I have seen a few people mention Happy Huts. We have never purchased them due to their dangers. I have read some horrible tales about them and our Vets have horror stories about them and have suggested that we not buy them. Many of the injuries done by happy huts seem to happen very quickly, often over night when no one would see them.

If you use one, do you really feel that they are that safe?

My quaker has one and she just loves it. She pretty much lives in it. I don't think it could hurt her, its covered in softness. The only part I dont like about it is she poops in it ALOT! I have to clean it more than her cage. But other than that if I get another quaker I will definitely buy him one too.

My QP love his happy hut as well....we do not cover him at night he just jumps in his happy hut when it is bed time. But yep have fun with the pooh....

We have chosen not to give one to Casey, not because of the dangers involved but because of the potential agression and over bonding they tend to cause. Some birds do okay with them, but others don't so it's just easier not to use one... IMO.

Our Kiwi LOVES his.. climbs up in it every night and puts himself to bed.. kinda ignores it the rest of the time except to occasionaly "run" through it when hes really excited..

For the poopy issues we put a small face towel folded in it each morning and he poops on that so the hpapy hut stays clean and it cuts the washing of it down to about once a week

It can also help with aggression in cages.... we leave his happy hut in the same place and move all the other toys and perches around once a week when we do a thorough cage cleaning.. the way we see it if he reaches maturity and wants to be territorial he can be of his happy hut.. if he goes in there we leave him be... its kiwi's "safe" place to let us know if he's in there he doesnt want to visit with us We've opened the cage door about twice since we've got him and he's went to hit happy hut so we leave him alone

Hope that helps!

I bought one for Clyde because he played hide-and-seek with me behind the computer monitor one day and I thought he'd enjoy having a hidey hole, but he instantly and decisively rejected it and won't reconsider. At first he acted afraid of it and now he acts angry when he sees it, so I figured that was pretty much that. I don't know what his former home was like, and I know he absolutely HATES being covered, so maybe he's got some history with being covered up and something in his past frightened or hurt him. For him, I've decided to forget the Happy Hut. They do make other things if you think your bird needs a place to hide, but I don't know how necessary it is for them to have something like that. Clyde definitely prefers being in the thick of whatever's going on and does not like being alone.

Not sure what would make them more dangerous than any other bird toy that you would put in a bird's cage. Not to belittle your concern, but I am sure that any object that you put in a cage could become a choking, entangling, or hanging hazard. You just have to be careful and remove them as they become warn. I'm sure that people could come up with horror stories about just about anything. For example, some people hate the rope comfy perches because toe nails might get snagged and others love them. Petey loves his happy hut. He only goes in it to sleep and he does not poop in it (bonus for us!).

I think the main reason I have heard for danger is that some birds chew and eat the fuzz and it can hurt their intestinal track or they can pull the threads out and become strangled. We had one for spree that she used before we got her...it looked like this

Then we got her this one



Well she ended up chewing the green one and I noticed her start to eat it...although she sure did love it. So I posted on a different forum asking about it and a lady there was kind enough to send me one of hers that she makes and sells. Spree just loves it and it hasnt come apart yet. She is a chewer too so if anyone can destroy it, she would be the one!! here is her website if anyone is interested. The medium size is good for quakers.
http://www.sunconure.com/sleep_tent.html

Jelly loves to destroy it and to poop on it, i took it away for now because she is doing the nesting position on everything and she is hormonal.
other than that im very careful on the things she chew on, before buying toys i inspect them very well.

Mollie loves her happy hut she sleeps in it every night and sometimes takes her daytime naps in there too. I bought some cheap white wash clothes, cut and sewed up the sides to fit in the hut, then I change them once a day wash and use bleach to keep clean.

I use a Jolly Ball or a PVC Pipe much better for cleaning and unchewable....

a jolly ball would be great, im going to check on those, as Jelly loves to poop on her happy hut sometimes she is all covered with it ewwww!!! bath time!

I had checked the site out and showed it to my hsabnd,. He is really anti-happy hut/sleepy tent. Not just because of the dangers but because he is worried that IF this QP is a female that is where she will nest. Granted s/he is about 1.5 way from that.




I like the Jolly Balls too. Once we have a bit more cash and i can get a really nice cage, I am going ot get one of those. I would consider gettging one for our lovies, but since they are in full nest mode, if we take out the nest box odds are the kolly ball will be the new nest.

We have one for "Sunny" our conure and he loves it! WHen he is ready for a nap or to bo to bed at night, he goes in
and literally lays down on his side head and all and goes to sleep. The minute I tell him bye-bye that I am leaving,
he goes in it before I am out of the door. That is the time he gets alot of sleep in.

As soon as I come back, he hops right out ready to play. We are awaiting our new quaker and hope to bring
her/him home within 3 weeks and we have already purchased a hut for this one as well.

I think they are great and if it gets breezy it also keeps them warm. I have not heard or seen anything negative
with the one we have. Our conure is very picky about his. He does not chew on it or poop in it so
he leaves it nice and clean just for sleeping. That is a plus!

Thanks
Carmen

Mia -

What type do you have? I have read and heard stories about the green one pictured above and the one that hangs in the corner of the cage.

You know -- I do have the GREEN ONE ABOVE for my conure
and have not had any problems. Have you heard of any with
this particular bed. I bought it at Petsmart.

He loves this happy hut. It is the largest one they have
and that is why he loves it. He can hide his entire body in it.

Curious?

Stephanie , if your hen Quaker Parrot gets broody she will lay eggs even if you don`t have a nesting box ...Quakers in the wild sleep in a nest that is why my breeder reccommended me to supply a sleepy box , I use to have a nesting box but both my conure and Q.P chewed a whole in it ...the Jolly balls are much better they have plenty of windows ...

From what I have heard from our Vets and read online, the stiching is not all the durable and it doesn't take much effort - if the bird wants to of course- to rip it apart into piece in a handful of hours. Our vet was working a 10 hour shift and she had a Quaker rip the seam open and start to eat the fabric, which got impacted in its crop. She said it was inspected before she left for work. I have tugged on those and the bannana corner one that is sold in Petsmart and you can hear the seams strain, that makes me nervous. I have noticed the pet stores around here are not getting anymore in once they are sold out.

Here are some articles I found online about it:
http://www.parrotparrot.com/articles/aa072400a.htm
http://caiquesarepeopletoo.homestead.com/Hazards.html

I am usually a HUGE Petsmart advocate, but I am really really careful from what I buy from them lately. Between talking to the emlployees and checking out their stores around here, I have become cautious. Even the good Petsmart where we use to live had issues (like expired bird forumla still on the shelf), but they had an awesome staff. In the area we moved in that is not the case, unfortunately.

I purchased a Happy Hut for Chili about 6 months ago. It took him about 5 months to finally use it. Now he sleeps in it most nights. I can't see any part of it that would cause injury. I actually was wondering how to keep it clean. I think it can be hand washed. I was thinking of buying another one to put into his cage when the other one was being cleaned. Any suggestions would be helpful.

I know that we could end up with eggs regardless (if QP is a female), but there are way to at least attempt to prevent it.

If anything, we are going to get a jolly ball. I think they are awesome. We just need to get a bigger cage now.

I like the look of this one that Nikki posted the link to.

http://www.sunconure.com/sleep_tent.html


Buying 2 is a good idea so you have a replacement when washing ...

It took several weeks for Bugsy to enter his. Now he uses it as tunnel, but he doesn't sleep in it. He does talk to it and for some reson thinks "puppy" is the proper word to use.

Mark