The Danger of Parrot Huts!
I am going to try to do this post without actually mentioning any brand names so as not to incur the wrath of their manufacturers. They tend to get angry when we trash their products. Let’s just say that if you google the words “hut” or “tent” in combination with the words “happy” or snuggle” you will get product results.
The parrot huts look like miniature pup tents. They are made of various fabrics and many are fleece lined. The interior is about 6 inches from the apex of the tent to the bottom – the sides are plush and comfy. It’s the perfect size for a small parrot. Many conures just love them. It is their place of choice for a good night’s sleep and they look cute as can be inside them.
So, the post that follows might be a big disappointment to some small bird owners…
These "happy huts" have two MAJOR downsides:
1. Many birds that use them become very hormonally aggressive. They tend to envelop a bird’s entire body – something that puts many birds “in the mood”.
*****To Get Educated On Parrot Hormones>>> CLICK HERE!<<<*****
2. They are also reminiscent of nesting spots just about the size that a small bird would prefer. These facts might bring the “mood” on during any time of the year, and they are definitely responsible for escalating normal seasonal breeding behaviors in many birds. Conures and Quakers are known for their cage territorialism and the tents are known to increase those aggressions as well.
If the above isn’t enough to make you think again about these products, THIS WILL: They are, without a doubt, the single most dangerous cage accessory on the market today.
Parrot tents have been responsible for more avian injuries and deaths than any other product type sold.
The problem is that they are made from fabric, which is also their attraction for a parrot. It’s what makes them comfortable and warm and alluring. Birds love fabric because it’s soft and pliable. Chewing on it makes it fluffy and plump and a parrot will spend hours manipulating fabric to their own specifications.
Some products are sold with fabric strips inside, sometimes marketed as an attached preening toy, that encourages further chewing. As the fabric is broken down, it exposes smaller strands that get tangled around legs, toes AND necks. When a bird gets caught in fabric strands, they tighten as the bird struggles to free itself leaving no room for it to snip it away with the beak. If the strand prevents blood flow for too long, the result is amputation of that body part. I don’t think I have to elaborate on what happens when a bird’s neck becomes tangled.
It can be difficult to see the level of destruction that takes place inside the small openings. Some people opt to continually trim the excess fray from the fabric, but they can’t control what happens when their birds are in their cage unsupervised. Dangerous fraying can occur in a single afternoon.
This was posted on our Facebook page just shortly ago:
“Just a word of warning to all bird owners, PLEASE re-consider getting any type of [parrot tents] for your birds (especially Conures, as they love to chew on them). I nearly lost my beloved jenday today in one of them (the soft, fleecy type). Her foot became caught up in the newly chewed threads, on the floor of it, and had twisted among some of the threads, and then she panicked, and got her whole head and torso caught under just a couple of the threads. I grabbed the scissors right away, and immediately cut her free, and was able to save her. She’s fine, no harm done. Actually, I was worse off than she! Permanent end to that hut in her cage! But…. was not so lucky last year, when my mom lost her dear conure to a very similar accident with one of those huts, it was one of the stiffer types of these things, that have red and blue cloth, over cardboard. She had chewed around on the front part of the hut, along the edge, and was going after that “one thread more”, when her head became entangled between the threads on the fabric, and the cardboard, and she strangled to death. She died instantly, despite our quick efforts to save her.”
The stories on the internet of similar experiences are everywhere. I know that it will be hard to take away something that your bird loves so much, but don’t make the mistake of assuming that because he has not yet begun chewing on the tent, that it will not do so in the future, especially when they get "nesty" during a particularly hormone driven breeding season.
It isn’t worth the gamble.
Note: As much as we wanted to share real photos from real people of their sleeping birds in snuggle huts, people felt slandered having their names on such photos that they would openly share on a facebook page so we decided to use the product pictures instead from stores that sell these.
Patty Jourgensen specializes in avian health, behavior and nutrition and has been working with and caring for rescue birds since 1987.
HELPFUL RESOURCES:
* Why Weighing Your Bird Could Save Its Life
"Every Interaction is a Training Session."
84 comments
Hello, I’m wondering g if there is a safe alternative? I have two conures that were paired when I rescued them. The female passed away and I feel so bad for the male. They have always slept in a hut, I will have to break his heart again taking the hut away, but wondering if there is something else. I have the hut on bottom of the cage and it is on a little warmer because my hubs likes to keep the house cold in the winter.
Those parrot huts are dangerous! I would not fool around with them. It’s not worth endangering one’s beloved pet in that way.
Its so sad to see some of these stories and peoples horrible experiences . My lovebird is 21 years old now and has had fabric huts his entire life. He has never chew on them or had any issue, i just replace them every so often to change up his cage (or take them out to clean them. )They are normally not totally snug on him either even as a small size. Hes never been hormonally aggressive or been cought up in them. I had a issue once with my quaker but it wasnt the bed it was the clips on the top. His toe nailgot stuck when he was sitting ontop(he was fine) i noticed right away and helped him. but i changed the clips to the ones that screw and never had another issue.
My conure loves the hut I got her- handmade off etsy made from wood and leather. I went with a larger size too, she doesn’t feel “too snug” in there and start getting protective or nesty. Much better than the fuzzy alternatives, and a hut we will likely have for years to come!
When I first purchased Aziza, my 12 year old pet female Congo African Grey Parrot, one of the toys I got for her was a rope coil that hung from the top of the cage. When Aziza chewed the top of that rope coil, I stopped getting those things for her, and bought her a swing that’s a plastic inverted horse-shoe shape, with a pumice bar to provide toe markings. I purchased that swing some years ago, and I still love it.
My 12 year old pet female captivity-born Congo African Grey Parrot, Aziza sleeps on top of her plastic triangular 3-dimensional rummaging box when she gores to bed at night. I keep plenty of wicker balls in the rummaging box, which help keep Aziza busy during the day, if one gets the drift. I will never risk getting those cloth huts for her.
Whooo—-boy! After reading this article, my resolve not to f**k around with those little fabric huts was strengthened and re-enforced. I’m not taking any chances with my pet African Grey, Aziza’s life with those things.
Wow!! My 12 year old pet female captivity-born Congo African Grey Parrot, Aziza is super to have around the house as a companion. Her whistling, clucking, beeping, chirping, and occasional loud hooting when she wants attention and I can’t give it to her at the moment, along with everything I’ve read about the huts so far, have given me strong instincts NOT to buy one of those huts. They sound way too risky. I do use a black twill cage cover for her cage at night during the spring, summer and fall, and a black quilt cage cover during the winter months. It’s far better for her, far better for me, and far better for my neighbors, since I live in an apartment. She’s great, and she gets to have her 10-12 hours of sleep, as well.
Thanks for this article, you may have just saved my two budgies! Posting the comment to keep the article fresher and hopefully more people find it!
Hi – my sun conure , Virgil , is 13 and has slept in a tent since he was 4 months old . He just recently started destroying them and when he does , I take them out immediately . I always have an extra one and I usually only buy the Prevue brand . I know he would not sleep either at night without one .. I thought he was destroying them because he spends too much time in his cage now because my husband is home all of the time , he’s retired and Virgil loves him more . Before that , I kept him out all day and he didn’t destroy anything but his toys . Help !!
To those asking if there is an alternative, I’ve seen “tubes” made of very thick carton-type “wood” advertised online for kakarikis as well as suggestions to make a hut from a log of pvc tubing. The online ones attach to the top of the cage with screw and washers (like cement perches). My kakariki almost lost her toe to the thread seam at the top of a fuzzy hut, but luckily I cut her out in time and the toe did not fall off, just has a permanent severe indentation all around.
I like Your Article I like Your Thoughts thanks For Share This Amazing Article :-)
My problem is…. My Congo Grey Parrot is problematic with dishes. She takes them apart. She throws them. If they are too big she swims in them if I have water in the dish. And that is a huge mess. She won’t use water bottles…. I could use some direction here.
Can you suggest what to use instead of the fleece tent,
What is an optimal alternative for a bird tent for sleeping time? Please let me know if you can thanks. Liz
I’ve seen Marlene Mc’Cohen get her bird these tents made out of something like canvas. Are those better alternatives? I’ve got a budgie who likes sitting under the cage cover, not getting hormonal, and I think she’d like it. I do worry about my other female who is hormonal, especially since we learned the hard way that one bird I adopted turned out to be male.
My sun conure got entangled in a tent like thing and injured me trying to get him out (he panicked). You can trim all you like, but they still get into the threads. Also, I have a black cap conure and she would eat the fleece (not good). Don’t use them. And the raffia huts still have some threads on them. I love in a very cold place and I know my birds miss their “wubies” but they are not safe at all.
I have a hut in my conures cage. (4 years now) I read about how they will chew on it and it becomes so dangerous to them. I used the sleeve from a sweatshirt and recovered the whole hut. I know how to sew and made sure there are no outside threads or material to pull at. Of course I check it everyday as well. He has never chewed on it since. He can still have fun and be safe now. I guess the way they are made so inexpensively is a major problem. My bird is not as destructive as some are, so that definable helps the situation. Kym
Both my conures sleep in a hut, and they only sleep in a hut. What do I do? I’ve tried taking it out but they won’t sleep all night they love to sleep in a dome like atmosphere. They are outside all day so they aren’t around the hut for very long because the hut is inside the house and when I bring them in for the night they go straight to the hut and sleep and then in the morning they go outside. I don’t have issues with them chewing on the hut or messing around with it they only sleep there but I’m still worried. They won’t sleep without it! They’ll stay up till the late AM.
I just lost my 15 year old female Sun Conure that meaned the world to me! I got home and noticed her neck squeezed tight by the threading of a shredded comfort tent! it was so tight.. my dogs went crazy trying to warn of there bird friend suffering in pain! I had to cut lose from the comfort tent then i still noticed like a knot around her neck so tight it took me 4 minutes to get off.. she died and i am devastated by this horrible design! She has shredded it before and now i know why she lost her 2 nails becoming entagled in this! HORRIBLE PRODUCT AND DEADLY! Kevin Calif
Is there a safe alternative? Something that does not cause hormonal & cage territory aggression?
I have 2 of these tents in baboos (GCC) cage as she absolutely loves to sleep in them at night. However as much as I am gonna feel awful to take away her safe place I am going to have to be cruel to be kind. She’s always slept in one since a baby. Recently she had to have part of her wing amputated which absolutely devastated me, to think she will never fly again I can’t risk any more freak accidents! Baboo is my absolute soul mate. The tents are coming out tomorrow and I am gonna look into straw or wooden huts instead.
Please could you make a recommendation for a SAFE alternative to just for finches?
And to the person who said there is nothing wrong with these, and there is something wrong with the ownership, shame on you!! People have lost their pets because of these things.. my sweet Ava died after only having the hut for 5 days!!!!
I’ve been doing research today, after finding my beloved Conure “Ava” dead inside her hut I recently bought her. She was so entangled, we had to cut her out of it. I had no idea this was a danger. How would I? We are devastated, and heartbroken! I see this article was originally posted 8 years ago!! Why isn’t there some class action lawsuit on these things! This is a TERRIBLE thing for these items to be continually sold, and marketed for our birds!
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