What are your thoughts on sleeping huts?

[missylynn]

So I've read and heard all sorts of contrary viewpoints on sleeping huts. A lot of birds love them (my GCCs sure do), but it's said they could cause an increase in hormonal behaviors. Right now the unwanted hormonal behavior is not a concern for me, both because my conures are still young, and also because I plan to give them a nest box anyway when they are older. But for single birds....? What are your thoughts, opinions, or experiences?

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I tried one once ... but I just couldn't fit in it.

Auggie loves his though.

I'm not very familiar with the claims that it could affect their hormonal behaviors - I'm rather skeptical (very highly skeptical). Many things affect hormones, but a soft bed is not likely to be one of them - unless it is really that just being in a horribly uncomfortable bed makes one depressed, and if that's the argument I don't see it as a good anti-hut argument.

The better arguments against huts tend to focus on safety issues. There is the possibility of birds getting caught up in loose threads. I think this is a valid concern, but often blown a bit out of proportion. I am very sorry for anyone who has lost a bird in this manner - it has happened to some. However, it is relatively rare. It is possible that a cage could get struck by lightning, but that does not stop me from using a metal cage and putting it by the window.

We need to be responsible for and aware of everything we put in our birds cages. Check the huts regularly and trim any fraying threads. But what I really don't get is when someone says they don't use huts because of the risk of these loose treads, but then they use a cozy corner or some other plush toys ... perhaps I'm missing something, I must be, because that makes no sense at all. If the danger is from fraying fabric huts are no more dangerous than any other fabric item.

 

[andrea.faerie]

I use a ferret sleeping tent for Lucy. It's made of fleece, machine washable, and she loves it! It hangs from the corner of her cage and she goes in it every night at bedtime and when she likes to hide if the wind is blowing hard or there's heavy rain

 

[Rio Mom]

River has one that he loves to sleep in. I just make sure to check that he's not making any holes in it. So far, the only thing he did was take the tag off the top of it.

 

[Printer bird]

I'm not very familiar with the claims that it could affect their hormonal behaviors - I'm rather skeptical (very highly skeptical). Many things affect hormones, but a soft bed is not likely to be one of them - unless it is really that just being in a horribly uncomfortable bed makes one depressed, and if that's the argument I don't see it as a good anti-hut argument.

I agree with the safety issue but the hormonal issues can be real and I have a GCC that has gone through it. He chews his feathers which the vet suspects started as a hormonal response/frustration. She said the happy hut can contribute to this because GCCs nest in holes and the happy hut is a hole and can therefore read as a nest to a hormonal parrot. I know that once upon a time my parrotlet kept trying to nest in her food dish until I bought a smaller dish for her pellets. I think it would depend on the species or the individual parrot in terms of hormonal behavior being enhanced by having a cozy nesting spot or a happy hut.

I have read about the safety issues as well for the happy hut which makes me leery.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Yes, with a nest nesting behavior can occur, without one it can't. But I think the causality is backwards there: the hormones cause the behavior; the behavior does not cause the hormones.

 

[Bright Star]

I got a little tent for Keats, my first budgie, and he loved his so much he rarely came out of it for a while there. His vet was concerned that if he was too attached he wouldn't get enough exercise and/or stimulation and would, most likely, become pudgy. I took it away for a while, and he actually became more outgoing and playful without it. He was still a baby when I got him, so I think he wanted that comfort. Now if I put it in his cage, he pretty much ignores it. He has his 'girlfriend' (a straw hat with beads) for comfort now

 

[Ratzy]

Honestly... I would never ever give one to my budgies and cockatiels.
My hens would start laying and fighting over it.
I'm not sure how it is with larger parrots, but no way would I ever put one in my aviary.

 

[Remy]

Puck loves his. His previous owner said he would sleep on his back on the floor of his cage, but I got him his little fuzzy tent the same day I got him, and he started sleeping in it the first night. He only goes in it at night when I am going to bed. He seems to alternate between his tent and his perch for sleeping (I think it's been too hot for his tent).