Do these look safe? (perch tents)

[Aspie_Aviphile]

https://www.parrotessentials.co.uk/parrot-perch-tent-medium/

I can't find any posts about this sort of tent, and I don't know how to tell of it avoids all the dangers of Happy Huts as I have only a vague understanding of what those dangers are. E.g. is this specific fabric likely to get ingested by a ringneck, could it entangle him in whatever way Happy Huts do, etc.

 

[itzjbean]

I actually JUST ordered this from Chewy.com for my male cockatiel and ir arrived today. I'm putting it in when I get back from work to monitor how he reacts to it.

He has never had a happy hut but likes to cuddle up against a piece of fabric separating him from the other side of the cage so I wanted to give this a try because he is not a fabric chewer but I think the perch bottom will keep him from wanting to nest. It would be just for comfort purposes while he sleeps.

Here is where I found it and the reviews for it look decent. I will give it a try but if I see him chewing at it at all, I won't keep it. You have to know your birds before oyu get something like this, if they are big chewers the fabric can easily be chewed up and it can still be dangerous.

 

[Flboy]

The wife’s Bongo loves his, but he is also a zero chewer!

 

[noodles123]

In terms of potential behavioral issues and ingestion concerns, these look nearly as bad as a happy hut in my opinion-- certainly enough shade to cause hormones...I am sure birds love it, but that probably relates to their nesting instinct as well (e.g., hormones). Shadowy places (even with perches under them) still can stimulate that hormonal response---I just recently had to take down a grass foraging wall for that very reason. The shadow it cast was causing my bird to engage in all sorts of hormonal behaviors. This is also why people say not to let birds hang out under furniture or with their heads under blankets.

Any fabric (if chewed/ingested) can cause intestinal blockages. There is no safe fabric for a bird who chews and potentially eats bits of the cloth. This part is more of a case-by-case issue.

 

[wrench13]

If you are 100% sure he is not chewing or ingesting the fabric and no behavioural issues are observed, I would make 1 change. Replace the smooth dowel perch with a natural wood perch of appropriate diameter. Spending every night perched on the stock perch is not very good for his footies. But make very sure about the chewing - I think 'huts' are responsible for more parrot deaths than any other single reason, and is totally preventable .

 

[clark_conure]

my birds DO NOT WANT...but; if your birds do I'm sure they are ok.

 

[itzjbean]

Update on the one I got for Ember... he was terrified of it when I put it in his cage yesterday, but this morning was climbing on it and exploring it. I agree the perch attached to it doesn't look very comfortable so I ordered some vet wrap to wrap it up and make it a little easier to perch on.

 

[noodles123]

The reason he told you to switch out the perch is because dowel perches can lead to bumble-foot, as they do not require the bird's foot to sit on varied/uneven surfaces. Bumble-foot is basically like bed-sores of the feet but in parrots. If he is spending a lot of time on that dowel perch (as they do when they sleep), then that is a lot of time on a smooth perch without variation, which means a lot of pressure on the exact same parts of the foot/toes.