Green cheek screaming at bedtime.

[GreenCheekMama]

I have a green cheek (7 months old, gender unknown but we refer to him as he) who seems to hate going to bed. When we put him to bed we cover his cage and move it to a different room so he’s able to have quietness, we move him into a spare room at 8:20, give him a few treats, leave a hallway light on and leave the door slightly cracked so he’s able to adjust to it being somewhat dark, and then at 9 pm we shut his door very quietly and turn off the light. Except recently he’s been screaming for long periods of time as soon as we turn off the light, so far he has been screaming for the past 38 minutes and it is loud and it sounds like he’s crying or calling out to someone. It’s incredibly painful to just ignore, you can hear it even upstairs, anywhere in the house. We were told if your parrot screams it’s best not to acknowledge them, does anyone have any ideas on how we can get him to stop screaming? It would mean the world to us. He’s not getting enough sleep due to this.

 

[ravvlet]

What happens if you don’t turn out the light or shut the door? Or maybe a night light?

 

[GreenCheekMama]

We haven’t tried that, we usually shut the door because of how busy our house is, some family members wake up at 3 am for work and others wake up at 5-6 for work so we don’t want any noise we make in the kitchen disturbing him. we haven’t tried keeping the light on yet or using a night light I may try that and see how it goes.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I have a green cheek (7 months old, gender unknown but we refer to him as he) who seems to hate going to bed. When we put him to bed we cover his cage and move it to a different room so he’s able to have quietness, we move him into a spare room at 8:20, give him a few treats, leave a hallway light on and leave the door slightly cracked so he’s able to adjust to it being somewhat dark, and then at 9 pm we shut his door very quietly and turn off the light. Except recently he’s been screaming for long periods of time as soon as we turn off the light, so far he has been screaming for the past 38 minutes and it is loud and it sounds like he’s crying or calling out to someone. It’s incredibly painful to just ignore, you can hear it even upstairs, anywhere in the house. We were told if your parrot screams it’s best not to acknowledge them, does anyone have any ideas on how we can get him to stop screaming? It would mean the world to us. He’s not getting enough sleep due to this.

Gosh, it sounds like you are new parents having to listen to your baby cry itself to sleep! It must be so hard. I agree with the night light advice since the "crying" appears to be triggered by shutting off the light. A bird can sleep fine with dim light in a peaceful, reasonably quiet room.

 

[Kaherzig0]

My Parrot goes to his cage most times by himself before sundown. His cage is in the kitchen. We just slightly cover his cage once dark out, not completely and go about our evenings, tv and all, but more quietly. He does fine with his sleep. I'm m sure he'd do fine with a little light and a little noise. Let us know how he does.

 

[wrench13]

Quiet is a relative term. It's not like once the sun goes down in the jungle, the noise level stops. It might even INCREASE! So, total silence is not a requirement. But loud unexpected sounds will wake them and get them on high alert. Prepping coffee, open and closing the fridge, murmuring conversation should not put them into high alert; dropping cups/dishes would - see what I mean?

But words like "should", "most times" and other qualifiers need to be taken with caution, as every parrot is its own bird, so to speak. Each is an individual and must be taken like that. Know thy bird! In this case, a highly strung, nervous bird might jump into fear mode, while one with a bolder personality might not.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Quiet is a relative term. It's not like once the sun goes down in the jungle, the noise level stops. It might even INCREASE! So, total silence is not a requirement. But loud unexpected sounds will wake them and get them on high alert. Prepping coffee, open and closing the fridge, murmuring conversation should not put them into high alert; dropping cups/dishes would - see what I mean?

But words like "should", "most times" and other qualifiers need to be taken with caution, as every parrot is its own bird, so to speak. Each is an individual and must be taken like that. Know thy bird! In this case, a highly strung, nervous bird might jump into fear mode, while one with a bolder personality might not.

I really like the imagery of the sounds of the jungle at night. You're right. Lots of jungle and forest creatures are nocturnal and make all sorts of noise, from crickets and other insects to frogs, rodents, owls, monkeys, big cats etc. All music in the moonlight, if you ask me! So dead silence could even be disconcerting to creatures conditioned by evolution to calmness in the presence of night sounds. Which makes me wonder how true jungle species like Amazons and Macaws would respond if put to sleep with a jungle night sounds recording playing in the background. Your thoughts, anyone?

 

[Cottonoid]

My Quaker was 6 or 7 months old when he started needing more light on at night. He's in the living room so I leave a lamp on in the next room.

I had to experiment with covers, too - when he was still a baby he liked to be covered and in dark. Now he likes no cover and needs a light.

It might take a little experimenting with you little guy, but I bet leaving some sort of nightlight and leaving the door cracked a little bit will help

 

[Cosmo305]

My GCC was the same at bedtime when we got him. I tried one night NOT covering him and the screaming stopped. Worth a try - he just wanted to know what was going on around him and see out, but was fine with darkness without being covered.

He is in the living room now and sometimes there is movement around him but once lights go off he knows he is not coming back out til the morning. Last week there was a lightning and thunder storm, the dogs were barking and he could see the flashes, but he stayed quiet I think because he was a part of it! He might not get as much sleep as he should but he is happy.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

My GCC was the same at bedtime when we got him. I tried one night NOT covering him and the screaming stopped. Worth a try - he just wanted to know what was going on around him and see out, but was fine with darkness without being covered.

He is in the living room now and sometimes there is movement around him but once lights go off he knows he is not coming back out til the morning. Last week there was a lightning and thunder storm, the dogs were barking and he could see the flashes, but he stayed quiet I think because he was a part of it! He might not get as much sleep as he should but he is happy.

I think it must be frightening for a bird to be in a cage at night with a cover on it and hear sounds in the room and not being able to see out to know what going on. I know it would bother me. Kinda like being blindfolded. I just drape very small blankets over the top quarters of my budgies cages at night just to give them a bedtime routine. They don't significantly darken the cages and they can still look out to see what's going on.

 

[wrench13]

All I can do is relate what we do for Salty, and what we did in the past for our little Max. Salty gets a black cotton fabric cover on his cage at night. It does not cover the whole cage, but leaves 6-12 inches at the bottom open and we leave a small light on adjacent to his cage. It is positioned in the dining area of my open floor plan 1st floor of the house, so people getting a snack or a drink during the night certainly constitute ambient noise. If the sound is unusual, like dropping a dish, he climbs down and peeks out from under the cover and then goes back to his perch to resume sleep.

Max ( a BeeBee parrot, Brotogeris Chiriri) slept in a cage on the kitchen table, no cover and with a small light on in the nearby stove top range. He slept thru everything.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

My Quaker was 6 or 7 months old when he started needing more light on at night. He's in the living room so I leave a lamp on in the next room.

I had to experiment with covers, too - when he was still a baby he liked to be covered and in dark. Now he likes no cover and needs a light.

It might take a little experimenting with you little guy, but I bet leaving some sort of nightlight and leaving the door cracked a little bit will help

Maybe it's when they fledge completely that they no longer want to sleep in complete darkness. When they're in the nest-box it's dark, quiet and enclosed. Once they start sleeping outside the box they may need more light and the ability to see their environment to feel comfortable. All a part of their amazing evolution and reminders that parrots are not domesticated animals like dogs.

 

[T00tsyd]

Syd on the other hand is in a sleep cage in the spare bedroom with a black cover plus a blanket over the top on cold nights. The room has blinds but there is strong street lighting outside which throws some light into the room which he can possibly see. Our routine is clean water refill, sunflower seed, a song, (currently baa baa black sheep) a small conversation about how good he is. I then cover him and his last comment of the day is a very plaintiff 'I'm sorry baby' as I go out of the door closing it quietly behind me. He always makes me feel guilty!
Deviate from this routine and I can expect pain the next day!! Don't tell me which one of us is completely bonkers! I fear I know already but it's the way he's made me!

 

[onamom]

Syd on the other hand is in a sleep cage in the spare bedroom with a black cover plus a blanket over the top on cold nights. The room has blinds but there is strong street lighting outside which throws some light into the room which he can possibly see. Our routine is clean water refill, sunflower seed, a song, (currently baa baa black sheep) a small conversation about how good he is. I then cover him and his last comment of the day is a very plaintiff 'I'm sorry baby' as I go out of the door closing it quietly behind me. He always makes me feel guilty!
Deviate from this routine and I can expect pain the next day!! Don't tell me which one of us is completely bonkers! I fear I know already but it's the way he's made me!

LOL! I love this. Laughing at Syd trying to make you feel guilty after such a pampered routine. Maybe I should start singing Ona lullabies now.

Ona sleeps in a sleep cage, covered, in the laundry room (because it has a door and is in the very back of the house). I normally leave the door cracked a tiny bit.