To Cover or Not To Cover Cage? That is the question.

Hello folks.

My cherry-headed conure, Pritti, is 30 years old. My ex has brought him home 30 years ago when he was a baby at the pet store. I have been his mom for 20 years. He lives with just me now in the same house and cage we've been in for a long time. Here's my question. Should he be covered at night when he sleeps in his cage? (as an aside, he and I bonded about 18 years ago - he was unusually bonded to both my ex and I, but he did boss me around a little more. so transitioning to just me wasn't a problem for him or me, as i had been sharing in his care and play and love forever.)

I don't ever remember his cage being covered at night in the 20 years I've been around him. In fact, he sometimes sleeps on in the bedroom with me on his play perch snuggling next to his favorite rope toy and mirror. He has food, water, toys, ladder, climbing places, and a small running around area. His cage is in living room and he has a sleeping perch with buddy. But in the morning he comes out and walks around on the gym and perches up top and then usually goes back to sleep up there (I sleep late and find him there). So am I doing him an disservice not covering him, or - at 30 years old - let him be and continue same protocol. He is rarely every locked inside cage unless no one is home, or if he bites really hard as an attack. He goes in and out of it to nap and eat during the day.

He seems to be able to sleep through TV noise and flickering. I lower the lights in living room at night though, otherwise he sits on sleeping perch and yells at me, lol.



Thanks.

There are some birds that do not like being covered and some that do . but your guy sounds quite happy uncovered . I would just keep up the same nightly routine you are doing : )
Would love to see pics .

Wow, 30 years old. I'd love if you could share pictures! That's very impressive.

You must be doing something right, and he seems used to it so my opinion is there is no need to change it. Cheers!

Here's some photos of my tricenarian cherry-head conure, Pritti.

I'm not sure if they will post properly. Here goes.

Three of them are from his adventure with the empty modem box from AT&T. The sleepy sock one is so precious. The sitting in mini chair with troll doll made me laugh when I was walking around looking for him and there he was on this mini decorative rocking chair in the bathroom next to the shower. Looks like he holding the troll doll hostage, lol. I loves to roam around the bathrooms and find things to chew. I now have plastic shoe boxes on the counters to quickly toss things i to when he wants to roam around and explore the vanity counter - its one of those triple long type with two sinks separated with a sitting vanity area. so he roams over and around things. I leave a fun house of obstacles for him, like little mirrors, balled up and rolled up cloths for shewing or snuggling, area with newspaper to stand on and chew (loves loves loves to chew newspaper), tap on containers, look in big mirror and shiny water faucets. He can wreak havoc on a fresh roll of toiled paper - biting out chunks of the fluffy paper, but i let him have the fun.

Awe , he's beautiful ! And he doesn't look a day over 29 ...lol

What an awesome looking fella. He is older than I am!

Aww, he looks like he has a lot of personality!

We had our alexandrine inside until his cage got too messy, we fed him on top of the cage and he would throw his fruit of veg off when he's done, so we decided to put him outside. The only reason why we covered his cage inside was if we're watching telly and didn't want to wake him and outside we always cover him because it gets really chilly at night (both a sheet and a blanket).
But I'm sure any bird will get used to a regular routine pretty easily.it sounds like you have no need to cover him up at all, and what ever you're doing to him, keep doing it! Haha coz he looks like he's in great shape.

AFP,
RE: Lucky

What a precious photo. So sweet.

Cute pictures, thanks for sharing!

I hope I see more of you in the forums so I can absorb your knowledge and experience. I am raising a 5 month old sun conure and to me raising a 30 year old conure is quite the achievement!

I have so many questions, but one that always made me curious was… Does their temperament change from being young birds to mature birds? Could you tell? By that I mean, are they less hyper/calmer, less cuddly/more cuddly, more secure, etc, etc.

I had a mitred for 28 years. When she was younger she used to do things like perch on a curtain rod, and swing down as hard and as fast as she could spreading her wings and letting out a squawk... over and over and over again. Sometimes she would do it so hard, she couldn't hold on and would fall like a rock onto the couch below, even though she was fully flighted. She just hurled herself way too fast to get in the air.

She could pick up a tennis ball and throw it across the room. She also liked to mess with whatever you were doing on the table. When we wrapped coins, she would wait until we got a good stack, back up a bit, and run as fast as she could to the pile, catch a tiny bit of air to land on the coins to slide across the table.

She stopped doing that after about 10 years. At 12 and 13, she laid two clutches of eggs under the bathroom cupboard and guarded the bathroom.

After about 12 years old, she mostly liked to follow my mother around the house and "help" her with the housework.

From 20 to 28, she mostly wanted to sit on either my mother's foot on the couch, or sit on my dad's leg with his hand on her back.

She did slow down some, but always had that same, everything is awesome and new to her personality. No matter what age, she would always get nippy if she talked. Not to be mean, but she just would get too excited and not know what to do with herself.

She always enjoyed tearing paper, and was a fierce guardian of the bathroom. She slept on the shower curtain rod every night. It was a nice warm room, and easy clean up of the morning poop. You just had to watch your feet when entering or exiting that room.

@sweetpea's friend:

Sounds like a character. I was hoping you'd say they become less hyper as they got older because my Boomer is like an energizer bunny on crack lol.

Its interesting how your bird would lounge in the bathroom. Im a little over protective of my Sun, and think weird things like the bathroom toiletries smell being bad for him. Yours is obviously a well cared for bird, being as old as he is. I guess what I'm saying is, being coddled does not necessarily translate to the best care. Unless I'm completely wrong in my assumptions. I'm just trying to not be so paranoid about Boomer's safety and well-being. Sorry I can't express myself well today... It's Friday and my brain is fried.

That sleepy sock picture is SOOOOOOOOO cute!

@BoomBoom
I'm on the same page with SweetPeasFriend. My 30 year-old cherry-head is much the same personality as 20 years ago, except I think he entertains himself less than he used to. He used to play with his toys quite a lot, but now he seems to get bored with them pretty quickly and wants to be moving around the house or on my shoulder or cuddles up to my hand (foot, neck, face, any part really). But I think that is more a reflection of the change in my schedule and being around him much more - so I think he got used to it and wants/demands it. He's also picked up some good habits such as ringing a certain bell to call me over to get him. He used to just stand on top of cage and scream scream scream. He saves the screaming for when he is in another room and there is no bell.

He used to take a bath every day, now he averages twice a week. I was so upset over it, but the vet said it is okay. He totally freaks out if he is sprayed with water so I can't even give him a shower.

He also loves the bathroom. He gets snippy snappy if I try to get him to leave after only a short time. I have a corner set up for him on the longer counter with newspaper, mirror, water and a few toys. I stowed away any potentially dangerous items so I can leave him alone. (Reminder -- always close toilet lid).

He still sneaks away from cage area and forages anywhere and everywhere. He is clipped, and is so fast on his feet that he just disappears on to bookcases behind the books shredding the spines, or gets in the laundry and chews, loves under the bed to make crazy noise.

Also, he's not hostile towards visitors now like he used to be -- he's still leary around them though. He talks a lot more (but never spoke in "human talk").

And, he is less nervous in general. He has always seemed to be a bit of an anxious fella, but not nearly as much any more. Probably just like with humans, gets more adjusted after experiencing life.

He's had same vet for past 15 years and a new one this year. Both are avian only. Neither one has seen one in the office as old as Pritti. He has had a couple of very scary illnesses with close calls (incubator, oxygen, IVs, told to make what might be last visit with him) -- but nothing like for about 10 years. He's a real trooper and I think, feels the love and is happy.

Thanks for that, I enjoyed reading the before and after, spread out over 30 years. It is very interesting for sure. Its good to know that he got less nervous.

May I ask what their diet mostly consisted in those 30 years? This question goes to SweetPeasFriend as well. What would you say was the percentage of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, pellets, nuts, seeds? For example, Boomer gets:


35% Fresh veggies (corn, bell peppers, different hot peppers, carrots, brocolli, kale, cauliflower, tomatoes)
35% Fresh fruits (apples, mangos, bananas, canteloupe, strawberries, raspberries)
10% Pellets (Zupreem, we tried an organic one but he hated it)
10% Nuts (Mainly almonds)
10% Seeds (Mix of sunflower, pumpkin and other seeds)


As for supplements, did you use things such as cinnamon powder, dried worms, cuttlebones, mineral blocks, calcium powder and vitamin drops (these are unneccessary in a mainly pellet diet I think), apple cider vinegar? I don't use these supplements myself except for worms and cinnamon powder, but curious as some people do.

Having well-aged parrots, I'm very interested to know how you folks handled their diets. Just doing my homework for Boomer. Thank you in advance!!!

BoomBoom said:

May I ask what their diet mostly consisted in those 30 years? T

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BoomBoom,
I meant to get back to your question sooner. I don't think u r going to care for my answere, nor will most people here (heck, I don't even care for it). For most of the 30 years, Pritti has eaten a combination of pellets (changed over the years, but mostly Zupreem or Pretty Bird), fruit, veggies, cooked pasta, whole grain bread, cooked animal proteins, dairy, (most anything from our meals) and, to my chagrin, candy (non-chocolate) fast food and junk food. You see, my husband took care of all feeding for first 10 years and he mostly ate fast food and convenience food like nachos, tacos, burgers, fries, pizza, licorice, good & plenty. I know, I know -- OMG. I agree. From years 10 on, he at about 1/2 to 3/4 of his dient in good pellets, the rest in human food, mixed between that bad stuff mentioned, and healthier kitchen food from my choices. For the last 10 years, it is about 1/4 to 1/2 from good pellets and the rest mostly healthy foods, loves cooked green peas and fresh cooked carrots, likes raw broccoli florets, loves whole grain pasta and modest amount of natural raw almonds and apples (one of his favoties). all kinds of fruits - melons, pears, berries, bananas, papaya, pineapple, etc. etc. I try to stick with organic for at least the "dirty dozen" items. Also, cooked white meat chicken, cottage cheese, plain fat free yogurt, ocassionally hard cheese like swiss, cooked egg whites, cooked fish, etc. etc. I try to eat homemade healthy foods, so I share with him.

Recently I slowly switched him to the Zupreem Natural Pellets, medium-large size -- the type that are oval shape and all the same light brown color. For years and years, his pellets were always of the mixed color variety, regardless of the brand, and he left over lots of pellets because of color preference. One of the brands, he would eat them in a color order. It was so funny. I even called the company and asked if they taste the same or different. If you've never tasted your SC's pellets, I think it's a good idea to take a little bit of one and spit it out. Just so you have an idea of the "flavor" your bird either likes or dislikes. The Zupreem that he is now eating -- at first, he left them over in his dish when i was mixing them in with the old type of pellets. Then one day, I noticed those were the ones he ate and left the others over. In between that time (about 2 weeks, I was measuring and monitoring to see if he was eating the new ones, and he wasn't except at the end of the 2 weeks he had eaten a few). Well it turns out that he likes them ALOT. He used to totally ignore pellets if there was any chance of fresh food. Now it's pretty funny, he eats one little cube of apple, then gets a pellet, and back and forth like that. So I'm really glad because I think that the balance and nutrients of good pellets are important for him. I tried the Harris organic, but he didn't care much for them, although they seem like really good products.

Now I'll tell you what his new vet said last month, and she gave me copies of articles and research to read (as she does all patients) -- that feeding these birds anythng more than 20% of their diet anything other than bird food will shorten their lives. She said they are not monkeys and shouldn't eat monkey chow, they are not guinea pigs and shouldn't eat their food, and they are not humans and shouldn't eat our food, and they are not birds living in the wild and should eat that diet. I didn't go into the story about the licorice and greasy/salty fries and burgers he ate over the years - but Pritti is 30 years old and very spunky, energetic and lovable, and I just hope the new vet isn't right and that his diet won't take years off at the end. Husband no longer in picutre - so Pritti never gets bad food anymore.

P.S. About 15 yrs ago, his vet said he was a little low in calcium. She said we should just feed him more dairy products because it would be the sure way of knowing that he was getting calcium. Hows that !! One vet says feed him cheese and dairy, the other says no way. What's a bird mom to do...

WannaBeAParrot,

Thanks for taking the time to answer. For a conure to be 30 years old and to have had such an eclectic diet is very surprising. It makes me wonder if I am worrying more than I should be. I guess it goes to show how sometimes it is a case to case basis. Maybe a lot of the things we know when it comes to diets are urban myths, maybe not. It just furthers my confusion on the matter I guess. I will probably stick to what I've been doing, but get him to have more pellets and more protein.

My only source of protein for him is the pellets and dried worms (which he doesn't even like). He hates scrambled eggs, so I might try hardboiled egg whites like you.

Thank you again. It is very helpful to me hear from 'senior-parrot' owners such as yourself.

BoomBoom said:

35% Fresh veggies (corn, bell peppers, different hot peppers, carrots, brocolli, kale, cauliflower, tomatoes)
35% Fresh fruits (apples, mangos, bananas, canteloupe, strawberries, raspberries)
10% Pellets (Zupreem, we tried an organic one but he hated it)
10% Nuts (Mainly almonds)
10% Seeds (Mix of sunflower, pumpkin and other seeds)

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I'm curious... is this by weight, volume or calorie content? Do you measure or just eyeball?

I would like to see my birds on about 75% pellets, but it never seems to work out that way. What I offer and what they eat are two different things!

Hi, Debs.

This is by volume of what he consumes daily, and it's pretty much from eyeballing it.

I'd like him to have more pellets so my target is to raise it to 15-20%. He's there some days, I mix the pellets in with his fresh fruit bowl. He was raised by the breeder on a seed mix so he was (still is) a seed junkie.

He is a handsome fella...I LOVE the sock pic