Afraid of nighttime

Hey,

I have read that most parrots have a bit of a mumble and a complain when it is time to go to bed, but our 1 year old pineapple conure seems to really hate it. We have hoped that routine would eventually get him used to it but every night, without fail, he is terrified... scrambling around his cage desperately trying to get to us when he thinks we are about to leave.

What triggers it is the light going off. He knows we are about to leave and he goes a little bit crazy, flapping and clambering around. Then making crying noises for 15-20 minutes.

We have tried having the light already off and it slowly transitioning to dark, we have tried leaving immediately, leaving slowly, nothing changes. We were in there the other night as it got dark and he clings to us, actively evading attempts to go in to his cage. He just seems to want cuddling at this point.

Is there anything we can do to make this easier for him? It's kind of heartbreaking each night!

That's just the toddler at bed time...

PLEASE MOM! I'M HAVING FUN. JUST FIVE MORE MINUTES!

It's not that he's afraid, it's that he probably just doesn't wanna...

My dusky used to try and do anything to stay up a little later too...

He'd be at his most charming when he knew they were going down for the night. And occasionally when he didn't wanna go to bed, he'd bite the crap outta me and try to evade or avoid step up.

He went to bed anyway...

Birdman is correct. Sounds like you have velcro bird like my Yellow Sided GCC. Mine hates to go to bed. She'd rather dose off on my shoulder, lose balance when I move, and fall off. She moans and groans and bites every night when I put her in her sleeping cage around 9:30pm. Her sleeping cage is upstairs in loft. We don't turn on the light when we put her in the cage. When walk into the loft, it is already dark. We put her on one of the perches in her sleeping cage. She always manage to find her favorite sleeping spot in the dark with no problem. Her cage has a cover. Birds are less likely to startle at night if you have a cage cover.

Consider having a small, night light in the room perhaps? I've read that birds need total darkness but I don't think it's pitch black in the jungle. My conure, for example, will get his cage covered with a black (thin) blanket. He'd always stay on the side of the perch that gets the most light (streaming in through the window blinds from a patio light). So in my bird's case, he prefers 'some' light - but not too much. Yours might too.

Also what birdman said makes sense. Him thrashing about and crying might be a learned behavior. So just be firm and unrelenting (but gentle and kind) when it comes to his bed time

You could set up a cage in your bedroom. If you cover it just leave the side of the cage facing you uncovered so your bird can see you.