Make your own bird wood blocks

Welcome to the world of Make your own bird wood blocks, where creativity meets nature! If you're a bird enthusiast or simply love crafting, this article is for you. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the exciting journey of creating bird wood blocks. These blocks not only add a touch of beauty to your parrot's cage but also serve as a mental challenging bird toy. Let's embark on this exciting DIY adventure and make your own bird wood blocks that both you and the birds will adore.

Gathering Your Materials

You need to buy untreated pine wood from your local lumber yard. Pinewood is a soft white wood that Home Depot and Lowes carry in different sizes. Most parrots love this wood because they can easily chew it into toothpicks. 
Before you head towards the lumber yard, bring gloves and a pocket knife. Gloves to prevent splinters. Knife to open new bundles of lumber. 

There are a few different sizes. 

1 by 2

2 by 2

1 by 3 

If you need something larger, you can go for the 2 by 3 and 2 by 4. Those are usually Fir, which is still safe, but harder. Great for Macaws, Cockatoos. 

When purchasing lumber you want straight pieces with minimal knots. I know knots make it look cool, but for our purpose, no knots. 

You always want to look at the color of the wood. Make sure there's no discoloration, which can be a sign of mold. If you're unsure, leave it, and find another piece. 

Your lumber pieces shouldn't have any sap or stickiness. If it does, it's no good.

For perfect pieces of parrot wood blocks, make sure your lumber has all corners, throughout the whole length. Yes, I spend a good time at the lumber yard, inspecting every piece of lumber I buy.

Designing Your Bird Blocks

Now it's time to make your own bird wood blocks by cutting your lumber. Using a saw, carefully cut your wood blocks into the desired shapes. 

You can cut them into any thickness, length, or width depending on the lumber size.

Sometimes your cuts will depend on your toy designs but most times it will depend on your parrots. Most parrots like nothing thicker than 3/4 inch. Wood chippers can take down a 4 by 4 by 4 wood block. Small parrots will like thinner pieces, up to 1/8th of an inch. 

Make Your own bird wood blocks with drilling holes

Hand drill with 3/8th in drill bit is good enough for wood pieces. For larger wood blocks, a larger hole will be needed for the larger chain or thicker rope. If you are doing more than a few blocks, a drill press is highly recommended. 

If you don't wish to cut and drill wood blocks, www.pdsparrotshop.com have wood block kits, ready to turn into parrot toys. 

Add vibrant colors

Now the real fun begins when you start dyeing parrot wood blocks with different colors. We dye ours outside, with lots of room mostly because I'm messier than any parrot. 

Use food coloring: Wilton, Americolor, or any other human grade-food color. You will also need 70% isopropyl alcohol.

Side note: isopropyl Alcohol will not be consumed by the parrot. During the drying stage, the alcohol will evaporate. I use isopropyl alcohol because I find it easier to use, and it disinfects the blocks.

Mix 1:15 ratio of color: isopropyl alcohol. With gels, you might need to work it a bit more. The ratio can be changed to personal preference. But 1:15 is a good place to start.

Pour your color in a bucket and then submerge your wood blocks, take them out, and dry them on wire or newspaper. I use the same dye for all my wood, vine items, and coffee filters. 

After a few days of cutting, drilling, bleeding, dyeing the kitchen floor, you have completed making your own bird wood blocks. 

Author: Monika Sangar

Co-founder of Prego Dalliance Sanctuary, Artisan of PDS Parrot Shop