Hey! I am going to be getting a GCC or Sennie soon and I need help on the financial factor of it all. I Have a few toys and some treats so far and I really wanted help so I could get the best deals!!!!
Here are my questions:
What are You're Best Money Saving Tips?

Where should I shop(Any specific Online or Off-line Stores)?

DIY Bird Supplies (How To Make Them)?

Making your own perches. We recently got "new" birds. When cleaning out our old cages I had thrown away ALL of the old perches. It was definitely cheaper to make our own using branches from yard/pasture trees and a few pieces of hardware and string.

My daughter and I had a load of fun making toys out of wood, material, raffia, string, beads, etc. It was worth a couple of hours of summer fun for us and only cost $2 but the birds don't care for the toys at all.

What are You're Best Money Saving Tips?
Make your own treats/cooked foods/veggie mashes, they are healthier and a fraction of the price. I freeze mine and they last months. The recipes I use are not difficult at all. Buy toys from the small animal section of your local pet store. They are much cheaper and birds tend to like them more.

Where should I shop(Any specific Online or Off-line Stores)? My favorite store is Happy Wings on Etsy. Great customer service and also great prices. Local bird marts and ebay are also places where I get a lot of toys as they are more than 50% off. Some other place are Parroteelia Bird Toys and Amazon. I have also got some plastic links, foraging bins, and dog rope toys that I plan to make stuff with from the dollar store.

DIY Bird Supplies (How To Make Them)? If you buy toy parts you can tie them to perches and get creative. The toys don't have to be fancy. A lot of people also give their birds natural branches as toys. They love chewing n them and peeling off the leaves, etc. You just have to make sure that the tree is bird safe and no pesticides were used. You can also bake it in the oven to remove germs for about 10 mins at 150F. Another great thing that birds love as a make shift play gym is a basket. You can tie toys to it etc. All my birds love baskets and plastic slinkies. Slinkies can be used as boings too and they come in jumbo sizes. Baby links and small plastic kid toy links are great as toy hangers and to use to connect things to other things, i.e. foot toys to a basket, etc.

Most of the time I find the best deals on line for cages etc. Just ordered a flight cage 20 1/2 " W x 31 1/2 " long and 34 1/2 " tall with stand for $180.00! no tax and free shipping, from Dr. Smith and Foster. I also did a chat to check on a couple features.

I have made a few toys, easy to do. I get ideas from what I see in bird shops. The main thing is to look the bird toy over yourself to see if it is REALLY bird safe. Bird nails can get snarled in strings etc.

What are You're Best Money Saving Tips?

As said above, making your own perches can save a ton of money. I like to use almost all natural perches that I scrub down with F10 disinfectant. My birds absolutely love to peel the bark off and you can get branches in all shapes and sizes. Just make sure you use safe trees!

When buying fresh foods and cooking etc. make a huge batch and freeze it in daily portions. You won't throw anything away that way and you don't have to worry about always making up new stuff. If you order seed, order in bulk. I believe pellets can be frozen too so if you're using pellets, order in bulk and freeze

Where should I shop (Any specific Online or Off-line Stores)?

I live in the UK so our stores are very different but the one I have ordered from for Abby (moderator) and Shannon (an older member on here) was http://mysafebirdstore.com/

I don't know about prices, but I know they have a great variety of products!

DIY Bird Supplies (How To Make Them)?

This is one thing I'm downright terrible at. I buy pretty much everything. I can't offer advice here as far as making things but you can make some seriously easy foraging toys from paper and card etc. (the only things I can make!) for nothing

Using food as enrichment is also a great way to provide them with a 'toy' and teach them to forage too. Skewers may not seem all that interesting but you can certainly make them a lot of fun

I just got a hq flight cage 32x21x38 for $75 with two storage drawers off of craigslist. I would definitely recommend looking on craigslist for a cage. You can get your parrot a cage double the size of what you could afford new, just make sure to sterilize it thoroughly.

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I like to buy toy parts at http://www.mysafebirdstore.com/. They have thin leather, natural material like bulk coconut rope and mats, beads, bulk food and just lots of stuff. They are very nice and always package the order very nicely in recyclable material and send along a small bag of candy for me!

^^ YES! i love MSBS great prices and lots of sales. my guys love the vine balls

On my birthday party I please my friends not to buy presents, but I put the piggy bank for the vet on.
It always helps me much to pay the vet bills for my sick Janosch (green).

Natural branches are healthier and much more fun for the birds than perches you buy.
If you want to make them more resistable you can peel them like this.




http://s7.directupload.net/images/120910/h5w7tqxq.jpg

What is wrong with Janosch?

The protein metabolism in his liver doesn't work well. He needs bloodwork twice a year and has to take medicine for the liver with his seeds.
The liver issue effects other digesting problems. Last week I thought he would die. He couldn't poop and had very bad pain. He would sit on the branch wiith spread feathers nearly apathic.
The vet had to run all the exams for bacterias and fungus again, but there were none.
In the end she prescribed lactulose which helped.
I'm so glad he recovered.
Sorry I didn't tell about it but when I'm feeling so bloody bad I can't post in the forum. I'm sitting in front of my laptop, and my brain is empty.

The second thing is that Janosch can't fly because he had an accident that hurt his shoulder joint when he was young. He needed a very long time, but in the end he accepted it.

Oh wow. I am so sorry little Janosch was ill. What a relief that he is better now. Is he very old? Poor guy sounds like he has it a bit rough. But he is lucky he has you .

As a side note, I noticed your comments about natural branches. I love them too for my parrots but have the hardest time locating any that are organic or untreated. Even to buy my own tree for the purpose of giving the branches to the birds regularly, and I still strike out. Very discouraging.

No, he will be 3 years old in autumn. I'm afraid he was born with this liver issue. From the beginning on his poops were brighter than Paulchen's.

Can't you get some in your garden, in a park or a forest?

Poor guy! How did you first find out his health problem?

I don't have a garden because I live in the city. Also, I would be too scared that trees in any park would be sprayed with pesticide. There are no forests around here

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So sorry to hear Karin! Positive thoughts are being sent your way

Last summer the feces part of his poop began to turn yellow. I took him to the vet and she ran full bloodwork. The protein value in his blood is much too low, but the liver detoxicates well.
This issue may also cause the constipation, I hope I can work out with him how much lactulose he needs and the crisis won't come back.
Otherwise we have to do x-ray.

Sorry to hear Janosch wasn't feeling well. I'm glad to hear he is feeling better now.

Yes, our guys LOVE the vine balls

Wow, that's rough. Constipation is hard on people, much less our birds. It's good that you watch and know when he has a problem. I'm sure glad that Paulchen is feeling better now and that the lactulose is helping.

I've noticed that our Comet tends to have very dry poops and I have to make sure he is drinking enough water. I worry that he could get constipated too.

A fresh slice of cucumber is helpful as well as fresh cherries (without nucleus).
Both of them help Janosch when he doesn't like to eat his slice of apple with the lactulose.