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DIY wood toys

Steven M

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Hi all, new here and had a question for anyone that makes thier own wood toys, my macaw blasts through any toy I have gotten her within a day, I've grabbed her the 25-30 even 40 dollar toys and within a few hours it's gone, I kept the chains the toys come with and is there any problem with going to my local home depot, grabbing a beam of wood, cutting it into small blocks, drilling a hole through them and putting them on the chain? If that's OK are there only certain types of wood I should get or avoid? Any concern about splinters or the like?

All help appreciated
 

Toy

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Yes...untreated pine is best. Heck no worry about splinters. In the wild they'd be chewing down a tree, LOL.

You can also buy big marbella beads & shapes & add to the chain with wood parts. You'll need ones that have a good size hole, 3/8" to 1/2" hole, depending on chain size. There are vendors on line that sell plastic toy parts for parrots. This is one of many vendors that sell toy parts: Welcome to MakeYourOwnBirdToys.com - DIY bird toy parts

This AA vendor makes Stainless Steel toys that would hold up to a macaw: Blu's Bird Toys - Stimulate Your Bird's Senses!

I also buy rubber dog toys & balls. Make sure any dog toys you buy do not have flavor added. I would not suggest the "Tire" toys made by Kong, as they smell like real tires.
 

JLcribber

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$13 worth of 2x4s makes about 40 pounds of parrotato chips. Lasts about a month with my 2 professional chippers.
 

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Steven M

Checking out the neighborhood
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Steven
$13 worth of 2x4s makes about 40 pounds of parrotato chips. Lasts about a month with my 2 professional chippers.
Very nice, you buy a large beam and cut them yourself or is somewhere that sells them that way? I dropped by my local home depot but only saw larger beams, ended up taking one and will cut and drill it :)
 

Steven M

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Steven
Yes...untreated pine is best. Heck no worry about splinters. In the wild they'd be chewing down a tree, LOL.

You can also buy big marbella beads & shapes & add to the chain with wood parts. You'll need ones that have a good size hole, 3/8" to 1/2" hole, depending on chain size. There are vendors on line that sell plastic toy parts for parrots. This is one of many vendors that sell toy parts: Welcome to MakeYourOwnBirdToys.com - DIY bird toy parts

This AA vendor makes Stainless Steel toys that would hold up to a macaw: Blu's Bird Toys - Stimulate Your Bird's Senses!

I also buy rubber dog toys & balls. Make sure any dog toys you buy do not have flavor added. I would not suggest the "Tire" toys made by Kong, as they smell like real tires.
Thank you! Got a large untreated pine beam and will make some blocks for her
 

JLcribber

@cockatoojohn
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Very nice, you buy a large beam and cut them yourself or is somewhere that sells them that way? I dropped by my local home depot but only saw larger beams, ended up taking one and will cut and drill it :)
Well it’s not a “beam” as I know it. It’s just construction grade 2”x4” wall studs (spruce/pine) cut up into 3/4” wafers on a chop saw.

You’re were spending the money anyway. Best money you’ll ever spend is on a good saw.

BB32DE5F-EED0-413F-996A-808C63974ED8.jpeg
 

Gypsy

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We have purchased toys in the past and kept the chains for refill. In addition to the wood you can add some stainless steel spoons back to back for some additional noise. My Merlin loves toys that make sounds.
 

BrianB

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Some of the home improvement stores like Lowe’s and HomeDepot sell table legs. They are untreated ash or pine and some of them are over 3 feet long. They aren’t very expensive. I chained one in my macaw cage and let them have at it. It took them weeks to destroy it once they got over the fear of it appearing in their cage.
 
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