21 Do It yourself Frugal Pet Toy Ideas

Although we don’t  have any pet, we do have a lot of friends who does. All the time I see them buying pet toys while grocery shopping. They can be cheaper at some stores like dollar stores or can be very expensive at stores in the malls. In this post we will talk about a few DIY ideas for pet toys which you can be made by things that are available at your home.

In this post, we will group the ideas in to the type of pets they are for. Enjoy the post and I’ll be happy if you give your valuable feedback. I will be happier if you implement some of the ideas and tell us about it!

Birds

Rice Cake Forage

Poke a hole in the middle of the rice cake, loop a ribbon around the rice cake and hang in the cage to encourage the birds to exercise their wings and help their stamina. As the bird gets the idea of exercising to get the treat, hang it higher.

Ping Pong Ball / Wiffle Ball Forage

Make holes on the ping pong ball, as the wiffle ball already has holes. Fill the spaces in the ball with foods that are small enough to fit the spaces make sure it won’t fall out such as apple slices, sugar snap peas, pistachio nuts.

Hang in the cage. Similar to the rice cake forage, this one will help the bird’s intelligence in getting the treats out of the ball. Once they get better at it, use smaller pieces but make sure they won’t fall out.

Hanging charm with perch (This is a great pecking toy for parakeets)

For this, you will need twine, plastic beads, plastic bottle caps, small-knotted rope, plastic charm, and a small cardboard box.  Punch out a hole on the top of the plastic bottle cap with a drill. Open both ends of the cardboard box, but leave the middle part glued together. Cut a strip across the box, you will get a small rectangular shaped cut out, similar to a television shaped box.

Length your twine and make sure it will be long enough to string everything together along the box and enough to tie a knot on both ends. Create a loop at one end of the twine, tie to a keychain ring or anything that will help the hanging. Add a few beads, then the top of the cardboard, plastic beads, add the bottle cap, add more plastic beads, the end of the cardboard, plastic beads, loop the end of the twine on the charm.

Hang in the cage for your bird to peck and hang out on.

Shredded Sock Toy (This toy is great for your bird’s shredding needs)

You will need baby link (baby’s rattle ring), an old sock (washed, dried, doesn’t smell like feet). Firstly, trim off the elastics of the sock’s opening, cut the socks into streams from the opening to about a few inches away from the sock area, cut a small hole in the toe area for hanging and loop in the baby link.

Then, hang the sock in the cage.

Cardboard Shredding Toy (Perfect shredding toy)

Punch holes in the middle of a cardboard. Loop the top of the twine to the keychain ring. String plastic bead and cardboard alternately. Loop the twine end and hang in cage / anywhere in the house for birds to perch and shred the cardboards.

Rabbits

Cardboard Treat Balls

You will need paper towel rolls (cut into similar sized rings), fresh greens, hay, any rabbit pellets.

Overlap the rings to form a 3D sphere shape. When there is a small gap left, insert treats in them. Cover with more rings if needed. Roll it out to your rabbit to see them try to get the treats out of the ball.

Paper Towel Treat Roll

You will need 4 – 5 similar sized cardboard toilet paper roll (small sized), treats (pellet food, raisins, etc).

Flatten all rolls except one. Take all the flattened rolls and insert them in the fourth roll. Insert treats on the inside of the folds in the inner cardboard rolls. Roll it out to your rabbit to roll and enjoy the treats.

Box Fort or Bunny House Castle

Get some cardboard boxes, treats (pellet foods, dried fruits), and non-toxic glue (Elmer’s glue). Fold the ends close and make an access hole in front of the box, glue on a big cardboard box. Make a house, castle or even boxes on the board.

Fill the boxes with treats and teach your bunny to open the boxes to get the treats. This toy is both physically and mentally challenging for your rabbit.

Digging Box / Digging Fort

You’ll need a cardboard box and some wrapping paper. Remove the top flaps, cut out two doors big enough for your rabbit to fit through.

Tear up the wrapping papers and place it inside the box. Don’t fill; make sure there are spaces for your rabbit to dig his way in. Let your rabbit have his fun in digging, hiding, and destroying the paper. Hide pieces of vegetables to make them have fun during feeding time.

Paper Wooden Spoon

You’ll need a wooden spoon, preferably one that is old and is unused. Be sure to clean it first. Wrap the wooden spoon with wrapping paper (non-toxic and not wax), slit the ends in the slots or use Elmer’s glue to bind it together. Give the toy for your rabbit to chew, tear and play with.

Cats

Feather Cat Toy

Print out some cat toy template, one that looks like a leaf is preferable. Cut out one large and one small feather on two pieces of different colored medium-weight wool felt. With a hot iron, press a crease down the center of each feather.

Add a jump ring to the jingle bell; slip a 1-yard length of satin cord, ribbon or twine through the jump ring. Tie stems of feathers to cord with a square knot. Knot both ends to prevent fraying.

Cat Wand

Wrap a plain wooden dowel with colorful twine. Leave an amount of 10 – 12 inches at the dowel, so you can tie the fabric scraps at the end. With a small amount of fabric glue, secure the twine. Take all the fabric scraps and tie them to the end of the twine.

Select three different fabric scraps and tie on the jingle bells. Play with your cat and ‘cast’ a spell for their playtime!

Baby Sock Cat Toy

Insert a paper cylinder into an old baby sock; fill the sock with dried catnip using a spoon. Be sure to break up any large pieces before and use dried catnip instead since herb catnips will mold. Pack the toy tightly.

Blind stitch the top of the sock and to dangle it, thread a piece of yarn through the back top of the sock so the yarn doubles itself and cut at a desired length. Knot it in a few places to secure it. To refill, just take apart of the stitching, and then refill.

Pipe Cleaner Cat Toy

Bend one end of the pipe cleaner over and press firmly to prevent the sharp wire from protruding. You’ll need to join several of the sticks to create one toy to do it, cross the ends of two pipe cleaners about 1/2 inch up and twist them together, ensuring that you’ve completely smoothed the sharp ends.

Hold the bent end against the ping-pong ball and wrap the pipe cleaner around it, shifting it slightly so you’re forming a “cage” around the ball. String a bell onto the pipe cleaner when the shape is about half way finished. Once you’ve completed the toy, you’ll twist the bell around so it sits inside the ball shape.

Continue wrapping until you’ve completed the sphere. Gently pry a section of the shape open to free the ball and then reform the shape. Twist the ends onto a neighboring piece to secure the shape and prevent them from coming loose and slows down the ball’s ability to roll.

Tie a long piece of ribbon around the toy and attach it to the end of a blunt stick if your cat prefers to jump and chase an object that you’re dangling above his head. Check the cat toys frequently to be sure your kitten hasn’t chewed all of the “fur” off of the pipe cleaner. If you see any exposed wire, throw the toy away and make a new one.

Pyramid Craft Toy

Tape 15 toilet paper rolls together to form a pyramid with electrical tape. Put a few dry catnips or some dried food pellets in each tube and let the cats try to get them while playing the pyramid, rolling the pyramid around the house.

Dogs

Candy Crush Color Bomb Squeak Toy

Make a cut out pattern from paper into a sphere. Cut out 6 leaf shapes in brown fleece and sew 2 leaves right sides together with a ¼” seam allowance. Repeat until all 6 leaves are opened but leave one side open. Turn sphere right side out through the open side and cut out color dots with at least 3 in each color.

Use the opening sphere to sew on as many color dots as you can, backstitch each time. Stuff sphere with fiberfill and a squeaker through one side opening, and hand stitch the opening close. Handstitch a few color dots on ends of sphere.

Ghost Dog Toy

Place a tennis ball inside of the sock, twist the sock underneath of the ball and use a piece of string or a piece of the other sock and tie off the ball. Cut strips from the other end of the sock and tie knots on the strips you just cut. This gives extra stuff to chew on.

Denim Dog Toy

Cut the lower part of your denim pants, cut one of the side lengthwise. Fold the jeans in 1” width, make a loop, close the loop and make a knot. This will be a good chew toy to exercise your pups’ jaw.

Forage Ball

Stuff a large Hol-ee Roller ball with pieces of fleece, and stuff treats in the ball. Roll out the ball to the dog and be sure to supervise your dog when this game is played because if they consume the rolled up fleece that is stuffed with treats, they asphyxiate your pup.

Tugga Toy

Cut 20 stretch knit or tops in assorted colors to a 1” x 20” measurement. Lay the pieces together in 2 sections of 10 and twist the 2 sections together, tie a large knot at each end like braiding. Knot both ends for secure measurement.

Crinkly Chew Toy

Wrap a recycled t-shirt around a water bottle minus the bottle cap. This will make a very crinkly toy that makes any pup happy for a long time.