Cozy Hut

[ruby 5]

Does anyone have a Cosy Hut or similar? If so do they recommend them. Three of our young budgies like to sleep in the seed dishes after they've kicked most of the seed out! When I uncovered them today Peanut was laid on his back in one, fast asleep, with his head propped up at the side ;D I think they'd be more comfy with one of the cosy huts but I don't want any hens thinking they can nest in them

[BudgiesBuddy]

This type of toys stimulate breeding and should be avoided.

[stace]

I agree with BB. Also they've been known to kill budgies. I've read a few 'In Memoriums" from people with Happy Huts.

[Moogie]

I agree with stace-I would not bother with one... i read a few things on them and birds dying one story was without the owner knowing budgie had been chewing the inside of the hut then one day when she came home she found budgie stuck up between both sides of the material...very sad

[ruby 5]

Oh dear thanks everyone for the info, that's totally put me off buying one

[Hezz]

Ruby, think of it this way: what would my budgies be doing if they were wild? And then do your level best to emulate that. All this synthetic material is not available in the bush. i don't even give my birds paper to chew, although it makes up a great proportion of the toys you can buy online. But .... I am lucky enough to be able to access plenty of bark. They go through heaps.

Please, please, PLEASE, don't get one of those horrible, artificial, man-made contraptions. I beg you!

[BudgiesBuddy]

Oct 20, 2012 9:37:47 GMT ruby 5 said:

Oh dear thanks everyone for the info, that's totally put me off buying one

Good call

[ruby 5]

I won't Hezz.....promise I think it's just my maternal instinct coming out, wanting to tuck the young ones up warm in a bed! Yes I know they're birds ;D At least I've not tucked them up in bed with me.............yet

[Hezz]

Oct 20, 2012 11:23:30 GMT ruby 5 said:

I won't Hezz.....promise I think it's just my maternal instinct coming out, wanting to tuck the young ones up warm in a bed! Yes I know they're birds ;D At least I've not tucked them up in bed with me.............yet

Hugs and smooches from me for not wrapping them up in artificial yuck! ;D YET?? Give them an almost empty seed pot - they will love you all the more for it.

[Moogie]

Yaaay so happy they wont be getting a .."happy"......- "DANGER" hut-good on you

[Deleted]

I never even thought Munchy would use one of those and haven't read the budgie-killer stories but I was always a bit skeptical.

Wow, I feel bad for having so many plastic things, Hezz, but I don't have good access to bark. I guess it might help when they have each other, too. What kind of things do you give them?

[Hezz]

Slow down, Ira. I don't think the acrylic toys are a problem. I am thinking more of materials that they can make inroads into with their beak. Like string and chord for threading toys ....... I use thin strips of leather that I wash and soak for ages before the budgies get them. I do have a couple of cotton rope things, a boing and a series of rings, but so far they haven't shown any interest in shredding them - they don't get them that often.

[stace]

Aside from strangling injuries from long hanging lengths and getting caught in folds of fabric, things made of rope that break down into small fibres can potentially cause great harm to a budgie's insides. When they ingest the rope fibres, all the little tiny pieces (often just 1 or 2mm in length or almost minuscule flecks) reform into a big clogged up mass in their stomachs, which then just sits there fermenting and causing lesions on their insides.

This cloggy mass causes a series of closely related conditions - crop impaction, blocked gizzard, blocked proventriculus - essentially blockages at various points in their digestive tract.

I've had no issue with things like sisal rope or seagrass cord or leather or palm shredders, which doesn't break down into those tiny pieces.

Eating the gritty bits on sandpaper items can cause similar problems, and aviary birds can sometimes get it if they overgorge on grit, particularly at times of high humidity.

I feel pretty sure that some unexplained illnesses and pet budgie deaths may be caused by this. The clogged mass causes all kinds of infections, bacterial, fungal and yeast as well as damaging their organs.

It is very difficult to treat as budgies are too small to operate on to open them up and remove the mess, as can be done with a dog or cat that swallows something it shouldn't.

It can present in a similar way to metal poisoning, which is when the bird ingests toxic metals like rust or zinc.

[BudgiesBuddy]

This is the culprit

[Deleted]

Ah, okay Hezz. Munchy has some rope perches but he doesn't try to chew them. He did a bit when he was little, but he seems more interested in chewing the curtains. There were two rope things that came with his gym, one is a ring that he completely ignores and the other is knotted rope that he'll only play with in his cage and like sticking his face up to one of the knots to talk to it ^^; That's made it a little dirty, though, so I might take the keyrings from them and use those. I might get some of that shreddable stuff, seems safer than anything like paper. He'll probably take ages to shred a piece as well, so it should last a while.

Yup, that's the evil fiend, BB. Why do people make these things for birds? If they didn't then first time owners wouldn't have the risk of harming their birds without knowing the dangers.