So what is your nite-nite ritual with your parrot(s)

wrench13

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Nov 22, 2015
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Yellow Shoulder Amazon, Salty
I thought it wouldbe fun and perhaps helpful for everyone to describe their nightly 'putting the bird to sleep' rituals.

Salty's training session is over by 9:20 latest. He goes back to his play stand/chain, to eat a bit more and chill. at 9:45 Iturn the TV way way dwn, turn the lights ut and I let him roost untill 10PM. He likes a lttle head scratch during roosting time, but not too much. At 10PM he knows its night night time, steps up, give me a kiss and into his cage he goes, no mussing or fussing. Any family member can do it, for those nites when I or Erik are not home. Once in his cage, the cover gets pulled down, the heaters are checked. Anyone who stays up in the living room has to keep the TV on 5 (very low) and turn on the subtitles. Salty really is a god boy when it comes to bedtime
 

LeaKP

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Oh Kevin gets sleepy by 6:30; he starts beak grinding and one foot perching. I tell him “time to go inside and nite nite.” He may/may not resist depending on his level of grey attitude (ha let grey human servants understand). Then, he shakes his tail, shows off his wings a few times, climbs in and cheeps like a chick. Asks for a beak scratch and then i close and cover the cage. He says “bye” and munches on a some dry snacks I leave with him in the cage. By 7 he’s silent until the next morning!


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texsize

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1 OWA (Plumas R.I.P.)
1 RLA (Pacho R.I.P.)
2 GCA(Luna,Merlin) The Twins
1 Congo AG (Bella)
5 Cockatiels
When I come home from work ~ 10:30 pm my Amazons wake up for my arrival.
Bingo just makes a small noise.
Luna whistles & ruffles her feathers and Merlin makes a noise of acknowledgment.
When I come out of the bed room wearing my sweats Luna goes down to her bowl to beg for a late night snack (whatever I am eating before bed) and Bingo is more animated and watches me closely as I go into the kitchen.

When I come back with my food I must not pass birds without giving a tribute lest there be screaming into the night.

Bella is a different story. I always say hi but get little response. She will lean her head against the bars like she wants me to scratch her but she will try to take my finger off if I fall for it.

My Tiels all make noise but the only two I interface with are Mango and Angle. They both get a neck scratch before bed.
 

Owlet

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Oct 27, 2016
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Lincoln (Eclectus), Apollo (Cockatiel), Aster (GCC)
lincoln usually puts himself to bed around 6-8pm. Around 9ish is when I am wrapping things up so I take out his chop, give him a quick kiss on the beak, close the shades, and let him be xD

Apollo puts himself to bed around 7 and does not wish to be disturbed until he is ready around 9am the following day.
 

Nachospoppi

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Have only bad my white bellied caique for a few days so i will have to keep an eye on that. I normally work second shift so i dont see what she does before bed but when i get home i take her out a couple hrs to get familliar with the new family. Tonight she laid on my chest till she fell asleep then i put her in her cage for the night but i havent been putting a blanket over the cage is this something i should do ?
 

T00tsyd

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May 8, 2017
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Green cheek conure - Sydney (Syd) Hatched 2/2017
Syd - at just 2 this month - has the bedtime routine down pat. Just recently I have made his bedtime a bit later just so he's not up so early in the mornings.

He is usually out and about until about 7 and then I put him back in his day cage to have a feed etc and by 8 at the latest he jumps on my shoulder for the trip to his sleep cage in the spare room. Once there he pops in himself, has a small sunflower seed, waits for me to either sing to him or chat for a couple of minutes then I cover him to his last words which are always a plaintiff 'I'm sorry!'. It always makes me feel bad. Then I hear no more til morning and he is up at 8.

Last evening I was out late so his routine went a bit haywire. As soon as I got home he came out to spend about half an hour with me then it was the usual routine. I love the way he knows the routines and plays along.
 

noodles123

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Jul 11, 2018
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Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
Dinner, clean food/water dishes, add water to the humidifier, sing/dance to various songs etc.
Post-dance-party, Noodles goes into her cage as soon as it starts to get dark (unless she is all wound up due to company or unless we haven't danced enough lol).

When she is ready for bed (usually between 5:45-6:30), she bobs up and down on the cage wall (facing me) while holding a pellet in her mouth (almost always a red one ha). I pet her on the head and ask if she is sleepy. She continues to bob and then I close up the cage and cover it.. I do always say "night, I love you, see you in the morning"---4 or 5 times as I walk off LOL. This started a long time ago, and now I just continue it because it is what she knows.

It's pretty much like clockwork...so it is annoying when she decides to stay up late occasionally. Those are the instances in which I have turned off lights to get her to go to bed...we wake up early, because I have to make sure she gets enough interaction time and sleep.
 

Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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All the birds put themselves to bed at sunset. Then at 8 pm my Ta-dah begs to come out and we have snuggling and she is very vocal telling me about her day, then she looks at me to say something back, then more mumbles and waits for my reply. She started this a few months have ago after the passing of her friend Burt The Bird. I e accepted how important it is to her now, abd enjoy her animated wrap up of the day. At 830 I put her back. If I forget she uses everything in cage to make noise, except her voice. She waits till she can look in my eyes for our conversation. I'm sorry I tried to discourage this in the past Ta-dah, it will always be our time from now on.
 

Anansi

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Maya (Female Solomon Island eclectus parrot), Jolly (Male Solomon Island eclectus parrot), Bixby (Male, red-sided eclectus. RIP), Suzie (Male cockatiel. RIP)
Maya and Jolly's training sessions usually end around 10 or 10:30. At that point, I'll walk over to the other side of my living room and open a specific door on the entertainment center. Jolly knows that's where I keep the seed treats, so he flies over to my shoulder and excitedly snuggles to my face on the entire walk over to his tree stand. Once I've put some in his dish he forgets I exist and dives in.

Maya is far more ladylike, waiting calmly for her portion before demurely climbing up to her tree stand's cup to partake. Maya usually finishes first, and then preens as she waits for Jolly to catch up. Jolly then let's me know that he's ready to go to bed by flying to one of the couches. Why? Because he knows that the couches are off limits and that flying to one results in a time out. So once he twigged to this, he used it to reverse train me by only flying to a couch when he wants to go to his cage. Lol! (Granted, he is fully capable of flying there himself, but he wants to be "tucked in".

Maya knows this is the signal as well, so she then runs over to the branch closest to Jolly's chosen couch and waits for me to pick her up as well. We then go together down to the family room where their cages are, and both give me kisses. Jolly goes in first and always takes 3 sips of water (his training involves a lot of flying). Then Maya flaps her wings a few times before jumping onto her sleep perch in her cage. I tell them both goodnight and turn off the lights.

Nachospoppi, I don't cover my birds either. As long as you can get their area completely dark and quiet, this is fine. (Unless the bird is already used to being covered. If so, not covering them could prove distressing.)
 

AmyMyBlueFront

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Apr 14, 2015
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Amy a Blue Front 'Zon
Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
Amy a BB hit the sack between 9:30 and 10 at the latest. Usually Amy is playing on her house-top play area. He knows when it is bed time. If I'm watching tv and get off the couch and walk towards his house he will climb down from his roof upside down and swing himself into his house and make his way to his sleep perch ( It is high up in the darkest corner of his mansion).

If BB is out,,I walk him over to his house and put him in and he makes his way to his "box". (That is what his Uncle David calls BB's plastic/plexi food container). Beebs will then nosh on something then climb out and up to the perch closest to me where he receives a head/cheek skritch and he makes kissy sounds as I say good night to him.

He gets his Cozy Cover put over his house as David says "good night good night"to him and BB chirps back.

David will then peek in at Amy and tell him what a pretty bird he is and says to him "Uncle David..Uncle David" ( He is trying SOOO hard to get either Amy or BB to say that lol :rolleyes:)
Then both David and I grab Amys Cozy Cover and manipulate it over Amys mansion as we both say good night to him. Amy will make a couple Amazon mumbles as we cover his house and I say " good night Amy see you in the morning.
Then the lights go out in the living room and because David gets up at 5:30am to get ready for work,he usually heads off to bed. I may watch a bit of tv using wireless head phones until 11:00 then I usually come in this room to play a computer game or head off to bed.

When Smokey was with me and Mom we could set a clock by her. It didn't matter if it was winter spring summer or fall. Five minutes before or five minutes after 10pm Smokey would say loudly GOOD NIGHT!GOOD NIGHT!! and if I dawdled,she said it even louder,until she got her way lol.
Goofy bird!


Jim
 

MMARC234

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Nov 20, 2018
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Male Pineapple GCC- Leo * Male Blue Quaker- Bluebell * Male Green Quaker- Avocado
While I didn’t get to do it this afternoon (stupid late shift), I usually keep them with me until around 5:45. Then I take each of them and put them on top of their cages while I change out their food and water. After that I put them in their cage, tell them ‘I love you’, and say ‘goodnight guys, I’ll see you tomorrow morning’ (which could be anywhere from 6-9 AM).
 

Inger

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Bumble - Pacific (or Celestial) Parrotlet hatched 02/19/17
Bumble goes to bed around 7. At this time of year, when it’s dark so early, she’s yawning and fluffing and one-foot perching around 6:30 or so. We go to her cage and collect all her bowls. She sits on my shoulder while I do her dishes and we play one of the games she’s invented-every time I move my face in her direction, she makes a random noise. Sometimes (once or twice a week) she’ll say “drink! drink!” Which really means she wants a bath. I let her take a few sips from the faucet and before long she’s sticking her head under the tiniest bit and fanning her tail feathers. That’s when I know I’m supposed to get out the mister bottle and spray her down. When she’s done, she flies up to my head. I’ve tried to decide for her once or twice, but if she’s not ready for the bath to end, it’s very clear I’ve made an error and (as any good human servant) i correct course immediately. After dishes and bathing, she rides on my shoulder over to the counter where I fill her bowl with pellets and some seeds. She climbs down my shirt and hops on to the bowl and rides it back to her cage. I tell her what day it is, what day tomorrow is, what plans I have, and then say night night love you approximately 400 times while I cover her cage. Sometimes I sit in the chair next to get cage with the lights off and listen to her grind her beak for a while. Although she’s covered, it’s with a dark sheet so she can see most of what’s going on around her. She seems to like it when I sit with her, and it’s a lovely relaxing time for me. I don’t do it every night though, since she needs to be able to sleep on her own.

That’s our little ritual.


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Sandy19

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Mar 22, 2017
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Peanut is like an old lady, she has to get to bed by dark. Once it gets dark she goes straight to her sleeping spot on her playstand and waits until I take her to her cage. She steps right up, gives me a kiss and goes to the perch in her cage with no fuss. Then I cover her cage and she doesnt make a peep until she hears us get up in the morning.
 

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