cocaktoo and/or greenwing macaw toys?

Question

What are some safe materials that I can get locally (ie walmart, lowes, home depot, michaels etc) to make toys for my greenwing and baby trition cockatoo? Also, are there any toys in the toy department that are safe for them. I read somewhere that greenwings love large legos?

thank you but i asked for ideas on buying materials to construct my own at local department stores. not over priced pet stores.

Answer 1

I go to Home Depot and buy pine or hardwood dowels and even sometimes the handrail. I cut it up into 8-10" pieces. My cockatoo likes to play on the bottom of his cage and likes foot toys so I just throw a few pieces on the bottom and he is happy. My macaws like their toys hung so I drill holes in the pieces and string them on chains (get some plastic beads at the craft store to seperate the wood pieces and add variety) They also like baby toys like the plastic keys and my cockatoo loves his baby phone rattle

Answer 2

Hi there, since you have very intelligent birds, I think puzzle toys would be best. You can get a lot of inspiration from parrot toy places online.http://www.windycityparrot.com/page/Windycityparrot/PROD/45101741033 This is just an example.I go to the baby department for ABC building blocks to drill and stuff with treats, A small pill container with a regular twist off top, You can make a box out of scrap untreated wood and have it open after wing nuts are screwed loose by your birds. Your possibilities are endless.Show them that treats are inside and they will get the idea. Have fun. Leggos sound great. Have a tweet year. This site may be helpful to you also. http://www.birdsjustwannahavefun.com/toyinfo.htm

Answer 3

My sister has a larger parrots and I have smaller ones. Please be careful about what type of clips you use to attach toys to your cage. Don't buy toys meant for smaller birds and give them to yours. You must be careful about the paint on objects, the type of wood and on and on. You need to go online and start reading about what is safe and what is not. Also the cheapest way to get large parrot toys is check on line. There is a place online that sells kits (large blocks of wood, leather, etc) to make toys and it is fairly reasonable. Check around. If they are too expensive it will at least give you some good ideas. Be careful with bells because they will pull the ringer out and can damage themselves with it. Both of your birds like to chew and cockatoos are extremely smart. Both have extremely strong beaks as you will find out. Your cockatoo will be able to undo most things including his cage. So your toys must be appropriate. At one point my sister used 2x4s for perches and they would be torn up in a day. I'm not sure how safe they are. If you use any wood branches from outside be very careful they haven't been sprayed with pesticides by your family or anyone else. I have used calcium perches and the calcium pineapple/banana (WalMart about $1) and my birds chew them up on a regular basis and seem to love them. Hope this helps some.
Quick story-my sister gave her greenwing something with a large bell before she knew better. He immediately tore out the ringer which she fished out of the cage. He now uses the bell to dip into his water and drinks from it like a cup. Do you remember the hoopla when Dr. Goodall discovered that chimps use tools? Well, here's a parrot been using one for a long time.

Answer 4

My green wing likes wooden baby blocks strung on a natural leather string. just doesn't last long. rope toys that are made for dogs are fun too. any of the unpainted, untreated and unfinished pieces of wood are good too. same rules apply for 'too also. our macaw, amazon, eclectus and 'too love to tear up empty 20oz bottles filled with goodies (anything that will not spoil). be creative!!!. stainless steel nuts, bolts and washers are good to put together and attach through the bars and have them figure out how to take them apart. (keeps them quiet for about a hour)

Answer 5

I had an umbrella cockatoo and I know how much they love to chew! I gave him the cardboard from processed foods to tear up, cheap rubber baby toys (they just want to tear it up not eat them) A couple of pieces of wood (untreated) from a lumberyard would be great. Spiral shoelaces, empty and clean tubes that my makeup came in. Anything he could destroy!

Answer 6

our parrots love the wood shape pieces you can buy at Michel's, add some rope, beads and your good to go.... I also get plastic chains (on line, can't find them around locally). You can get Chinese take out containers, fill them with the paper confetti (also at Michel's) ... you can also take branches from outside (corkscrew willow if you can find one) and they can server as perches and chew toys..

Answer 7

try real toys. Your bird wont get sick from your cheapness.

Answer 8

petco & PetSmart