Making Bird Toys

Woodshop
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This past weekend I was at the AT&T store in Carrollton. My wife was buying a new iPhone and as it turns out a new iPad mini, too. I decided to wander down the street to the Kookabura bird store.

I don’t own birds, but a friend of mine does, and I wanted to check out the bird shop. They had a number of very beautiful birds for sale. The larger birds ranged in price from $2000-$4500 each. I had NO idea they cost that much.

So what does this have to do with the woodshop you ask? Well, the owner showed me around the shop. Over in the corner of the shop were a group of bird toys. These “toys” were strings of wood scraps painted pretty colors and put onto a string. So you cut off some pine 2x4 or 1x4 material and paint it, bore a hole in it and run a string through it and you’re done. They sell for $40 to $60 a piece. The birds peck, pull, claw and tear at them. They end up shredded so the owner has to buy additional strings. Apparently, this is to simulate what they would do in the wild.

The owner said that the paint had to be non-toxic edible paint. I didn’t know there was such a thing, but I thought I’d ask this group. My friend has a grey parrot and I would like to make him one of these if possible. I throw away exactly the kind of scrap I found in the shop.

Any ideas? Anybody else own birds and know more about this?

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You have to be careful with the type of wood, as well. I don’t know about pine with birds, but I know that it’s supposedly an irritant to some critters…

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when I ran a leather store for the evil empire in Wichita, I had several customers who owned pet stores or were falconers. They would buy up the leather thongs/string for making bird toys. the only requirement was that it be an undyed veg-tanned leather.

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I would suggest milk paint. It is very non toxic (typically made with milk).

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The owner told me the wood couldn’t be treated but that the toys he sold we’re made of pine or fir.

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Rather than painting, you can dye the wood with food coloring. Not colorfast (will bleed pigment if/when wet) but is food safe/non-toxic.

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Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Based upon your suggestions I found this site: Coloring Wood for Bird Toys

It looks like food coloring is the way to go.

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