chewing happy hut.

[LovelySydney]

Gussy is chewing on his happy hut. I saw him kinda knawing on the inside this morning, and when I just looked in there are strings hanging. I know this is VERY DANGEROUS (ingestion and/or entanglement in the string) so I took the happy hut out. He's been knawing the string that holds the clip to the cage too, so much so that it's almost going to break & fall

I've only had him for a small time (not even 24 hours!) but I know how much he loves that hut. Is it safe to put back in for bedtime? I looked up a birdie buddy but it doesn't look the same - & I think Gus likes being inside the hut when he sleeps.


Any thoughts?
:(

[luluxoxo83]

Mine had a sleepy teepee.....(at the time I called it a happy hut) and shiloh pulled out the threads to nest and she got tangled while we were gone and she passed. I would not even leave it in at night because you never know if Gussie will sleep all night or if he will just go in there and play and stay quiet. Can you post a picture of the hut you have just so we can see what your talking about? I really like the birdie binkies.......

http://www.shop.abirdtoy.com/product.sc?categoryId=6&productId=50

[LovelySydney]

Yea here's the link to what I have - It's exactly that one:


http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751034

[luluxoxo83]

I have never had issues with that one....Maybe someone else will chime in. But I do think that if he is pulling the strings off you should take it out. You never know what can happen...and if something does happen it happens fast.

[LovelySydney]

yea i definitely do NOT want to take any risks so i might just take it out. I'm wondering too if the inside chewing was from Luka because it was her happy hut before it was gussies...I'm gonna leave it out the rest of the day.

[BarbieH]

That's fine. They really don't need the happy huts; it's cute to see them in it, but they really sleep quite well on a corner perch. And some birds are regular feathered demolition crews when it comes to their huts!

[MykL]

I have the same Happy Hut (but in blue), and my little guy adores it! Every now and then I might have to snip some loose threads on the inside -- but other than that he leave it pretty much alone? And I leave his Hut in the cage 24/7.

[Enko_chan]

My family and I have been buying that particular "snuggle hut" for a long time... though now I buy a hand-made one which I like better- some of the birds chew the huts and some don't. We've only had to remove one from one bird. Then again, within one day Loki chewed on a rope perch and got caught in it- only for a moment, but that was pulled out in 2 seconds flat! and we've had that particular perch in every single cage we've ever had with no problems. I think its just important to pay attention to how each bird interacts with new toys & accessories and make your best assessment. It sounds like maybe its worth trying a different hut or get something else snuggly for your bird to cuddle up with. For my birds that don't like or chew the huts, we usually hang a piece of fringy fleece over the cage bars near a perch- that way they can snuggle up with it, but not produce any strings they can get hurt on.

Also, Enko chan had a plushie "Tree house" to sleep in. I believe it was made by the same people as the happy hut, but I'm not sure. I read a bunch of good reviews of it before I got it, but can't say too much about what would have been. I didn't want to keep it in case it could spread disease, and plus it just reminded me too much of him at the time. He wasn't with us long, but he didn't tear at it at all. The one I have for my fid-to-be is one of the hand-made ones that I like a lot, its made with a cloth on the outside that doesn't make "string" when its ripped apart, and is expertly stitched so that the thread is on the inside (where the birds can't get at it), the inside part (where the bird snuggles in) is made of fleece. I can give you the e-mail address of the woman from whom I order that hut if you are interested. She also has a lot of inexpensive and wonderful hand-made toys, and does not keep any birds on the premises. She does keep and breed birds herself and is very keen on bird safety. While birds are smart enough to make any toy dangerous if they put their minds to it, I can at least vouch that these toys are as well-made, cute, cost-effective, keep the fids busy, well-sized, and safe as the safest toys out there.

The "Sleepy Teepee" has been reported in other communities and websites as a dangerous "toy". One had the photograph included, to make sure we knew the one that was being discussed.

[Enko_chan]

There's actually a page about bird dangers with MANY reports of happy hut deaths and injuries.

And scratch the part about the birdie tents I like so much... I just got a package with one that I ordered (for my mum's lovies) and it was not made the same as before. It had ribbon on it with little lovie toe nail sized hazards that pulled out easily just enough to wrap around a lovie leg, and the stitching was exposed and hanging everywhere- I tried to cut it off but when I did, the outer material came off and made even worse hanging hazards. The whole thing basically pulled apart with no effort at all. I wrote the woman and asked what happened, considering how adamantly for bird safety she claims her stuff to be, and she said that the person who used to make the huts doesn't make them any longer so these aren't the same. How sad. At this point, I think I may just set up an area with the fleece hung over the bars and/or make a fleece snuggle buddy.


There's a Dangerous Toys part with info on the Happy Hut. We'd used them for such a long time with no problems, but there obviously is a tangling danger if the birds are pulling them apart and even poisoning from the happy hut materials. http://www.parrotparrot.com/birdhealth/alerts.htm

[LovelySydney]

I cut out the strings I saw inside the HH yesterday and Gus hasn't touched it since. He actually shows no interest in that hut from the moment he gets up to the moment he has to go nightnight. So I might just take it out during the day to be safe, especially since I am not there to watch him. Thanks for the info Enko!!

[thebubbleking]

I keep a happy hut for boo and sunshine, boo does not chew it she spends 80 percent of her time in it or guarding it lol even tho i never see her chew it i do a daily inspection inside and out, always better safe then sorry!

[LovelySydney]

Gus stopped chewing on his hut, although I have started taking it out sometimes during the day, kinda 'forcing' him to explore his surroundings so to speak!!

[Chickobee]

The hut we had that Pixie got tangled up in was the same as the one from Petco. (We probably bought it there.) It had a seam inside at the top and she managed to unravel the thread and get it wrapped around her neck in the middle of the night. Her shrieking was very scarey but we were able to save her. If this had happened during the daytime when we were at work we are sure she wouldn't have survived. The more she struggled the tighter the thread got around her neck.

Now I don't give huts to any of our adult birds because I know they are capable of ripping them up any time they want to. I did use them last summer for the babies coming out of the nestboxes, but they weren't chewing on them yet or destroying toys. The ones I have now I made myself and they don't have any exposed seams or threads to be a temptation for busy beaks.

I like the birdie binkie though. I think I'll make one of those.