Happy Hut?

[paper_lantern]

I just had a question about happy huts. I'm getting my soon, and I know they tend to like to snuggle up in things (at least thats what I was told) so I was thinking about getting a happy hut to put in his cage. But I heard that the happy hut can end up making the bird cage agressive and less tame. Is there any truth to this? What is your experience?

[Cage Cleaner]

My GCC came with a bird kabob that he had hollowed out to sleep in. He was aggressive and territorial, so I removed it, as well as did a full rearrangement of his cage. He has calmed down since then, although it certainly wasn't the only variable that changed.

[dohcsvt]

My green cheek loves his happy hut, especiallly in the winter. We have discovered that in the warmer months he is happy to have a hanging "tent". It is just like a happy hut, but made of a lighter material. I think that you will be pleased with it, atleast if your bird is like mine. He will step up from the happy hut to our finger without problem. I have noticed no agrressiveness stemming from the happy hut.

[Cage Cleaner]

The below is a link regarding happy huts and their apparent lack of safety:

http://sunconure.com/safety.html

[pfinarffle]

Our once got one. He became territorial/aggressive. Then he started to chew through it as though he was further hollowing out a nesting cavity. Pieces of plastic came out of it and he made a hole straight through the bottom. Thankfully he doesn't eat plastic so he's ok. And we saw it all happen so we immediately removed it. He now uses a heated perch in the cooler months to keep his feet warm.

[Conure_Concierge]

Both my GCC and my Cape have Huts. My GCC always loved his and naps/sleeps in it every day/night. My Cape won't sleep in his but he does crawl through it and all over it.

My GCC may preen his but doesn't chew it up. My Cape chews on the corners a little, but hasn't destroyed it over the period of about two months so I guess it will last awhile. The small hut is furry inside and out; while the large (16X14X10) hut is furry inside and cloth outside so the construction is probably a factor in chewing behaviour.

Both FIDS have gone through stages of cage and perch territoriality and (thank goodness) it's no longer a problem. Huts and cubby holes may be a factor, but I don't think that removing a hut would completely fix the problem. Trick training seems to have made a large difference with both my birds biting behaviors and seems to accelerate the bonding process... or maybe it was just coincidence.

Maybe you should experiment; remove the hut and see if behaviour changes over the next few weeks, if it doesn't improve you can return the hut.

Good luck.

[CheekyandMalolo]

Our GCCs have one, they love it and cram themselves into it every night to go to sleep. It took them awhile to decide they liked it tho, maybe 3 months? I finally found a spot in the cage that was good and now they'll sleep in it wherever it is in the cage. We've noticed no aggressiveness, altho they will occasionally climb into it if they don't want to step, tho that's no different to just running to the back of the cage cause they know I can't reach there ...

[liz]

When my daughter moved in with her lovies they had a hut that was always dirty. I gav them a plastic baby wipes box and hung it from the top of the cage. Of course I put it through the dishwasher first. A cardboard egg carton is the same width so I interchange to keep it clean. They love to snuggle together in the box at night.

[Zanizaila]

Parrots in the wild use tight spaces like that to nest and make babies.
So it's no wonder many of them become over-hormonal and territorial when they have access to "potential nests" like huts, boxes, wardrobes etc.
http://www.lafebercares.com/knowledge/learning_sex.html

[liz]

The lovies are both male and just like to snuggle together at night. I have not researched but by the way they act they must be flockers too.