We buy kiln dried pine 2x4s, our large cockatoo loves them. We cut them up into pieces about 6" long by 1" wide. And she shreds them into toothpick sized pieces. The wood costs us about $1.75 for an 8 foot piece. Make sure it's bird safe wood, not all woods are safe for birds. I have a link below listing safe and non safe woods.
Some the toilet paper rolls, and paper towel rolls, from what I've read contain zinc in the glue. So I don't give them to my birds, because you never know which ones use the glue with zinc in it.
We also go to yard sales and buy baby toys. Some of the rattles work really good with our Goffin Cockatoo. We buy the plastic ones that are a softer plastic, and stay away from the brittle plastic ones and really stay away from the ones with gel inside. They can break and cut the birds tongue. We also buy the baby building blocks, made of wood. They also come in plastic, it's thin like the straws so they can shred it up. They also come in like a foam rubber type material now a days.
Craft stores have grapevine balls for a couple of bucks, they don't last long but they have fun tearing them up. My little Senegal Parrot loves these, for him it can take 2 days to rip one apart the larger birds can have it down in minutes. Just make sure they are not coated with anything.
We also give our birds used magazines. Make sure they are no perfume samples in the magazine. I use magazines that never had a sample in them. My Grey loves to rip up the magazine, but the perfume samples are poison to a bird. And staples are something else that should not be in them.
My African Grey likes to play with a water bottle. I only let her play with that when she comes over to the sofa, and plays there. She likes to play with what I use or touch a lot, like pens, or my medicine bottles. When I smoked, she always wanted my lighter, so I have always kept a real close eye on her. She can be a wild one.
No matter what type of toys or play item they have, always make sure that they are not eating it.
I hope this helps, I've never used straws as toys. But as long as they are clean, and you make sure their not eating them. Then there should not be a problem. Some of my birds likes there fries, and some of the other birds like a piece of the cheeseburgers. Just a little bit, as the birds can become diabetic like people can. So don't over do it.
Good Luck, as you can see there are a lot of things that you can use for cheap bird toys. Just make sure they are clean and safe for your bird.
Take my advice, don't buy cheap toys you can certainly make your own but be careful what wood you use as some are toxic, nearly all fruit bearing trees which are edible by humans are ok.
Just as an instance willow is fine and the bark medicinal but the leaves are toxic, so you really need to be careful in your selection of wood and for this reason I think it safer if you go and get some literature from a library or somewhere before you decide.What are some cheap,home made toys to give to a Amazon Parrot?
Easiest, Wood, no painted surfaces, blocks tied together with leather, no strings or wire. Keep it natural. Also my Blue %26amp; Gold loves to chew apart empty cig box's, no plastic for phun. Remember, if it can be found in the wild its most ok for birds.
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