Tips for making your own hanging toys

First of always make sure what you are using is safe for your pet. It may say 'pet safe material' but parrots for example can have plastic toys where a gerbil would chew them up in minutes and they have been known to swallow plastic which can cause intestinal blockages. I use sisal and metal for chewers and i use plastic wire sometimes for parrots and often hamsters as most owners will tell you they rarely chew up their gnawing toys! I do like sisal, i find it takes them a while to chew through the rope as i do put items over it for them to chew which are often more enjoyable that the rope. 

Below is a simple way of making your own toys, as i am not very good at crafty stuff  i always just put them together as easy as possible.

1. These are the materials i generally use. (From right) Loofah, sisal rope, then below are metal clips, key rings, chain, then a variety of wooden chews and wooden spools.

2. This would be the same for sisal rope, i start threading the items on in the order i want so the top of the toy will be the first thing i thread on. Please note do not cut the wire as it saves waster by guessing how much you will need. 

3. I then double knot the bottom of the toy and cut off any excess wire. I added a bell to mine so i double knotted the wire to the bell but this is optional and again depending on the pet. This one i made for a bird or hamster. 

4. Do the same with the top only add the metal clip, it can take practice making sure there is not gaps in between each item on the string but it is important to stop your pet getting to the wire and biting it.

5. You should be left with a nice hanging toy for your cage or tank. I done the same with the ladders also but  i use sisal rope. They can be as long or as short as you need them and the ladders could even have four clips on to make a hanging bride or hammock if you wanted to make it even bigger. I hope this was helpful!