what rope?

[matthaismouse]

Hey everybody just wondering what rope and string budgies are allowed to play with as am currently designing a play gym for kiki and bobby.(still learning but kiki is starting to fly to me again xD )
also is there any type of woods I should avoid? I was thinking of cutting half of my apple tree down and attaching it to a base for the birds to play in, would this be suitable for budgies?

[Liz]

Glad to hear Kiki is doing better with you!

Plain cotton rope is what is used in most bird toys. Don't know about string... I'm thinking that string might be dangerous since it would tangle so easily. I use of lot of light weight wire (light enough to bend, thick enough they can't get tangled or bite through it)

I know from experience that Ash is great with budgies, and Apple is fine too, (just make sure it's really clean) but here's a list of safe woods and plants just so you can check it out- www.birdsnways.com/articles/plntsafe.htm

[Scully]

Great idea, especially as its your own tree.

I made a gym, and i also made a cargo net out of a thick sisal rope i bought from a hardware store. They do in in different sizes.The base was from garden stores, large flower/seed trays.

If you are thinking of making toys to hang, natural raffia, normal string,for threading.

and this company has all sorts of wood items you can use, and totally safe, either coloured or natural.
www.justartsncrafts.co.uk/SubCategory.asp?NAV=7&CID=1&SCID=659&MID=0

they also do raffia, i use beads, buttons,and other things from this company all the time.

hope this helps, dunno if you are in the uk, but they are having a sale, and its very cheap at the moment

[matthaismouse]

lucky i am in the uk than.

have had a look and maybe ordering some stuff tonite thanks for the great sites you two, and ill post pics of progress.

kiki was going mad before he flew at my head but over shot and tumbled onto my shoulder but he was ok otherwise i wouldnt have posted it.

[matthaismouse]

ok i few more questions.
If i was to get a cat litter tray and fill it with soil and grow some normal grass to let the birds play with and eat would it be bad for them?
and also if I put a bath in the middle would they get too dirty afterwards? (the bath would be in a tub but imbedded in the soil)

[Liz]

It would depend on the kind of grass. If you want to play it safe, plant the regular seed mix you feed them. I do that on the bottom of my aviary and my budgies love it. They'll probably ignore it for a while, but once they get into it you'll be hard pressed to keep enough grown for them.

I wouldn't put the bath in the middle. If your birds are the kind that like to hop right in and get soaked, it could be pretty messy fast. They'd probably like it, but it sounds like a recipe for mud to me. I could be totally wrong, that is just my gut feeling.

[Scully]

if you sprouted some wheat grass, and let it grow long it would be much better than planted grass. I would'nt trust a bag of soil, as they are mixed with all sorts of chemicals.
Or as budgie buddy suggested you could sprout some of your regular seed. Bath in the middle would turn out pretty mucky, mind you they would love it i expect...you would'nt

hows the gym going?

[sca]

You should be able to find sterile soil. Or you could use paper sheets and keep it most but not wet. I agree that a bath (I am imagining a little birdie pool) wouldn't be a good idea in the middle of soil. Perhaps you could attach a little bath on one of the branches for them.

The best base I have seen on a home made play area was a saucer type sled. It was easy to move, clean and great at catching and keeping in the seed and other messes. I recently read on a site (sorry can't remember which one) that a drip pan (it catches water in case of a leak) for a hot water heater would make a good base.