Enrichment ideas for a morning hater?

[lollipoppy]

My Milo birdie HATES mornings. Wakes up so grumpy, just like me hahaha.

So I have been taking him out in the morning and in the evening. Now, in the evening he’s rearing to go. He knows the minute my daughter is in bed it’s his time and he runs around squawking and so excited to come out.

But in the morning he’s not like that at all LOL! He looks like he wants to come out (hangs off the door and chatters to me,) but when he comes out boy can he be mean! He’s way nippier, less likely to listen, has 0 interest in training or playing. He gets grumpy-gus on my shoulder which is a huge no-no for me. Then when I take him down it’s bite city.

Now, I feel like if I take him out in the AM I’m setting him up for failure & I don’t want bad habits to root from this. But, I feel like I can’t just leave him in his cage all day until night time every day.

I try to let him play on his play stand and even lure him up with a wee bowl of his favorite foods (peas, sweet potato, peppers and fennel) but as soon as I sit on the couch he flies to me, then settles in and gets grumpy if I so much as move. [emoji849] LOL!

I could shift his playtime to afternoon, but once my husband goes back to work this will be more challenging as my daughter is way more lively in the afternoon and that is exactly when I don’t want her around the bird. (We only have a 650sqft apartment so there’s nowhere to send her to, or to take Milo away to, that would be calm enough for him to be out of his cage.)

What should I do? [emoji15] At this point he does love being in his cage (finally) but I don’t feel like it’s healthy for him to be in there ALL day. Can you help me brainstorm some good solutions please? [emoji847]


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[lollipoppy]

I should add that at night he loves being on his play stand or cage or on his perch in the window. In the morning though, he’s like a totally different bird. This behavior lasts until well into the afternoon, too. Truly the night time is the only time he’s really happy and friendly when he’s out LOL!


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[fiddlejen]

My Milo birdie HATES mornings. Wakes up so grumpy, just like me hahaha.
....
...I could shift his playtime to afternoon, but once my husband goes back to work this will be more challenging as my daughter is way more lively in the afternoon and that is exactly when I don’t want her around the bird. (We only have a 650sqft apartment so there’s nowhere to send her to, or to take Milo away to, that would be calm enough for him to be out of his cage.)
...

Well this is just me and my experience so far. I'm stuck with a 12:30noon to 9PM work schedule. Which before we went to work-at-home included Minimum half-hour commute each way. My birds adjusted. I believe Sunny would Prefer to be a morning bird. IF I had sat back and attempted to manage her sleep schedule I'm sure I would be a slave to her-&-budgies' sleep needs & preferences. However this wasn't something we could negotiate so I just proceeded.

Sunny goes to sleep about an Hour Before Sunset. Or tries to - she wants darkness. But once she gets some sleep, if I'm moving around after 9 pm & turn on the light, she is happy to wake back up again.

This time last year, the birds would all wake me at dawn with chirping & moving about. I would get up, go bathroom etc, & come back... go to sleep until after a few alarms & snoozes. (Yes I fall back to sleep easily.) At This Point, they All wait... or else awaken & play Quietly... until my alarm has gone off More than Once. (It's not always the same time. At Night I doN't fall asleep easily and I will change my wakeup time daily.)

All this to say, my suggestion is:

Do what works best Now. He's still a baby and will be still a baby for a while. Shift his playtime to afternoon for now. Shift it back when things change based on your convenience.

OR - maybe better -

Shift his playtime to afternoon for now, give it a while, and then start Sliding his Playtime Earlier, by half an hour or hour earlier every few days.

Maybe combine either of these with shifting his Wake-Up time Later?

Or, can you get him to go to sleep earlier at night? IS he getting enough sleep in general? (Could that be reason for morning grumpiness?) Or, does he need a morning Nap After he wakes up? Or - Sunny and budgies like to get some noisyness going after I've awoken; I think they like when I join in and echo their loud chirps & yells back at them. So counter-intuitively, what about some Noisyness At Milo just Before he's about to get bitey? Loud cheerful singing or birdies chirping videos or maybe vacuuming or something?

Hope some idea here might help.

 

[lollipoppy]

My Milo birdie HATES mornings. Wakes up so grumpy, just like me hahaha.
....
...I could shift his playtime to afternoon, but once my husband goes back to work this will be more challenging as my daughter is way more lively in the afternoon and that is exactly when I don’t want her around the bird. (We only have a 650sqft apartment so there’s nowhere to send her to, or to take Milo away to, that would be calm enough for him to be out of his cage.)
...

Well this is just me and my experience so far. I'm stuck with a 12:30noon to 9PM work schedule. Which before we went to work-at-home included Minimum half-hour commute each way. My birds adjusted. I believe Sunny would Prefer to be a morning bird. IF I had sat back and attempted to manage her sleep schedule I'm sure I would be a slave to her-&-budgies' sleep needs & preferences. However this wasn't something we could negotiate so I just proceeded.

Sunny goes to sleep about an Hour Before Sunset. Or tries to - she wants darkness. But once she gets some sleep, if I'm moving around after 9 pm & turn on the light, she is happy to wake back up again.

This time last year, the birds would all wake me at dawn with chirping & moving about. I would get up, go bathroom etc, & come back... go to sleep until after a few alarms & snoozes. (Yes I fall back to sleep easily.) At This Point, they All wait... or else awaken & play Quietly... until my alarm has gone off More than Once. (It's not always the same time. At Night I doN't fall asleep easily and I will change my wakeup time daily.)

All this to say, my suggestion is:

Do what works best Now. He's still a baby and will be still a baby for a while. Shift his playtime to afternoon for now. Shift it back when things change based on your convenience.

OR - maybe better -

Shift his playtime to afternoon for now, give it a while, and then start Sliding his Playtime Earlier, by half an hour or hour earlier every few days.

Maybe combine either of these with shifting his Wake-Up time Later?

Or, can you get him to go to sleep earlier at night? IS he getting enough sleep in general? (Could that be reason for morning grumpiness?) Or, does he need a morning Nap After he wakes up? Or - Sunny and budgies like to get some noisyness going after I've awoken; I think they like when I join in and echo their loud chirps & yells back at them. So counter-intuitively, what about some Noisyness At Milo just Before he's about to get bitey? Loud cheerful singing or birdies chirping videos or maybe vacuuming or something?

Hope some idea here might help.

This is all perfect, thank you! I will try shifting playtime later and getting him super excited before we play.

He’s currently sleeping 9pm-9am every day. He will squeak between 7-9am but I leave him covered until 9 because if I say “goodnight Milo” between 7-9am he immediately quiets down and goes back to sleep lol.

I think this will be great! Thank you


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[noodles123]

Just a thought- if your bird isn't getting enough sleep, he/she may be grumpy (at least, that is how it has been in my experience). 10-12 = important for birds....So, if I get my cockatoo up before 12 hours, even if she wants to be up because she hears me, she is cranky.

 

[lollipoppy]

Just a thought- if your bird isn't getting enough sleep, he/she may be grumpy (at least, that is how it has been in my experience). 10-12 = important for birds....So, if I get my cockatoo up before 12 hours, even if she wants to be up because she hears me, she is cranky.

He sleeps 9p-9a with a breathable cover in a darker room in my house


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[Inger]

Do you feed him first thing in the morning? On weekends when I’m home, I feed Bumble and leave her in her cage to munch for about 15 minutes while I make my coffee etc. Then when I’m ready to sit down she comes out (and her food bowl comes with her). If I try to let her out before she’s had a few minutes with her breakfast, it’s a disaster. So maybe he’s hungry?


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[lollipoppy]

Do you feed him first thing in the morning? On weekends when I’m home, I feed Bumble and leave her in her cage to munch for about 15 minutes while I make my coffee etc. Then when I’m ready to sit down she comes out (and her food bowl comes with her). If I try to let her out before she’s had a few minutes with her breakfast, it’s a disaster. So maybe he’s hungry?


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He eats first thing, while I have my coffee, too.

Today we tried leaving him in his bed but chatting with him all day and feeding him treats and such, then at night we played for a good long hour and a half and he happily went into his bed at the end (which is rare usually he’s fighting me not to go in!)

I think it may be better while he’s new here if we just have a good long hangout at the end of the day then maybe incorporate one earlier when he’s feeling more comfortable? (As I know 1.5 hrs is really not a lot in the grand scheme of a 24 hour day! I’d like to have him out 3-4 hours when he’s comfortable enough for that.)

I noticed today we had 0 biting incidents, totally nice, a little more wary like he was making strange but this did not impact how he interacted with us. It’s more like he was starting to realize there’s a lot more going on beyond whatever’s in his beak or whatever’s caught his obsession [emoji38]

Do you think it would be ok to master the first hangout then add a second? Or is this keeping him caged way too long?


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[Inger]

Kind of thinking out loud here...when you get him out in the morning, do you actually take him out, or just open his door and give him a choice?


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[lollipoppy]

Kind of thinking out loud here...when you get him out in the morning, do you actually take him out, or just open his door and give him a choice?


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Open his door and give him a choice, every time. He always chooses to come out, then gets grumpy if it’s the morning. If it’s night, he’s totally open to being out and playful.

He’s juuust learning to stay on his cage, window perch, or toy stand. If he were more consistent with staying there I’d 100% let him just play on those in the morning so he could be out and not bothered, but he always flies over to me. Then gets grumpy with me. [emoji45] I’m not sure what he’s trying to tell me that I’m not hearing.


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[lollipoppy]

I still have no idea what his deal is with mornings, but today we had a much better experience. He was very cautious and uncertain all morning, but also very clingy.

Yesterday I left him in his bed because it seemed like that’s what he wanted. Today, I decided to try a little harder to get him to take to the playstands. He didn’t. BUT! I did not go sit down, I got up and started cleaning the house. He stuck around on my shoulder the whole time and only got the slightest bit grumpy at the end when he was getting hungry.

I don’t know what I did differently this morning other than not sit still. He spooked and flew off my shoulder a couple times but immediately came right back. I believe he even had a mild nap in my hair while I cleaned.

Is it possible that he doesn’t mind the moving, just not when I’ve been still for a while then start moving? Or maybe he WANTS to be on the move and he’s getting nippy with me in the mornings because I’m not moving around enough so he gets bored with me, and when he’s getting nippy it’s excitement and not grumpiness?

Hmmmm. I’m so confused LOL!

Anyway, I was happy to have a cleaning buddy today. He went back to his bed after and had a bath then napped, now he’s happily playing with all of his toys. This feels like a good improvement!

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[lollipoppy]

One more update, then I’ll come back in a few days to wrap this thread up in case anyone reads with similar issues. (Everyone’s still free to add more of course! Love a good brainstorm post.)

This morning I took Milo out and he took a bath then hung out on my shoulder for an hour while I cleaned the kitchen. We listened to music and I talked to him and he happily chattered on my shoulder. 0 bites this morning and there were 0 bites yesterday, too.

So here’s what I was doing when he hated mornings: wake him up, let him eat his leftover pellets/seeds & poop then play with him for 15-20 mins (usually playing with toys, etc.) Then back to his bed for veg then out later for more play/flying around the living room. When I let him out of his cage I would let him immediately crawl up my arm.

Here’s what I’ve been doing instead: wake him up, give him about 30-45 mins of just talking no contact. Then I open his food door to give him fresh food & give him an hour to eat them. Then I give him a bit of time to play and nap. Then around 10:30am I take him out and let him climb out on his own. He climbs up to the top of the cage and I stand nearby until he flies to me. Then I clean the house with him on my shoulder. All I do is talk to him, I don’t try to play with him or do anything. This morning he demanded a bath though lol when I was cleaning the kitchen. Then an hour and a half later I open his “food drawer” where all of his seeds, pellets, millet, etc are and I let him snack while I fill his bowl with fresh food then he hops up on his bowl and I put him back in his cage on his bowl. Then he comes out again later before bed for an hour to an hour and a half and that’s when we actually play and explore and train since that seems to be when he’s more into it.

I may be able to stretch these times out longer or include an extra afternoon one in the future but for now these 2.5-3 hours per day seem to be his “maximum.” This way seems to give him his best opportunity to have fun, positive interactions with us and go about the rest of his day with no biting.

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[lollipoppy]

Oh! And to add: I adjusted his bedtime for 8:30p-8a as it seems he was waking up earlier I just didn’t notice it before.


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[noodles123]

Hey---if it's working, keep it up. Just make sure you try to keep up with something that you will still be able to do after quarantine! Sounds reasonable though.
PS- You kind of look like my cousins! You could definitely be their sister ha!

 

[lollipoppy]

Hey---if it's working, keep it up. Just make sure you try to keep up with something that you will still be able to do after quarantine! Sounds reasonable though.
PS- You kind of look like my cousins! You could definitely be their sister ha!

Thank you! I am self employed from home so it’s all easy to maintain [emoji1]

Haha that’s so funny!


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[lollipoppy]

As promised, I’m back with an update for how things are going after a few consecutive days of change.

We have successfully curbed morning grumpiness. Milo is 5 days “bite free” (still nipping but no latching and pinching down hard)

Today, though, we switched from him sitting on my shoulder to him having to sit on his cage while I clean, or on his play gym, as he has become possessive over my hair and nippy at fingers who try to ask for “step up” anytime he is on my shoulder.

Until he can respect the boundaries and I can trust him to sit on my hands without nipping, and without just flying up to my shoulder then getting bossy, he’s not allowed on me [emoji23] I suspect it’ll only be a few days this way, as we’re still target training and I’m hand feeding him bites of fresh food and safflower seeds during training sessions. So, not making my hands a stranger, or anything, just showing him that I need to trust him as much as he needs to trust me, and that comes from respecting my boundaries - and my body!


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