Re: Bed time

OneHorseRanch

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May 25, 2014
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California
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One Green Cheek Conure, Sheldon. Hatch date: 7/27/13
Re: Bed time

HI All, it's been a while since I've been on which probably means that "no news is good news". This is not bad news though, I just need some ideas here.

My Sheldons sleeping habits consist of a lot of movement. I'm not really sure what he does. He seems to do quit a bit of "knocking" on the bottom of his sleep pen so I sleep with ear plugs. I dont have any toys or extra stuff that would keep him busy. He eats and drinks well before I put him to bed, but should I be offering food and water through the night? He's 5yo and seems fine without. He's in bed between 7:00 and 8:00 and usually up by 6:00 when the house comes to life.

Is there something that I'm missing? I'd sure like it if he would sleep more soundly. Whats your sleep pens like?

thanks.. A
 

itzjbean

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Jan 27, 2017
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Iowa, USA
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2 cockatiels
Re: Bed time

Hmm... possibly he's awake and bored? That's the only thing I can think of.

What does he do during the day, is someone always home with him, is he out of his cage all day, flying around, etc? Or does he spend some time in his normal non-sleeping cage too?

I don't put my birds to bed until 9-10pm and they are up by 6am when hubby and I get up, but they also take naps during the day since we are at work so they don't really need to go to bed so early since they are given more time during the day to sleep, too.

You could try keeping him out for an extra hour or two and then to bed in his sleeping cage and see if the knocking persists.
 

EllenD

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Aug 20, 2016
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State College, PA
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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Re: Bed time

What do you mean by "sleep pen"? I'm assuming it's just a regular cage, only smaller than his main-cage, but I wasn't sure...The other question is where is his sleep-cage located in your house? Is it in the same room that the people of the house are in, or is it in a dark, quiet room? Do you cover his sleep-cage with a dark-colored sheet/blanket or a bird-cage cover?

If you have his sleep cage located in the same room as you and others are in and awake in, then you might try moving his sleep-cage to a room that no one will be in the rest of the night, with the lights off and the door shut...And if you already have his sleep-cage located in a different room with the lights off and the door shut but you don't cover the cage with anything, you might try that, covering it with a dark-colored sheet, blanket, or an actual bird-cage cover that you can buy at any Petco/PetSmart...

As far as what is in his sleep cage, it should be sparse. No food at all, no toys, nothing that they can play with, chew on, etc. And it should be much smaller than his main-cage, in fact it only needs to be large enough so that he can open up both his wings fully and not touch the bars with them or his tail. That's it...I have my 4 larger bird's sleep-cages in my master bedroom, and they all go to bed between 8-9 usually. I say "It's bedtime! Night-Night Sleep-Sleep!", my Quaker Parrot will start yelling "Sleep Sleep Sleep?", I say "Yep, Sleep Sleep Sleep!", and then all 4 of them head upstairs to my bedroom and go right into their sleep cages (except for Duff, my Cockatiel, who has to hitch a ride on me because she can't fly well-enough due to a wing-injury)...Their sleep cages are small, and they each have 1 perch, a swing, and a water bowl with fresh water in them. That's it. And I cover each of them with a sheet and shut the bedroom door...I usually come back up to bed a few hours later, and they usually don't even make a peep when I come in and go to bed...They do however wake me up as soon as the sun starts coming up, but you'll have this, lol...

The other thing to try is what Itzjbean recommended, maybe keeping him up for an extra hour than you usually do, it might be that he's just not ready to go to sleep...Most parrots actually put themselves to "bed", meaning that even if they are out with their people/person, they will end-up going to sleep on their stands, perches, cage-tops, on their person's shoulders, or if they sleep in their main-cages they often just put themselves to bed when they are tired. My mom's African Gray has always put himself to bed...it's hilarious, we'll be in the living room watching TV or playing a game, talking, whatever, and he'll be there talking-up a storm or cuddling with us, and then suddenly we look around and he's gone..He just suddenly says "okay, I'm tired...Night!" and sneaks-off to his cage and puts himself to bed...

So it may just be that your guy isn't tired enough at that time of night. If you already have his sleep-cage located in a dark, quiet room where he can't hear that you're still up and around (that's a big deal, if he can hear that you are still awake then that might be keeping him going), and if you are already covering his cage, and neither of those things are helping, then I'd try keeping him up for an extra hour and see if that makes a difference...Or not put him to bed until you see him falling asleep or at least "fluffing" himself up, yawning, etc. Then put him to bed...My Green Cheek will be playing at night on the play-gym and then suddenly he'll fly right over to me while I'm usually on the couch reading or watching TV, and he'll plant himself on my shoulder, fluff himself up, yawn, put one leg up, and he's out...
 

Skittys_Daddy

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Jan 6, 2014
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Lewiston, Maine
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Neotropical Pigeon - "Skittles" (born 3/29/10)
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Budgie - "Sandy"
(1987-1989) R.I.P.
Re: Bed time

I always make sure Skittles has access to fresh food and clean water, even during the night. Skittles also eats/drinks prior to bed and I will give him fresh water prior and then he'll drink (and get pellets in it, lol) so I'll change it again and then the next morning there will be pellets again so I know he's eating and drinking either during the night or in the morning. Plus, that way if something happens and I need to go to the hospital, he doesn't starve and it will be okay until I can get someone in to give him food/water. My emergency contact (my neighbor) would be able to do it, but just in case.

Skittles has a day cage and he has a sleep cage. His sleep cage is right next to my bed. I put Skittles to bed between 7p-9p most nights. It depends on when he wants to go to bed. That's his bedtime range. I don't put him to bed til he lets me know because it always falls in that range. Plus, if I try to put him to bed before he's read, he'll just make a racket. lol. The system we have works.

I wake him up between 10a and 12n. The earlier I wake him, the earlier he wants to go to sleep. He is VERY active during the day and I've noticed that he will sleep a good 12hrs, which is what his vet said he should get. Suns need 10-14hrs of sleep a night depending on their activity level. The more active they are, the more sleep they need.


Anyways, there have been a lot of times I've overslept and he's actually been pretty good about it. Only thing is, he entertains himself. I may hear him "knocking" on the floor of the cage with his beak, or 'dragging' his beak along the grate at the bottom and sometimes I even hear him thrashing his tissue box hideout against the sides of the cage. He'll grab it and go in circles with it, the little goof.

If I am tired and want to stay in bed or sleep longer, I will wake him up when I go to the rest room, let him out for a few minutes and then he'll go back in his sleep cage (uncovered) and play with his toys while I sleep a bit longer.

One of the great things about having him free-flighted is that when I need to cage him for whatever reason (safety, leaving the house, etc) he doesn't resist at all.
 

GaleriaGila

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May 14, 2016
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The Rickeybird, 38-year-old Patagonian Conure
Re: Bed time

Here's the Rickeybird regimen...
Ever since he hit sexual maturity at about 3-4 years of age, I've had to manage his hormones! If kept on too steady a long day, and too much light, he stayed "in the mood" (aggressive, even louder than usual, pleasuring himself on my neck ) year round. If I keep him on a natural light schedule... up with dawn, down with dusk, year around... THEN he's only a little monster rooster from July to September). He has his own room, so I can do that easily. Also, the natural schedule seems to manage his molt and general routine.
Patagonians are one of the few semi-nocturnal parrots, so I do keep food/water and one or two small hanging toys in at night, for what that's worth.
Good luck!
 
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OneHorseRanch

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May 25, 2014
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California
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One Green Cheek Conure, Sheldon. Hatch date: 7/27/13
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Re: Bed time

Thanks everyone. So our routine is "bed tine" between 7:00 and 8:00 and he was waking up at 7:00. lately it's been 6:00. I have a hard time sleeping in general so I'm in bed early and unfortunately up really early, but I stay quiet till I need to get my daughter up for school at 6:00, and now that is when he wakes up.

Sheldon has his own "sleep pen", which is smaller than his day pen. (the one's you'd find at the pet shop for parakeets) He eats and drinks really well before bedtime and he generally will settle down on a perch and make small chirping sounds and thats when I'll put him in his sleep pen. No food, water or toys avail. It's in a separate room which is dark and I cover his sleep pen also. I also read that 12 hours of sleep is more natural for them...sure wish I could get a good 6 hours in myself..LOL...

during the day, I'm usually in and out. I work half days a few days a week. When I'm home I let him out and he cruises around with me. I try to keep him active as much as possible. He does have his time of rest during the day. Almost sounds like I need to add more activity. I thought of buying a "how to teach your bird tricks"...any suggestions in that department.
 
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OneHorseRanch

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May 25, 2014
179
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California
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One Green Cheek Conure, Sheldon. Hatch date: 7/27/13
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Re: Bed time

Also, It's not so much that he's knocking to be obnoxious. It sounds more like he's regurgitating, wanting to feed others..does that make sense.? He does that also during the day.
 

noodles123

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Jul 11, 2018
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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
Re: Bed time

That definitely sounds hormonal. Is there anything else in his environment that could be making him more prone to sexual behavior ? Petting on the head is really the only safe spot...no dark spaces/caves (blankets, furniture etc), avoid excessive daylight and warm foods...Do you have other birds that he may be interested and/or a specific person?


My bird knocks on her cage bottom and tries to nest with the towels under the grate if she is in a hormonal spell...and she only does it after her cage has been covered for the night (It is the only time she has access to dark spaces).


Side note: Have you tried letting him out both before and after work?
 
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OneHorseRanch

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May 25, 2014
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California
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One Green Cheek Conure, Sheldon. Hatch date: 7/27/13
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Re: Bed time

HIs sleep pen just has the perch and a levi tunel thing that I made. I dont know if he even uses it, because his tapping is from ground level.
He gets let out all the time. Between my daughter and I we keep him busy for the most part...maybe not busy enough. Do you think this is a phase?
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
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State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Re: Bed time

I don't know what you mean by the "tunnel" thing that you made, but if it's anything that he can get inside of, like a "Snuggle Hut", a tent, a cave, a box of any kind, any type of fabric/cloth that he can get inside of, etc., anything that creates a small, dark/enclosed space at all that he can get into/inside of is going to send his hormones into overdrive. Conure especially go crazy whenever they get inside of any small space like that, and it's extremely common for any of the "Huts", tents, boxes, beds, etc. to cause this issue...

If I were you, I'd remove the "tunnel" thing if it's anything that he can get inside of, and I would be willing to be that his regurgitating stops pretty directly. If you've got him covered at night and you hear him doing that, it's likely that he's inside of the tunnel thing, if it's something he can get inside of or around him...
 

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