Bought Alex a happy hut, he is TERRIFIED of it.

[Amber]

At first he was sort of ok, curious of it. So I put it into the cage. Half an hour I hear Alex screaming (which he does do, but never in this tone, like he was being mauled or something), so I run back to the room to him flying around the cage terrified. Let him out, remove happy hut, cuddles for a bit, everything is ok. Then he catches sight of the hut on my bed, and he is terrified again. I hid it under the covers, but he still knew it was there (He's demonstrated object permanence on a number of occasions, I have no idea why I thought he would think the hut was gone if it was under the covers ) I had to remove it from the room before he would calm down again.

Is it even worth persevering with the hut? Alex sleeps either on a perch or snuggled into a bit of fleece (birdy blanky!) I put in the bottom at night for him. It's not like a harness or something that will eventually benefit him or me after all. I may try hiding it under the bed with just the tiniest corner showing, and each week show more of it until he is accustomed to it being their, then see how we go, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Ratzy]

Personally, I really, really dislike happyhuts. Wouldn't ever, ever buy one for my birds.
Budgie "blankets" And Snugglehuts - The Budgerigar Breeders Club Inc. Budgie Community Forums
Okay, that's directed at budgies, but still.

Hope I'm not breaking forum rules by posting that thread, mods, if I am, feel free to edit!

 

[Atwee921]

I got a happy hut for my birthday....
I asked for bird stuff to get ready for my bird.

 

[mtdoramike]

I've been tempted to try one of thise for my Senegal. She hangs on the side of her cage with her head pointed down. I don't know how she can sleep that way.

 

[Bobioden]

My GCC loves his. He goes in it a few times a day and takes a nap, and at around 8p he climbs in it for the night. I then cover the cage and he is good until I uncover him at 7:30a the next morning.

 

[Nakiska]

Awww...tooo bad! Alex doesn't know what he's missing! Our Franklin absolutely LOVES his happy hut and every night when we turn the lights out he climbs inside and has happy dreams all night long.

He sometimes naps in it during the day, but I have an extremely active bird. As a toy he LOVES to "tunnel" through it upside down, on his side, on his belly, he plays Peek a boo with us, only peeking his head around the corner JUST enough to see us, then he makes a kissing sound and backs back into it.

I know that some folks have an adamit dislike for them, and there was the post where the one bird got fatally tangled in some fraying on his. But I keep a close eye on mine, I examine it every day for wear and if I took Franklins away, I think he'd cry real tears!

I think it's worth trying to get Alex used to it. Before I put Franklin's in his cage, I placed it on our bed and played with him with it...he already naturally liked to "tunnel" under our blankets so I showed him the hole he could "Tunnel" in and he went right for it.

Good Luck,

Toni

 

[birdmama61]

Yeah I have also heard bad things about happy huts as well . I have heard if they chew them and a string is hanging they can get a toe or a foot hung up on them and or god forbid choke on them if they get their head hung . Yeah I have heard they can be dangerous . Im glad my birds dont like them and besides they cost quite a chunk of change too . i used to know a lady who made them .

 

[nofearengineer]

My CAG Gandalf was scared of a happy hut I bought him too. Eventually he grew comfortable enough with it to shred it to pieces. He never quite got the memo about it being a place to snuggle up.

 

[Amber]

Personally, I really, really dislike happyhuts. Wouldn't ever, ever buy one for my birds.
Budgie "blankets" And Snugglehuts - The Budgerigar Breeders Club Inc. Budgie Community Forums
Okay, that's directed at budgies, but still.

Hope I'm not breaking forum rules by posting that thread, mods, if I am, feel free to edit!

Personal opinion on them varies, but on the budgie thing I think theirs a difference between letting a desert bred bird tough it out in the cold (seriously, those things are tough, you should see them go in the wild! freezing nights, boiling days) and a tropical parrot like Alex. We live in a very cold place, temperatures dropping below freezing most nights, snow some mornings, and our house is old and drafty. Thats not something he's naturally well adapted to, and as someone who has taken on the care of this bird in an environment drastically different to his natural one, I feel I should try to accommodate him as well as I can. If this means I 'baby' him, so be it.

I use fleece blanket squares for Alex to snooze in if he feels like it. He can't get caught in them, and he loves them. After what I've read, I've decided to eventually (once hes used to it) put the happy hut on his toy stand, so he can play with it under supervision. If it was a 100% fleece one I probably wouldn't mind, but its one of those fluffy ones and he could ingest it or get caught.

 

[cupcake]

I bought my lorikeet one... he pooped on it and then refused to even look at it again so I just threw it out, lol.

 

[Garnet]

Most of my birds have snuggle huts and love them, however my quaker and pionus just decided they were a toy and destroyed theirs. They both sleep side by side on the top of their food bowl, fortunately it is covered, and seem happy to sleep that way. My green cheeks particularly love to play in them as well as sleep in them. If you pay careful attention to the hut, there should be no danger. However, if you bird is that terrified and doesn't warm up to the hut soon, I'd just abandon the idea since you say he snuggles into a piece of fleece, he is staying warm at night.

 

[Beilana]

Chia hates them too!! I tried and tried to get her to like it but she REFUSED to acknowledge its existence. So I chucked it.

 

[Adz]

Loco loves his hut, he always sleeps in it.

It's a common sense thing guys, you feed your bird ever day, check the hut for damage. If it's damaged, remove it.

I even have a spare in the garage (same colour and all).

This sounds silly, but Loco is terrified of Purple. Perhaps your bird doesn't like the colour? Loco didn't like his hut for a while. Eventually he got curious and not he loves it. There was never any screaming though.

 

[Autumn]

Haha I wish you guys wouldn't through them, been meaning to have a hut for him. Infact I might make my own.

 

[Riio]

I had one for my little Rio, he wasnt scared of it and occasionally went through it when going to the other side of the cage, but would never sleep in it. After about a month of him not using it I removed it so he would have more space, I bought a little Cozy Corner...well he LOVES that thing! he snuggles up to it every night and sometimes for his afternoon nap. It even goes in his travel cage if we are going somewhere overnight. (I treat it like his little security blanket) I think the key is to just find something that works for your lil guy. It feels like a "waste" of money sometimes but their happiness is what counts. Good luck!

 

[Adz]

Haha I've seen those Cozy Corners, they are so cute. My girlfriend has a blanket that similar material to Loco's happy hut and he loves it.

 

[bollywoodhollywood]

My pineapple green cheek LOVES her little hut. she sleeps in it. Never poops in it . It is her bed!!!