First night without Snuggle Hut... success!

[Dinosrawr]

I've always been wary of Avery's snuggle hut, and last night when I saw a thread on Avery's beak while she was on the bed with me I went to wipe it off. Instead I ended up pulling a long thread that had been ingested and it came out of her crop. I've often seen green fuzzies on her from her cuddle cove and thought nothing of it because she LOVES to cuddle into it, but I'm not risking it anymore.

So last night I pulled it and crossed my fingers she would sleep. And she did! The last time I did that, she cried for hours upon hours (until 4 AM!) and wouldn't sleep. I felt guilty so I put it back and watched it carefully for loose threads. Now I'm thankful I don't have to worry anymore. The last thing I want to deal with is crop impaction surgery for her. So now all I need to do is find a good and safe alternative!

 

[Flboy]

Thank you for the conformation in my decision! JoJo is afraid of these huts. I had been trying to coax him into acceptance, but after seeing a couple of these issues, it is out of his cage for good. Thought I had the perfect replacement, a seagrass mat swing, but I suspect he has been eating it and I removed it last night!

 

[RavensGryf]

Oh gosh Chantal I'm so glad you just happened to see the "end" of the thread sticking out of her mouth! That was a horrifying surprise when you thought it was just on her beak but you kept pulling! Thank goodness it was just in her crop and hadn't had a chance to go farther down. I hope none went farther in from days past, but I know you're the type of parront who would notice anything "off" right away.

Griffin loves his mini seagrass mat which is strung up on 4 corners to look like a little hammock . He uses it as a daytime bed to take naps in lol, but perches on his "bed branch" at night.

 

[RavensGryf]

This is the hammock style thing that Griffin absolutely loves. SB747 Super Bird Mini Flying Trapeez *NEW* - SUPER BIRD CREATIONS

Robin can't have one because he just chews the plastic chains til it falls down. Griffin uses his properly though

 

[Dinosrawr]

No problem, David! I've really been wanting to get rid of it, but she just loved it so much and I felt so guilty. She spends most of her day in it. So thank you for the recommendation, Julie! I'm totally going to order one tomorrow and hope that she'll use it for a place to perch every now and then, as the space where her snuggle hut went is rather empty now. I'll be moving another small but highly perched branch in her cage soon in the corner, as I noticed she was clinging to the bars last night.

And I'm definitely a hypochondriac when it comes to my birds, hahaha! I freak about the smallest things. But right now both of them are happily hanging with each other, and Shiko appears to have heard rumours of how fun it is to commandeer other bird's cages from Griffin because he's currently in Avery's cage chewing on her toys and eating her pellets!

 

[RavensGryf]

Lol, you don't want your birds learning anything from Griffin! He's usually trying to be up to no good. Raven was so innocent until Griffin convinced him to try certain things haha.

 

[Allee]

I wanted to post this photo to show you what can happen with a happy hut. The little guy at the back of the photo is still wet from a bath, not a good photo, but you can see the scar tissue. Before we adopted him he got tangled in his happy hut while his folks were away, they believe he was caught for hours, he was a bloody mess when they found him. I'm not sure how he survived, the scarring is permanent so he will never have the classic quaker ruffles around his neck and there is more scar tissue on his leg. I can only assume the hut was a ragged mess when the accident happened.

Quakers love snuggle huts and I don't tell people not to use them, but if you do, please use caution. Harry has a tent that she doesn't chew and she sleeps in it every night. Zeke has a perch with fleece ribbons tied on, he can hide behind it and sleep close to the fleece but he can't get tangled. Both quakers needed a secure place to feel safe when I brought them home, that's how we worked it out.

 

[Dinosrawr]

Poor guy That was my fear about using it, so I checked it every day for loose threads. We went almost two years without incident, but after Avery ingesting threads by what seems like accident just by chewing on a pillow, I just don't trust them at all.

I'm trying to think of alternatives for her to sleep in because I know she misses it. My boyfriend was up late due to foot pains, and he noticed she wasn't asleep at all even at 4 AM and all day she was a grouch! I got a nice little nip on the lip to prove it

 

[RavensGryf]

Look at that adorable flock! Sweet Pea is as cute as she always is, and the Quakers have that adorable but super intelligent, mischievous look to their faces!
Thank you Allee for sharing Zeke's story, what happened at his previous home. How terrible that was for him, and such a serious injury too to leave permanent damage. I love the idea of the fleece that he can sleep by. How cute it is that many birds love something soft and cuddly to sleep with. Probably it feels like sleeping close to a mate like they would in the wild. My boys just have their bare "bed" branches lol.

 

[Taw5106]

Allee I love the disco ball! Great looking flock. Where was the vicious, plush toy???

 

[RavensGryf]

Chantal, let us know how it goes when you get your sea grass hammock! It starts out flat, but over time Griffin's got rounded to fit the shape of his body lol.

I think the reason I've never tried any huts or sleeping tents before, is that I always thought they'd poop in them and would be a mess to clean, but from hearing about others' experiences it seems they don't poop in them. Griffin doesn't poop in his hammock either.

 

[Robin]

Thanks for sharing, I don't think Brax knows he's supposed to go in it, he sleeps on top of it! Your flock is adorable.