How to keep GCC quiet at night and morning?

[pip_luv]

I have two yellow-sided green cheek conure siblings that are now 4 months old. Both of them live in the same room but in two separate cages. They are usually never loud except early in the morning or really late at night which is super annoying considering I sleep in the same room. I sometimes cover their cages with a blanket but it doesn't seem to help.

I know it's a birds nature to be loud but is there any way to get them to stop squawking at these times? My friend said it is maybe because they don't have sleeping tents. Could that be the problem? Also, if it matters, I tend to get them out regularly and they are never left alone together. Thanks for any of your help!

- Sleep deprived conure owner

 

[HalfInsane]

It's normal for birds to be loud first thing in the morning and in late evening. So, the morning calling you can't do much about. But if it really is night time they should be asleep. How late at night are they making noise though?

First, they should be getting 10-12 hours of sleep. The room should be completely dark (or cage covered) and there should be no noise for them. Can they hear the tv late at night? Are car headlights from the street shining in? Any other noises/sources of light that might be startling them or keeping them up?

 

[weco]

Can't say what might be keeping them awake at night, unless you have a TV on or lights from outside, vehicles passing & lights flashing in the windows.....at night, after dark, it is normally something keeping birds awake that causes them to be noisy.....

Sorry Half, guess I was typing when you were posting.....didn't mean to step on your post.....

 

[goalerjones]

Purchase stuffed GCC pets...no pullstring though.

 

[Grenage]

When do they go to bed, and what time do they start waking up? As above, there should be no noise when asleep, unless it's a noisy environment.

 

[joewill85]

Conures are naturally up early and, unfortunately, there isn't much you can do about it . I am woken up almost every morning within 2 minutes of 7:30 (their internal clocks are amazing). After I get up and feed her, my wife and I can generally sleep for another 2 hours before she starts calling for someone. It's just their nature. We've tried all sorts of methods to reduce/eliminate morning time squawking, but at the end of the day they're Conures and they're going to yell. You're their flock, and they have a driving need to know what you're doing most of the time.

As far as night time goes, we tend to cover her up around 9, and sometimes we need to use wireless headphones to get her to go to sleep without squawking at the noise. Night time is usually easier for us though, as she tends to not care what's going on as long as someone is within sight of her, which we are when we watch TV. Some nights, though, she's particularly cranky and wants more attention.

The real trick is figuring out how much of your Conure's behavior is correctable and how much is going to be there no matter what. Feeding into their bad habits makes life harder, but so does refusing to recognize their natural behavior. It's something that every owner figures out with time, but once you do it's smooth sailing.