The purpose of pet toys is to get destroyed.
When you add those two together... well, it kinda doesn't make sense to pay big bucks for something that will be shredded into pieces.
So, I started making bird toys myself. I got different kinds of beads, ropes, chains, bells, links, wood blocks,... bunch of parts to cover the basics. It cost me about $60, including shipping. To that I added old toy parts I already had, and shreddable material like egg carton box pieces, wrapping tissue paper, paper cups, straws,... and so far I already built over 20 toys!
I still needed more wood pieces, and I calculated that it would be cheaper get wood by foot, cut it to different sizes, drill holes. A quick trip to hardware store, and I brought home bunch of pine slats of different thickness and shapes, adding to 6ft, for just over $3.
Now, plain pine wood is kinda boring. Birds do see colors, and usually like more colors that are similar to colors of their feathers. So, to continue this DIY toy project, I tried to color the wood myself. Of course, the color has to be from all natural, edible source. I considered coloring with vegetables, but knowing from dyeing Easter eggs that only good color I got was purple from red onions, I decided to try something else. Koolaid!
I got unsweetened Koolaid packages; orange, lemon-lime (green), cherry (red), and tropical punch, which came in a blue package but is actually just darker red color. I mixed each package with 1 tsp of lukewarm water, 1/2 tsp of rice vinegar, 1/2 tsp of rubbing (Isopropyl) alchocol, and 2-3 drops of corresponding Wilton gel icing color.
And voila!
I string these on some cotton rope, maybe with beads in between, and I got a toy for fraction of the cost of those in pet stores.
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