Advice on ?Nite Nite?

Caitnah

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Mar 24, 2018
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GCC Pineapple
My 3 year old Conure understands what Nite Nite means. He says it clearly when I say it to him for bedtime.
His room is in a spare bedroom that is also my TV room. Up until about a month ago, I would Nite Nite him about 8:00p.m.
But now, he tells ME ?Nite Nite? at about 5:30 p.m.! Even though the sun is still out for 3 more hours! And he will say it constantly until I put him to bed.

So I oblige him and we do our bedtime routine. But here-in lies the problem. Although the lights are out and a bit of daylight still comes in through his window, you can hear him playing for the next couple hours. If he hears me in another room he calls out to me. He is NOT doing Nite Nite until the sun goes down.
It?s happening right at this moment. For the first time, I came back into his room. It?s 7:30p.m. and he was calling out for me.I am sitting with him and all he is saying is ?Nite Nite?.
Some may say that he just wants to be alone with me out of the room.But if that?s the case how come he calls out to me if he hears me somewhere else in the house?
Is it possible he does want Nite Nite but light is still coming in from the window?
Confused?
 
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Owlet

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maybe hes associating "night night" not with bed time but with time to go back to the cage.
 

fiddlejen

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Do you have any completely-light-blocking curtains? IF so I would suggest as an experiment, try covering him with a complete-light-block curtain and see if he still seems to stay awake.

IF he does, then I'd say he wasn't really ready for bed, he's just letting you know that he knows bedtime is approaching.

IF he goes on to sleep with complete-darkening then maybe he really does just want to go to bed early.

My own Sunny likes to go to sleep At Minimum an hour Before sunset, if she can talk me (bully me) into it. Earlier is fine with her. She will happily sleep or pretend to sleep thru until I get up in the morning, and if she winds up with 14 or more hours of sleep (or, in the morning, pretend-sleep), she is perfectly happy with that. (Although, if given the chance she will happily wake up full up energy an hour or so Before sunrise, as well.) But at nighttime, or in the afternoon when she wants to sleep, she will fuss at me until she has an entirely pitch-black for sleeping.

How early does your conure awaken? Is he bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning? IF so it's reasonable that he might indeed just want to have nite-nite earlier.

On the other hand if he does not like waking up in the mornings, and if darkening his cage more in the afternoon doesn't put him to sleep, then I'd think he is probably just starting a sort of Count-Down, telling you that he knows that Nite-Nite is coming. If that seems to be the case I'd suggest attempting to create sort of Not-Bedtime-Yet ritual.

OR perhaps consider if there's something you normally do Before bedtime, that he wants done. AT this point in time, after a number of re-homed mice, I vacuum Every Night. My Sunny knows this is the First Step towards bedtime and insists on supervising from my shoulder. She does not have any Words, but she begins fussing at me to vacuum, usually an hour or more before she plans to sleep.

Is it possible that by asking for "Nite Nite," your conure Might be asking for something He has associated with you doing before bedtime? Perhaps a few hours before? Perhaps some habit or a pattern you might not even be aware of?
 
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Caitnah

Caitnah

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GCC Pineapple
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maybe hes associating "night night" not with bed time but with time to go back to the cage.

He is already in his cage when this happens. I usually have him out until 4:00p.m.

Do you have any completely-light-blocking curtains? IF so I would suggest as an experiment, try covering him with a complete-light-block curtain and see if he still seems to stay awake.

How early does your conure awaken? Is he bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning? IF so it's reasonable that he might indeed just want to have nite-nite earlier.

OR perhaps consider if there's something you normally do Before bedtime, that he wants done. AT this point in time, after a number of re-homed mice, I vacuum Every Night. My Sunny knows this is the First Step towards bedtime and insists on supervising from my shoulder. She does not have any Words, but she begins fussing at me to vacuum, usually an hour or more before she plans to sleep.

Is it possible that by asking for "Nite Nite," your conure Might be asking for something He has associated with you doing before bedtime? Perhaps a few hours before? Perhaps some habit or a pattern you might not even be aware of?

Coincidentally I just tried that tonight. I usually leave the curtains open partially so he can rise with the sun. But just closed them at 8:00 to try.

I too had a mouse problem and bedtime routine is to clean his cage and vacuum every night.
He always gets a treat just before I close his room. But even that has changed a bit. Just last week he started throwing his treat out. He ALWAYS ate it for the last three years. He did eat it tonight.
He seems to sleep well as he his energetic in the morning. I can hear him playing before I open his room which is usually at 7:30-8:00a.m.

As mentioned above, I usually put him back in his cage at 4:00 and he eats/plays. But like clockwork, exactly at 5:30p.m. he starts with the Nite Nite.
 

T00tsyd

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Syd is certainly routine minded and I do my best to mix things up as much as possible to avoid being too tied. Perhaps his 'night night' is no more than a request to do the routine. Syd goes to bed in a sleep cage in a quiet dark spare room at 7.30pm getting up between 7.30 - 8.00pm. At 5.30am he often calls but I ignore him and he quietens until I go in.

Having said that he will also sleep after lunch in his day cage in front of a window. I do know when bedtime is approaching because he starts trying to direct operations from about 6.30pm getting louder and louder until I realise that it is 7.30pm. He wouldn't let me forget. I am aware that we live with them rather than the other way around and it is all part of our training regime. He is a sweetie but quite bossy.
 
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Caitnah

Caitnah

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It’s almost 10:00 in the morning and am sitting with my Pineapple and he is saying NITE NITE over and over again. Am starting to think he means something else.
The only thing we’ve done differently in the last month is that I built a hobby room in the basement. Since I spend a lot of time down there, I felt it best to have BUDDY with me instead of being alone upstairs.
I built him a playground in the picture window area and he seems to really enjoy it there. He spends maybe 4 hours there with me almost everyday.
Am wondering if he is somehow referring to this. But it is the same sound as Nite Nite.
 
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Caitnah

Caitnah

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GCC Pineapple
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I THINK I figured it out… Whenever I let him out of his cage, I say to him, “Want to come out”? The COME OUT part I say with the same inflection as Nite Nite.
I believe he is asking to COME OUT.
It’s 10:00 a.m. and he is saying it a lot. When I asked him if he was saying “Come Out” , he responded with “Come Out” a little more clearly. After repeating this several times, he came out very clear with “Come Out”.

After I put him back into his cage at 4:00, he drinks, eats and plays. At 5:30 I don’t think he’s telling me Nite Nite.
He is telling me he wants to COME OUT.
 

T00tsyd

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I THINK I figured it out? Whenever I let him out of his cage, I say to him, ?Want to come out?? The COME OUT part I say with the same inflection as Nite Nite.
I believe he is asking to COME OUT.
It?s 10:00 a.m. and he is saying it a lot. When I asked him if he was saying ?Come Out? , he responded with ?Come Out? a little more clearly. After repeating this several times, he came out very clear with ?Come Out?.

After I put him back into his cage at 4:00, he drinks, eats and plays. At 5:30 I don?t think he?s telling me Nite Nite.
He is telling me he wants to COME OUT.

I have to laugh - it seems your training is complete on that subject. Well done - be ready for the next lesson! :D
 

fiddlejen

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Sunny the Sun Conure (sept '18, gotcha 3/'19). Mr Jefferson Budgie & Mrs Calliope Budgie (albino) (nov'18 & jan'19). Summer 2021 Baby Budgies: Riker (Green); Patchouli, Keye, & Tiny (blue greywings).
I THINK I figured it out? Whenever I let him out of his cage, I say to him, ?Want to come out?? The COME OUT part I say with the same inflection as Nite Nite.
I believe he is asking to COME OUT.
It?s 10:00 a.m. and he is saying it a lot. When I asked him if he was saying ?Come Out? , he responded with ?Come Out? a little more clearly. After repeating this several times, he came out very clear with ?Come Out?.

After I put him back into his cage at 4:00, he drinks, eats and plays. At 5:30 I don?t think he?s telling me Nite Nite.
He is telling me he wants to COME OUT.

YAY! I'm so glad you got it figured out! :)
 

wrench13

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You have learned your lesson well, human slave. I shall not bite you. For now.
 

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I have loved this thread... it's so preciously heart-warming to watch my Community trying to unravel the workings of our avian companions' minds!
 

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