by vetafarm.

crazyanimal · 9/27/10

I agree with the above. Although I do use chain, it is mainly for larger, heavier toys.

I also do not like to see a toy that is weighted down at the bottom with tons of "noose" material in the centre.

birdlvr466 · 9/27/10

I would love to see what you have made Danita! Carlos and Mango are my wood chewers. The simplest toys I made Carlos are like Paulie rope with beads and wood with knots tied in between. He loves to untie knots and get the pieces off.

birdlvr466 · 9/27/10

Dotty4 said:

How do you mean dangling rope? Like long ends? Just wondering because when you string a toy, it is on a longer piece of fiber.

Click to expand...

Danita I mean several strings of leather. That is how Mango almost hung herself. Let me see if I can find a pic of the toy. If I have a long toy in their cage it is ONE strand only, and if the toys are off the string I take it out and restring it.

Spinderella · 9/27/10

I love hanging ladders! Hanging triangles/tripod swings, anything unique & unusual.

Sparx loves chewing on fabric, so I like fabric and soft woods on her toys. Meru likes little wooden parts, I am told. (though I've yet to see him play with his toys) And then hard acrylic beads to make it seem as though it will last longer.

birdlvr466 · 9/27/10

Danita this is something like what I wouldnt buy. The toy had several strips of leather with stuff on the ends. Somehow with her playing and swinging on the toy she got one of the leather strips around her neck and was hanging! Thank God I was there.

birdlvr466 · 9/27/10

I like toys like this, with the wood wrapped in paper. Even Tequila will chew on these.

Danita · 9/27/10

that first one!!!! :faint:

Oh, that second one is a favorite here.

Making Toys for my Shop....What do you look for in a toy?

Ripping up the road

Hit the Road

Ripping up the road

Ripping up the road

Hit the Road

Welcome to Parrotdise

Enjoy the small things

Ripping up the road

Cruising the avenue

Ripping up the road

Ripping up the road

Ripping up the road

Sprinting down the street

Rollerblading along the road

Hit the Road

Hit the Road

Rollerblading along the road

Hit the Road

Attachments

Hit the Road

Attachments

Ripping up the road