https://youtu.be/jUT0MmVFGIc

This is a three-piece animal welfare kit for small birds who are light chewers.

It prints without any waste on a 9 x 5 inch bed. No support material is needed, making it material-efficient without the need for a finishing step after printing.

To attach to the cage bars, it has a split-screw design. The cap pinches the wire in a wide area around the screw, creating a stable and safe attachment point. Because of this design, there are no hanging hooks that a bird can get trapped in (hooks do a good job going through leg bands or around necks.) The screw is on the outside, so your pet can't remove it and turn the swing toy into a kinetic bomb to smoosh cagemates.

The design uses a snap-fit click-together fitting to join the split screw to the swing. This allows for the screw to be printed vertically, which produces the best threads. But the swing is printed horizontally, which removes the need for support material and makes the print very fast. (*It is important that any stringy bits are trimmed or melted off the print to prevent a tangle hazard!)

The same snap-fit is used in my other designs, run the small tester object for the snap-fit first, then use the same settings for the whole print. (More info in the printing instructions below.)

The perch area has a variable thickness to encourage good foot health. The variation creates changing pressure-points against a bird's feet, so over-used parts of the feet can get a break.

The swing will move with the bird, encouraging balance, and offering muscular-skeletal health benefits associated with using different muscle groups during swinging. A moving perch offers a healthy challenge for landing and flying, as well as perching. The bird can learn how to rock their body to make the perch move as a cognitive challenge.

The perch is thick to allow for climbing and landing on sideways on the unmoving upper portion. The verticle posts are wide and rounded to reduce trauma if a bird flies into the perch. They are also easy to see, to encourage flying AROUND THEM, unlike some wire swing posts.

The fulcrum of the swing is low, reducing the arc of the swing, so it has a reduced chance of hitting cagemates during use and after takeoff, and cannot pinch a cagemate between the ceiling and the swing. The angled links of the fulcrum offer resistance and brake the swing if it is swinging wildly, such as during cage moving, or when a bird panics and flies into the swing. If swinging with enough force, the links will brake the swing and it will lock rather than become a wildly swinging wrecking ball.

Keep an eye on the links that join the upper and lower part of the swing. They are the thinnest point and most likely to be chewed through, or, if you have an energetic bird, worn through by lots of swinging!! If chewed or worn they will produce a hook shape, which is an unsafe item around birds. This toy is best for soft chewers who tend not to gnaw through soft plastic items. Once in a while, visually check that the cap is still tight.