Happy Hut Warning

by Anonymous
(NY)

My stepdaughter and her family had a Sun Conure who loved it's Happy Hut. She slept in it, snuggled with it and also chewed it a lot, often shredding it to string which caused them to replace it quite often.

They went out shopping one day to get another Happy Hut and when they got home they found their bird dead. It's feet had become entangled in the strings from the Happy Hut and it couldn't free itself. It either died from exhaustion or a heart attack.

Please be careful what you put in your birds' cage and if something gets broken or worn out, remove it immediately.

I have a Quaker parrot and one day he was out of his cage playing with a rubber wrist bracelet. He was chewing and throwing it up in the air having a good time. It's a good thing I was home because he flipped it over his head and it went down and over his body and he couldn't get it off. If I had not been there, he almost certainly would have died from fright or exhaustion.

Things that seem harmless to us could spell trouble for your bird.

Comments for
Happy Hut Warning

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Dec 20, 2012

Trapped
by: Anonymous

My bird chewed a hole in the bottom of his Happy Hut and crawled inside. He then made his way up to the side and became trapped within the lining. When I got home I couldn't find him anywhere. Thankfully I figured it out. I had to cut him out with a pair of scissors. He was terrified but is fine now.

May 18, 2012

Happy hut accidents
by: Tracie

I think you need to know your bird, personally. Some species are chewer/shredder birds and others are not. Some birds chew and shred and others do not. If you put a tent in the cage and the bird starts chewing on it, remove it and don't put it back in.

We have a small tent in with our Bourke's parakeet. It has been in there for years, it looks brand new. We had a tent in with our green cheeks without issue but removed it when one of the birds started laying eggs.

The fleece idea mentioned here is GREAT!

May 18, 2012

I had a Happy Hut but now make my own
by: Belinda & Luigi (The Quaker)

I had a happy hut and Luigi my quaker went through them like mad chewing them until threads were hanging. I read stories about parrots dying being strangled etc (I am lucky I never had this horrid experience)... I decided to make an identical one out of fleece (infact I made 8 fleece huts for the price of 1 happy hut.) he loves it just the same as the happy hut infact identical except for the fabric, it is just as comfy and snuggly and chewable, but when he chew it, it comes away in clumps falls to the floor and gets thrown out it does not become thread bare or stringy. Why don't Happy hut make them out of fleece instead of dangerous thready stuff. fleece would be cheaper than that fluffy stuff too...I am sure it would. I wish I had the address of the company that makes the happy hut so I could write to them and get them to change the material to fleece.

May 16, 2012

Happy Hut Warning
by: Linda

Thank you very much for your letter. In my opinion, the happy huts need to be taken off the market because they pose a real threat to a bird's life. Anything that is made of cloth of any kind poses a threat to the birds, and it can come in many forms like death by being tangled in string or death by eating the material. Either way, the bird dies because of it.

A Conure or any other bird does NOT need a happy hut at all, and I encourage people to just use a light cover over bird's cage at night to give a feeling of security. Make sure you use a lightweight cover like polyester and leave a few inches at the bottom for air circulation. To keep bird from chewing on it, put it on right before bedtime and remove it first thing in the morning BEFORE doing anything else. Some birds do not chew their covers, and these instructions are for those that do. Our Amazons' are covered every night after dark when time for bed around 9pm. Cover is removed first thing in morning and so far we've had no problems with them chewing it.

I'm SO sorry about the loss of the precious little bird, and I hope lots of people read both our letters to avoid this happening again. The happy huts are not safe for any bird because of the fabric and strings. Also, use ONLY cotton rope in a three-ply for hanging toys. The cotton is less apt to get tangled around the feet and legs, though it can. All toys have to be checked every single day, and if they are badly frayed, then they need to be replaced. The nylon rope commonly used for store bought toys is very dangerous because it has no "give" to it in case bird gets a bit tangled in it.

Linda

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