Before you buy a new cage for your parrot, please read the following!!!

Do NOT buy Jungle Nest or Aviary Connections Cages!
If you have already read the following and are interested in the latest updates, click here

NOTE: Since going bankrupt as Jungle Nest, the owner Perry Little is now doing business as Aviaru Connections. He is selling the same, terrible product and full of the same excuses. I have gotten various emails from people who have dealt with him dba Aviary Connections and are having the exact same problems as I had with Jungle Nest.

I want to warn everyone about Jungle Nest Cages and alert everyone to the experience I have had with this company so that no one else has to deal with the garbage that I have had to deal with.

In the beginning of January, I ordered 2 brand new matching cages for my 2 macaws from Jungle Nest Cages. When I received them, one of the cages had two pieces that were manufactured improperly. Both the entire back panel of the cage as well as the slide-out grate had iron bars that not only weren't welded into the panel frame, but they weren't even long enough to fit into the hole! Some of the iron bars weren't even attached to the cage at all! (photos below)

I immediately called Jungle Nest and they told me they would be able to send replacement parts out on February 5th. So I dealt with the fact that my b&g Monet would have to go without his new cage for almost another month. February 5th came and went, no parts. I called Jungle Nest again. This time they told me that they were backordered and I would have to wait several more weeks. About a week later I got a package...it was the bottom slide-out grate....for a cage smaller than I ordered!!! So now I have a grate that doesn't even fit sitting in my basement. Several more weeks passed and I received nothing. I called Jungle Nest yet again. This time I got a long story how their shipping person quit out of the blue and because of that, they have no idea what orders have been filled and shipped. The woman I talked to assured me my parts would be shipped out the very next day.

Two weeks later, no parts. This time I wrote a very lengthy email describing the entire situation. Later that day, I got a phone call and an email back from Rob Reese, the Vice President of the company. According to him, he had just gotten back from Hong Kong trying to straighten out the poor construction problems they've been having. He assured me that he himself would pack up the parts and ship them off to me. Wasn't I shocked when I received the parts 3 days later and the back panel was just as unusable as the first one!!! I now needed a replacement for the replacement!!!!! The grate was in perfect shape, but the back panel was not.

I emailed Rob, called and left him a message. I got no response. Finally I got in touch with him and he promised he would ship a 3rd panel out to me that day. Well today I got the third panel......AGAIN UNUSABLE!!!!!!!!!!! The same problem with all of them. The iron bars did not connect to the frame, essentially rendering the panel completely useless and quite dangerous. I called Rob yet again....this time he went nuts on me. He was yelling how my claim is impossible...he checked this panel himself! According to him, they must be getting damaged in shipping. (He says this, yet Friday when we spoke on the phone, he told me how Jungle Nest's entire shipment from Hong Kong all had this very same problem, not just my pieces). I told him there is no way shipping damaged these panels because the iron rods aren't even long enough to reach the frame, never mind be welded in! He insisted he inspected this panel himself. To say I am fed up is a gross understatement.

I went on to explain to him that I have no more room in my house for more damaged parts, therefore I am packing up BOTH cages and sending them both back along with the 2 extra unusable back panels and the slide out grate that was sent to me in the wrong size. My entire reason for even ordering 2 brand new cages was so my 2 macaws would finally have matching cages. Now I have no choice but to buy a new brand cage, that obviously won't match, which defeats the entire point of my purchase! With that news, Mr. Reese went ballistic on me. He said that he and his company have gone above and beyond the call of duty trying to rectify this problem....isn't that what a company is supposed to do when the problem is their fault? He stated, "We as a business have rights too. I know customers have rights, but so do we as a business." He refuses to refund me the money for the cages because one has been used. Well of course it has been used...its been used while I have been waiting almost 6 months for my other cage to be usable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that I am obviously not going to receive an undamaged part, I don't want either cage because they wont match, which was the main reason for the purchase in the first place! It is not my fault it took them 6 months to still not have the problem rectified! Well Mr. Rob Reese was irate, screaming at me, completely unprofessional. Now I have no choice but to hire a lawyer to deal with this company and attempt to get my money back. Now I am going to have to spend another $2,000 on 2 new cages from a different company. For the past 6 months Monet has been living in a cage that is literally falling apart at the seams more and more with each passing day because these people couldn't get their act together, and now not only have I been inconvenienced for 6 months, I also have to hire a lawyer, purchase 2 new cages from another company without even having my money back from these cages, and wait God knows how long to get new non-Jungle Nest cages.

I have been more than patient with this company and have given them 3 different chances to rectify the problem. I want to alert everyone who owns a bird to think twice about purchasing a Jungle Nest cage. I would truly hate to see anyone else have to deal with what I have had to deal with. Not only is this is unacceptable service, but it is downright disgusting for the VP of the company to yell at me and basically blame me, the all-too-patient-customer, for their faulty manufacturing.

Immediately after sending out the above story to 26 different online parrot groups, I also sent an email to Jungle Nest alerting them of the action I was taking. This is what I wrote to them:

"Since I have gotten absolutely no where with my 5+ month problem with Jungle Nest, I have taken matters into my own hands and am spreading the word and sharing my story with every bird owner I can reach across the world. I assure you, this is not just a handful of people. I am a web designer and have several parrot shops as clients, for one. More importantly, I belong to 26 different online parrot info-exchange groups with members from all over the world. The total members of all of those groups is 3,592 BIRD OWNERS. Today, after my insulting and frustrating phone conversation with Rob Reese, I sent out the following post to each and every of the 3,592 members (many of who have already began passing on this info to even more bird owners), alerting them of my problem with Jungle Nest. In addition, I also added a page on my personal website describing the entire fiasco and displaying photos of the improperly manufactured panels. Negative word of mouth has much worse consequences than any lawsuit could ever have. I hope your refusal to refund me for both these cages is worth the incredible amounts of negative publicity you will be getting from this. I also plan on writing a letter to both Bird Talk and the Companion Parrot Quarterly. Shame on you for treating your customers with such disrespect and lack of compassion.
The following letter was sent out to 3,592 parrot owners today: ..."

As I'm sure you have guessed, they have completely ignored me once again and I have yet to get any kind of response. They did, however, respond to a member of one of the bird groups who emailed them about my warnings. Here is Rob Reese's pathetic attempt at defending himself:

This correspondence is in regard to your concern about our customer service here at Jungle Nest, which has recently come under fire from a former customer that has indeed had a frustrating experience with our company.

The author of the email that you are referring to does in fact have a legitimate issue with a cage that she purchased from us in January. However, her accountings do not tell the complete story of everything we have done to remedy her problems. She has also grossly exaggerated my reaction to her demands for a full refund on not only the damaged cage, but also the perfect cage that she has used for five months. My reaction that Ms. Capozzo has described as an attack on her personally was in fact complete disbelief and astonishment that a second shipment of replacement parts that I personally inspected had arrived damaged again. The parts had left my warehouse in perfect condition and the frustration that I voiced was with the situation and never was it directed toward Mrs. Capozzo. I was in fact irate with the shipping company since I had now spent several hundred dollars in 3-day express shipments to Mrs. Capozzo and FedEx could not seem to deliver it to my customer without damaging it. (Note from me: It is impossible that this panel was damaged in shipping because the poles were once again NOT LONG ENOUGH. Did FedEx somehow SHRINK the poles???)

We have offered Ms. Capozzo everything possible to take care of the problem cage, including replacing BOTH cages with new ones or continue to ship replacement panels until she received one that was not damaged in shipping. (Note from me: why would I want 2 new cages when they can't even send me one undamaged panel?) Short of driving the panel to Ms. Capozzo ourselves, we cannot control what happens to the package in transit. Since it has now been confirmed that the damaged replacement parts were in fact damaged in transit (Note from me: confirmed by who? I have the photographs AND the actual panel to prove they were manufatured improperly), the entire problem actually becomes an issue for FedEx, not Jungle Nest. However, had she been less combative, she would have been informed that we would assist her with filing a claim with FedEx. Ms. Capozzo's demands for a full refund were made in anger and frustration and were completely unacceptable. After I explained to her that we are not required to refund a customer for products that they have used without incident for several months, Mrs. Capazzo still angrily insisted that she would be re-packing both cages along with the replacement parts and shipping them back to us for a full refund and we would be "hearing from her lawyer". After she refused to accept my offer to replace both of her cages with new cages, she left us without any further options. We, nor will any other company, issue a refund on goods that have been used and are no longer unsalable. Doing so would allow anyone to return products simply because they were tired of them or for a myriad of other reasons.

Ms. Capozzo's emails and postings are libelous in the fact that she failed to represent the entire truth and inform her readers of our offers and willingness to continue to help. (Note from me: I have the proof sitting in my dining room. The only lies here are Mr. Reese's claims that this 3rd panel was damaged in transit) Despite her threats of legal action and her libelous postings and emails, we are still willing to ship her a completely new cage or refund her purchase of the damaged cage. The only thing that is stopping Mrs. Capozzo from receiving a refund of the damaged cage or from receiving a new cage from our company is Mrs. Capozzo.

Here at Jungle Nest, we sell over 1000 cages every year. When handling that many sales in a year, a company is inevitably going to encounter various problems. And, like any reputable manufacturer, we do our best to handle those problems promptly and professionally and are successful in doing so in most cases. Mrs. Capozzo's situation is a very rare occurance and we certainly would not be in business nor would we have the excellent reputation we do if it were anything other than a rare occurance.

Our customers are very valuable to us and that is evident from the very first time someone calls us. Our staff is prompt, friendly and extremely knowledgable in the area of exotic birds and bird care. We even answer questions from hundreds of callers who are simply looking for help with their bird's behavior or diet. Jungle Nest will continue to provide exceptional customer care to each and every customer and we also stand behind our products 100%. We feel that we have one of the best cage designs in the market today and we have been told that very same thing by almost every one of our customers who have purchased a Jungle Nest cage.

Should you wish to purchase any of our products, you will not only be receiving one of the best cages or aviaries in the industry, but you will also find that your experience with Jungle Nest will be a pleasant and satisfying one. If you have any questions or would like to voice any concerns you may have, please feel free to contact me directly at 800-726-8334. (note from me: If you consider receiving 3 damaged parts a pleasant and satisfying experience)

Best Regards,

Rob Reese
Vice President
Jungle Nest Cages

I have, however, gotten an incredible response from members of the 26 online parrot groups I sent this warning to. NOTE TO JUNGLE NEST: Here are just a few of the many responses I have gotten within the past day. Don't underestimate the power of word-of-mouth over the internet!

-Missa, I heard about your site containing the cage warning from a gal on a newsgroup I'm on and I IMMEDIATELY identified with your problem. I'm having the EXACT same problems with that company, too!! I ordered a Congo Cavern from them 6 months ago and it came with the back panel in the SAME shape as yours. The bars would not meet the bottom of the panel. The rest of the cage seemed okay, but was still flawed in many places. I've contacted them every month for the past 6 months and I'm getting NO satisfaction at all. I've been talking to the owner of the company, who's name is Perry Little and he's assured me that "as soon as the parts come in, he'll make it right with me". I'm getting REALLY fed up!

From what he's telling me, it seems that those cages are made in China and his associate is over there now trying to get all this ironed out with the company there. He's also told me that there are several people having the same problem that I'm having. Even the two bowls on the top play area were stamped too heavily and neither one would hold water. It's been a total mess dealing with them and I don't know WHAT to do. The little gal (Crystal) that usually answers the phone at the company is RUDE and cares nothing about customer diplomacy.

I'd be very interested in staying in touch with you about this because it looks as if I'm going to have to take legal action against the company myself if they don't come through with the back panel. I actually talked to Perry Little yesterday and he told me that now there was a problem with the boxes the parts were to be shipped in, but he hoped that would be rectified in a couple of weeks.

I'm afraid I didn't think of taking pictures as you did. I wish I had. My problem at the time was that I already had the bird and needed the cage, so when I called the company, they assured me at the time that they'd send a new back panel the next day and for me to improvise that panel (since I'd be trashing it anyway), so we did the best we could to beat it down from the top in order for the rails to meet the bottom of the panel. That, of course, made all kinds of scars on the top of the panel, but at least Kiwi's feet wouldn't be caught and cut up by the sharp edges on those rails. They still don't meet totally, but they're at least usable until we get the other panel (IF we get the other panel). After several HOT conversations with Mr. Little, he agreed to send me a back panel from a prototype model he had in his garage and I could us that until my new panel came in. When I got that temporary panel, it was in worse shape than the other one. The welding had come undone on the center sidebar AND the bolt holes weren't even in the same places so it was completely useless to me. I called him back as soon as we realized that and he "again" apologized all over himself and explained to me what his problems were with the company in Hong Kong. I simply told him that was not a customer problem and he could rectify things by sending me a new cage along with the instructions to send the old one back at his expense. He couldn't do that because he said he HAD no cages to sell. All of the cages he'd received were flawed.

Kiwi's cage is still loose on the bottom of the back panel, so perhaps I could send a picture of that to you along with the picture of the messed up back panel they sent me to use. I'll do that and you're welcome to place them on your website. This has been really frustrating.

I've threatened to send my cage back, but I'd have to buy another cage for Kiwi and still be out the money I paid for this one and there's no reason to trust that this company would send my money back.

Perry Little even went so far as to send me a couple of really nice bird toys to pacify me for a little while. He offered to send more toys the last time I talked to him, which was Monday. I don't want toys ....... I want my cage fixed. I'll get some pictures today of the bottom of the cage and the other panel they sent and send them to you.

As stated in one of the above responses, Jungle Nest already has complaints filed against them with the Better Business Bureau in South Central Texas. That can be viewed here: http://www.sanantonio.bbb.org/commonreport.html?compid=1043333&national=Y Today I have also filed a complaint, as has the person who wrote to me about her very similar experience which I have posted immediately above this.

Update: 6/30/03

Because I have been continually ignored by Jungle Nest, I had no choice but to order Monet a new cage from a different cage company. I decided on getting a stainless steel cage by Avian Adventures. This cage is WONDERFUL. It arrived very promptly after ordering, and I was quite amazed by the way this cage was packed for shipping. It was clearly packed with great care and effort, so that the parts would not arrive damaged. This cage was incredibly easy to assemble (I even did it alone by myself!) and is a sturdy, great quality cage. Monet seems very happy in his new digs:

Monet in his new stainless steel Avian Adventures cage (notice all the toys on the floor of his cage...he thinks it's a riot to unhookl the quick links and watch his toys crash to the floor)

Monet having fun on his boing in his new cage

Here is Monet's Avian Adventures cage next to Dali's Jungle Nest cage. As you can see, my intent of them having matching cages has been made impossible, thanks to Jungle Nest.

Rob Reese, VP of Jungle Nest, had left a message on my answering machine a couple of weeks ago stating he would issue me a refund check for the entire price of the unusable Jungle Nest cage, and I could then dispose of the cage on my own. I have yet to receive this said refund, and therefore still out the $699 I paid in full for a cage that has never been able to be used.

Update December 2003

If you try to go to Jungle Nest's home page you'll see that they claim they are now out of business. Don't let this fool you. The owner of Jungle Nest, Perry Little, is STILL selling these faulty cages at bird shows between Texas and the west coast.
Peggy, a good friend of mine who lives in California recently had a terrible experience with Jungle Nest, soon after my fiasco. She had ordered 2 outdoor aviaries from Rob Reese of Jungle Nest at a bird show in June. They didn't arrive until September, and as to be expected, in horrible condition. After much effort trying to get the aviaries she paid good money for in usable condition, Perry Little finally offered to come to her home and set them up for her. Interestingly, Rob Reese ended up resigning from his position as V.P. of Jungle Nest because he "couldn't take it anymore." The following is Peggy's story, in her words:

-8/25/03
"I just thought you might be interested in knowing that we STILL have not received our aviary!!!!! I called Rob, Perry and the office today and left messages for all of them saying that if I don't have it by Sept. 1, I want my money back. I also told them I wouldn't hesitate to take them to court.

About 1/2 hour later, Rob called me back. He QUIT! He works for a mortgage company now. He said he couldn't stand it any more. Funny, huh?

Did you ever get any satisfaction from them? Rob said Perry is giving lots of people their money back now. If you need his cell phone number, I have it."

-9/10/03
     "Hi Missa... We finally got our two aviaries today. We were verbally promised a 2 to 4 week delivery time in June. Uh, let's see, it's now September and they finally arrived yesterday. The perches still haven't arrived. Richard has been trying to put these things together for 2 days now. They are a pile of crap. The double door is pretty much impossible to install. There are holes that are not drilled. There are parts that are supposed to fit into other parts that are missing. They don¹t fit together correctly at all. I'm so upset. We paid 3800.00 for these aviaries. It's hard to save that much money. I'm so depressed. Richard and my son said they can "jury rig" it to work..but I would think for that price it would be perfect! Please add my complaint to your web site!!! I'm telling everyone that I am sooooo
sorry for not listening to you. I should have known, even after I heard all those great promises that never came true. (Like, Rob was going to deliver it personally and set it up...yeah right. Then another guy named Chris was
going to deliver it and set it up....yea right.) They got delivered Fed Ex and NO ONE was here to set it up. Anyway, we're not done dealing with them yet. I just learned a valuable lesson. I'll listen to my friends from now on."

-9/11/03
     "I'm so furious I can't stand it. The worst part, I think, (besides the poor quality of the avaries) is all the lies we've heard. Lie after lie. If they just would have told us it would take 3 or 4 months for delivery, that would have been ok. Instead I had delivery dates quoted to me, time after time, and it never happened. I still have a recording on my phone from Perry saying that we would get the aviaries in "several days". That was last month.

Rob (Reese) told me he quit Jungle Nest, because he couldn't stand the complaints and they stopped paying him!!! Unbelievable. I have to say he's tried a bit to help us since he doesn't work there any more. (Not a lot, but at least he's called us and yelled at Perry)

This was supposed to be a fun, exciting thing for us. We waited a long time for the "right" aviary. Instead it's turned out to be one big nightmare. It's taken the fun and glory and thrown it in the garbage. Not to mention, we're out a TON of money.

I learned another valuable lesson also. I will NEVER pay cash for a large ticket item like this again. I will use a credit card, so I can dispute it. The whole thing still depresses me."

-9/11/03
     "So the saga continues. The first aviary is put together, half way....held together by ty wraps, cause it doesn¹t work. The second won¹t even go together. We gave up. Richard just called Perry. Perry said he¹ll bring 2
new aviaries out to our house. He¹s leaving Tuesday for the San Jose bird show which we are about an hour away from. He said HE would construct them here.

We are now taking bets to see if this really happens. I¹ve been told so many lies I don¹t believe anything this guy says. My vote is that it¹ll never happen."

-9/19/03
     "Perry and his fiance got here. We took them out to the back yard to show them everything that was wrong with the aviary. Perry walked inside one, and I locked the door from the outside. I said..."hmmm Perry, now how are you gonna get out"??? I loved it!!! (No lock or handle or anything on the inside of the doors)

He worked on one of the aviaries for about an hour, then said he had parts and he will be back after the Pet Expo tomorrow that he's in. He should be here around 6:00. He had to go to the hardware store too and buy extra parts. Hmmmmmm

At one point, Richard was taking a tree stand out of one of the aviaries and he asked me if I wanted to use it in there again and I said..."We have to because WE DON'T HAVE ANY PERCHES YET." We were told over a week ago that they were over-nighted to us. At this point I'm steaming and had to go in the house before I exploded!!!

I told him that there are lots of people upset with him, including Missa. He said that he only found out about Missa's problem a week ago. Yeah right. At any rate, he said he's been trying to call Missa but can't get her on the phone. He told us he will give her a full refund. Missa....call him. He'll be in California for a few days, but he has his cell phone. I have the number if you need it.

On the other hand, Perry says he'll make these aviaries right for us. It seems like he is trying. If he fixes this for us and gives Missa her money back I'll be shocked..."

Today is December 11, 2003, and Peggy just saw Perry at a local bird show (in CA) still selling his horrible cages. He claimed he is now doing business "out of his home." There are many of us keeping our eyes peeled for any new cage businesses that may pop up out of nowhere so we can see if Perry Little decides to market his junk cages under a different business name. Peggy and I, as well as many other Jungle Nest victims feel it is incredibly important that we do all we can to make sure as few bird owners as possible are victimized by Perry Little ever again. We will continue to spread the word and our stories and do whatever we can to keep this crook out of business for good.