Question:
In an older issue of Bird Talk, I saw an ad for a jungle gym. It had a 2′ square base on casters with a single 4" PVC pipe vertically mounted. Every so many inches a piece of PVC pipe would stick out as perches with toys hanging from them. From the highest perches was a rope and a ladder. I built it, plus a playpen on top of the cage all out of PVC. Probably spent 20 hours or so, and about $150.00 on parts. This is one bird that doesn’t have a lack of toys. PVC has been a great product to build with.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> >Can anyone recommend "homemade" or makeshift play areas/playpens/toys? >I’m new to this whole net business, but if this posts, maybe I have some >good suggestions… Anyway, I don’t know how big of a "feather person" >you have, but pvc piping makes for wonderful perches and even major >playpens. You can get all kinds of joints etc to run your piping in all >shapes. Bird Talk ran an article about homemade pvc playpens a year or >two ago. You shouldn’t use epoxy glue, obviously, but I think that the >article did mention some sort of glue substance… I used to work at an >avian veterinary hospital, and we used pvc perches all the time. Toys >can be made with all kinds of things, as long as they’re not painted. Raw >leather straps and bits can be good chew things. My conure loves his >doggy choak chain that I hook by a c-clamp to the top of his cage. If you >need to color the toys, I am told that "Kool-aid" drink colors them well >and is non toxic. >hope this adds to all the other interesting ideas you’ll get… >Juliette
There is such a thing as PVC glue! It is sold at hardwares stores. If anyone uses it, please make sure you place the glue INSIDE the joint, so as to minimize later contact between glue and bird. Also, allow the glue to cure for the time described in the jar, and then some more! My pvc-based playgym is not glued together, when I built it I knew we’d be moving in about a year, so I just banged the pieces together and they hold just fine; when it’s time to go, this whole thing will break down into a very tidy bundle 
Also, once you run a good length of rope around the frame, that provides lots of stability. NOTE: if you build such a playgym, when you go to the hardware store, buy TWICE AS MUCH rope as you think you’ll need. I prefer cotton rope (untreated) but jute rope also works fine (make sure it’s not treated, sniff it!, it should smell, well, like rope!). This way when you see the rope is getting soiled you can just take it down, put up some fresh rope, and either was or discard the old one. With cotton, you can just toss the rope in the washer and voila, you get a clean rope AND recycle too! In terms of keeping things clean, it’s much more likely you’ll do it if you have the parts available, so definitely get some spare rope —
Response:
> >Can anyone recommend "homemade" or makeshift play areas/playpens/toys?
I’m new to this whole net business, but if this posts, maybe I have some good suggestions… Anyway, I don’t know how big of a "feather person" you have, but pvc piping makes for wonderful perches and even major playpens. You can get all kinds of joints etc to run your piping in all shapes. Bird Talk ran an article about homemade pvc playpens a year or two ago. You shouldn’t use epoxy glue, obviously, but I think that the article did mention some sort of glue substance… I used to work at an avian veterinary hospital, and we used pvc perches all the time. Toys can be made with all kinds of things, as long as they’re not painted. Raw leather straps and bits can be good chew things. My conure loves his doggy choak chain that I hook by a c-clamp to the top of his cage. If you need to color the toys, I am told that "Kool-aid" drink colors them well and is non toxic. hope this adds to all the other interesting ideas you’ll get… Juliette
Response:
>Can anyone recommend "homemade" or makeshift play areas/playpens/toys?
HIya, I have a 4 month old Tiel, And we built him a T sTand and a playpen to play in…Basically with Dowels and a base….he loves it! ive seen t stands in the catalogs for about 50.00 + mine cost 5.00 I made some toys out of wooden spools and balls, and i dyed them in food coloring for a cute look! he loves them! Hope i helped some! anne
Response:
: I just purchased a senegal, cage, food, behavior book, etc. I would love to : buy Cobi a nice playpen or perch w/ toys, but my purse is a little empty! : Can anyone recommend "homemade" or makeshift play areas/playpens/toys? : Also, does anyone have any tips on potty training? The mess is starting to : get to me! I am changing clothes three times daily! I’ve seen table-top playpens for less than $15.00. Then you just have to find a flat surface upon which to set it. (Mine sits on the top of my television.) Or, if you’re handy with a hammer, you can build one with a good-sized tree branch or two. My birds sort of make their own toys. Wooden spools, plastic pen caps, computer keyboard keys… I don’t know about potty-training, but until you accomplish it, I’ve seen aprons you can buy that hang over either one shoulder or both, with a "poop catcher" pocket across the back. Probably any issue of Bird Talk will have one advertised. With babies flitting all about these days, I know what you mean…I now buy the *large economy* sized laundry and dishwashing detergent (t-shirts and syringes)! — |/ ^(_)^ spector had a little bird, a ‘tiel hen named Merlot, _||__ and everywhere that spector went, the hen was sure to go!
Response:
>I just purchased a senegal, cage, food, behavior book, etc. I would love to >buy Cobi a nice playpen or perch w/ toys, but my purse is a little empty! >Can anyone recommend "homemade" or makeshift play areas/playpens/toys? >Also, does anyone have any tips on potty training? The mess is starting to >get to me! I am changing clothes three times daily!
Congrats on your new Senegal! When I got mine, Cathy Quinones gave me some great ideas about building a play area from PVC pipe which you can buy very cheaply at a hardware store. I haven’t gotten around to building one yet and so far my Senegal (Tosca, ~ 3 months old) doesn’t like the store-bought one very much. What she does like is a wicker basket with the handle wrapped with jute — a suggestion from Athan’s Guide to a Well Behaved Parrot. She perches on this and plays with toys which fall conveniently in the basket when she’s done with them. She climbs around the basket. It’s nice because you can easily move it around the house. As for toys, the cheaper ones are the only ones Tosca likes. On top of her cage I have a bowl filled with the following: short pieces of cotton cord with knots tied in them, plastic rings from coke bottles, plastic bottle caps, plastic bread bag closers, small sticks of wood sold for mice/rats/hamsters to nibble on, pistachio shells (not dyed and she already at the nuts), strings of Mardi Gras plastic beads. She will spend hours perching on (or jumping into) this bowl and chewing on these things. I just have to go by every now and then to pick the dropped ones off the floor. Re: potty training — Not sure I can be of much help here. Tosca has pretty much trained herself and all I do is reinforce it. (Okay, I’m bragging.) When she’s playing with me, I just get up every 10-15 minutes or so, put her in a poop-safe place and let her go. It might be said that I’m the one who’s being trained!
Response:
I just purchased a senegal, cage, food, behavior book, etc. I would love to buy Cobi a nice playpen or perch w/ toys, but my purse is a little empty! Can anyone recommend "homemade" or makeshift play areas/playpens/toys? Also, does anyone have any tips on potty training? The mess is starting to get to me! I am changing clothes three times daily! Thanks for any help in advance. Heather
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