Oreo currently does not have one of those happy huts to sleep in, but we put a blanket over him to make sure there's no cold breeze or anything. I was just wondering if sleeping in those huts is instinctive or do you have to train them to sleep in it? trying to train oreo to put on the diaper was a disaster and $40 down the drain....

oh, and also...
a) Oreo is a big pig, has to eat everything we are.. is this normal?
oreo is very insecure about being left alone. he'll be eating and if we walk by forgets it and just wants to be let out. sometimes he wont eat unless we sit there and watch him (unless he's really hungry, then he eats). If i leave th eroom for a second, he follows me and has to be doing whatever i'm doing. if he hears voices and he's in the cage, he screems "good baby" to try and convince us to let him out.

its cute, but i was just wondering why he's so insecure. He doesn't even play with toys, all he wants to do is sit on us or play with our fingers. I've bought him a few toys and he rejected them all (except for the two that were in his cage when we brought him home). he'll throw them off his cage, or bite them.. but he doesnt play with them.

Hi,
Yeah, Casey is a pig too, if it's something she likes. She will try to get it out of your hand or try and figure out a way from her cage to the food! I think they all love food!

Casey, like Oreo, always wants to be with us. Casey will say "Hi Baby!" until you come and pick her up. So I don't really have any advice on how to stop that! We just try not to go to her everytime so she doesn't become the boss and expect us to always run when she calls. How old is Oreo?

As for the Happy Hut, it all depends on the bird. I would advise against them, but a lot of people here love them and find they work quite nicely for their Q... so you would have to try it and see how it works out. The reason I am not a fan of them is because they can become very territorial over them and start to bite etc. in order to protect them. But others here find them great and their birds are not territorial at all, so you have to try and see how Oreo is with it. I *think* if they want to use it them will teach themselves, but someone else who uses them can give you better advice.

For hating the toys. What kind of toys do you have in his cage? We have discovered Casey perfers the "Pet Stages" toys over the sisal like toys. She really likes anything she can shread (paper paper paper!) or fabric-y ones she can chew, but for some reason is afraid of the sisal and wood blocks! Just keep the toys somewhere Oreo can see them and eventually he might learn to like them...

Good Luck! Others will be along shortly to offer more advice!

Georgie is territorial. The vet told us to take her happy hut out.

As for the food, I believe we own feather pigs. Georgie is such the porker when it comes to some human food.

Happy huts are a hit or miss kinda thing. Some will use them right off, some take some time, and some are like our Maya and won't have anything to do with them. So it might wind up like the diaper, albeit less likely.

Make sure you limit the people food. Most of what we eat isn't really appropriate for them.

Buddy has a happy hut on the outside of his cage. He plays in it, runs through it, etc.
I put him in at night and cover. I can always tell when he is ready for bed, he gets
in his hut and is quite as a mouse. I have no problems asking him to step up and
out of it for bed. I was considering putting another one inside for him to sleep in,
as I can feel the warmth inside the hut just from him being in it all warm and cuddly.

Did you spend more time in the beginning than you have to spend with him now? Sometimes, this causes birds to be clingy..
My quaker, Joy, would play alone and stay on or in her cage, and we never allowed her free roam of the house..We trained Gabby the same way and she prefers to be on her cage rather than on us...She likes me to cuddle with her most evenings, but loves her play top and loves chewing coffee filters that she dunks in her water..She spends hours chewing a regular size filter into a small ball....LOL!!!

Rebecca

Great advise has been offered...I just want to add....You said Oreo doesn't play with toys...Well try him/her with plastic straws, natural leather strips, skewers (with point cut off)...Oreo may be one of those builders....


I found out that when Harley wouldn't play with toys that all he wanted to do was build and weave whatever he could...even plastic spoons and knives...So I don't spend a lot of money on toys for my little man...When he isn't building, he is preening or just sitting and squawking,

Mine loves her happy hut and took to it right away. She was agressive the first time she went in- but I didn't let her wake up before trying to get her out of it (she is super grumpy in the morning). But Ijust was firm and didn't let her intimidate me (ie- I got impatient ) and now she is fine stepping up from in there. Confidence is the key in all my dealings with her, it seems- she gets a wicked gleam in her eye when someone gets nervous around her- look out!

As for toys- there are several different types- shredders, preeners, puzzles, builders, mulchers- try one of each. Mine's a builder- lots of strips of leather and such is good- she also likes untieing knots. And even if you don't see them playing with it, leave it in, he might just be scared.

And the eating thing- that's good! Now if you want him to eat something good, you can pretend to eat it yourself and voila! magically it is now what he MUST HAVE.

I want to buy one for my bird but I really don't think he will use it... he barely plays with his toys, won't eat veggie and is scared of everything. He honestly just does not know that such things are toys/food/good for him.

I think with the dropping of the food when you leave the room that's because eating is a social thing with birds, they prefer company. I notice alot of my birds go to the food bowl when walk in the bird room. Tobias will eat and eat and eat if I sit and watch him, but he'll drop his food and stop alot of the time if I have to leave the room. hmm
tikileahsmom

Shah loves his happy hut but actually sleeps on the rope ladder right at the end of the hut. However, he REALLY loves his happy hut at the moment, if you know what I mean. It is not a pretty sight to lift the cage cover of a morning and find him having a private moment with his little green happy hut. No wonder they call it "happy".

Brady will play in his happy hut but I've never seen him sleep in it. He sleeps on one of his perches.

petey is a big pig also... but hes picky... wierd.
he loves his happy hut.. i didnt have to train him to go in it, he just did.. he loves it so much that he cleans his poo out every morning.. lol
what a silly bird i have

We have 2 QP's, both females, sharing 1 cage. Each has her own Happy Hut (it's a big cage) which they sleep in, swing on, run through, etc. They love the huts, and are not territorial at all- we can reach in and scratch their heads and they'll just purr. So far so good with the happy huts, at least here.

One piece of advice- the loops at the top to hang it can be chewed through pretty easily- watch for wear!

Kermit had a happy hut, but he got to aggressive around it. So, we took it out. He would sleep in it and play in it, but now just sleeps on a perch.

Jeff