putting birds to bed?

[xreinx]

As everyone can just about guess, I don't have bird's at this time.. but I plan on it, Im beganning to understand why so many people dont get birds until they are well into their years but I am still bent on learning everything I can before I get one.

One thing that I cannot figure out is the variation on "bed time for birds" My aunt covered her birds cage at night before we went to bed, cherry, her love bird went to bed when she wished, usually tucking her head and just going to sleep on her perch, later on, in a bed, then a little hut that my uncle built for her when she suddinly left her cage for a ornimental bird house my aunt had on a shelf in the livingroom.

I've spoken to a man whos 'soul mate' is his Cockatoo, the bird has its own pillow in his bed, and has been... for the past 30 years (hes 45 and single) the bird goes to bed when he does.

I don't know if many people understand that daytime in alaska varies.. during the summer the sun dosent go down for nearly 2 months and at times it can be as bright at midnight as it is at 6 pm... but the people ive spoken to, one of them happened to be a women with 3 parrots, that were fully flighted and allowed to go out side, I spoke to her just for a few minuets about her birds, (we were dealing with her horses, my sister was helping her with them while I was watching) she said they didnt have cages.. they had seprate "feeding stations" and sleep perches.. I got the impression that she didnt put her birds to bed, they went on their individual perches.

Another women I worked with for a short time didnt cover her birds, said they suffered from "night terriers" and said they went to sleep when they "wanted to"

Yet people here, and on youtube sware by putting their birds to bed for no less then 10 to 12 hours a night, covering them and accually putting them in their own rooms.

At this point I am vary confused, experence Ive learned from watching and handling the birds that ive come in contact with, conderdict some of the stuff Ive been reading in my books and on this site.. If and when I get my own bird, I want to do right by them, and not just what ive come to see because I know from experence that some of the stuff youve been doing for generations isnt always right.

 

[weco]

I've spoken to a man whos 'soul mate' is his Cockatoo, the bird has its own pillow in his bed, and has been... for the past 30 years (hes 45 and single) the bird goes to bed when he does.

That may be why he's single, but maybe he needs to speak with GoalerJones about his understanding of MBS......

Whether they're in the land of the midnight sun or not, birds will acclimate themselves to where they are & if the sun is up 24 hours, they will close their eyes & sleep.....yes, there is differences of opinion regarding a bird's sleeping requirements.....

Over twenty years ago I learned that every ting you read about companion parrots is not always true.....there is a lot of information that has been skewed, worded to fit someones agenda, been mis-quoted, out of date and flat out wrong.....just because somebody wrote it in a magazine or in a book does not necessarily make it right.....

If you don't agree with something or find too much confusion, do your own research, using the most up to date scientific data you can find, then make your own data comparisons and follow your best understanding of the information you have at your disposal.....

A lot of life, including stewarding companion animals is common sense.....

 

[xreinx]

Thankyou, yea, Ive yet to find a "right" way to do any of this, I guess its just trial and error when I do get my bird, on what it will like..or wont.

As for the man with his soul mate, ... He seemed plunty happy, his bird never bit him or anyone else after the age of 30 and he said he knew just by looking at her, what she wanted. Im not going to get tangled up in someone elses life if they are content with their significant other, even if it is an animal. Though I still think its cute, in a strange.. slightly odd.. way.

Though Id still like to hear peoples opinions, some of the things Ive learned off this site has helped me in the past when I was dealing with parrots who came in as strays at the shelter, and has helped me understand some of the actions of why I was bit, or why my aunts bird acted like she did when I touched her cage, even when I knew she loved me in her own little way. I learned a long time ago.. you never stop learning if you have animals in your life and If I am going to have a bird.. I really do want to be prepared.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

You have thick curtains right? While on a cruise to Alaska the curtains were very thick and blocked out he sun so I was still able to sleep without being bothered by the sun. I would suggest being able to darken whatever room their cage are in so they can have darkness for a better sleep.

I keep my fids in my room, I try to put them to bed around 9:30, but sometimes they stay up later. Kenji wakes up with the sun, and rosie wakes up around 8-9. As long as your bird to be isn't tired or cranky during he day don't worry to much. Just make sure he gets at least 8-12 hours of sleep, any animal will have a lowered immune system by a consistent lack of sleep.

 

[crimson]

during the summer months I put them to bed when the sun starts to go down, usually around 8-9 pm
in the winter they are in bed by 7:30.
they are covered with blankets, but they start my day @ 6 a.m....bless their hearts.
my pet birds reside in our bedroom, all 7 cages.

 

[xreinx]

uh... heh I dont have any curtians, the only windows that have anything on them are the ones that face the other buildings and thats to keep people from looking into my house.

Thinking back to when we had cherry, she was covered at night when we went to bed but she often went to sleep before "bedtime" and yes, her day was prompt, 6 am and woes us, if we didnt uncover the cage when she started her morning song, and it didnt matter how light it was, or how dark, she knew when 6 am was. and no we didnt have drapes then either, and her cage hung by one of the big windows looking out into the woods, and yea, she had a call sign for when she spotted bear too.. oddly.. we understood when she gave that one call... everyone would jump up and head to the windows, or doors.
Thinking back, I relize that she had hundreds of calls, she was right beside the back door too and .. I remember (now) her "who goes there" sound, every time the door would open from the outside, and how she would respond when we would say hello to her.

 

[getwozzy]

I usually cover our birds at sundown and uncover them when I get up in the morning. However, Jackie tells me "time to go night night" when he's ready for bed if I haven't covered his cage already lol

 

[xreinx]

lol thats cute.
Im trying to wrap my head around this, all the large parrot owners ive come in contact with... are like my family, when we had cherry, yet they dont cover their birds, dont have a set time for them to sleep and dont seem to worry about them sleeping 10 to 12 hours a night. Considering that the summers in alaska are considered vary long days with almost no darkness, and in the winter the weak sun gives us barly 5 hours of daylight a day.

The last person I ran into had a "bird room" that was an extention of the livingroom with extra windows all the way around, his birds didnt have set times and when I called in the evening I was shocked when he said I could come and see the birds at 8 pm at night, when I went to see if his African greys were what I wanted to look into buying (asking way too much for untamed birds that were agressive to everyone who got to near the cage) I was shocked to see that they didnt have coverings, and yet the two Macaws that were on either side of the African greys didnt even lift their heads from under their wings when the african grey male started screaming when I crossed the livingroom.

 

[getwozzy]

I think it all depends on the bird(s), the household activity, cage locations, etc....our budgie could care less if her cage gets covered at night, but Jackie (amazon) will scream and constantly chant "go night night" until he's covered. When we get a bigger house, I plan on having a bird room so they have their own space and I can close a door when Jackie does his daily zon screams. Lol.
Birds cannot see in dim light or darkness, so since Jackie's cage is in a high traffic area it's better he's covered so he doesn't get scared and hurt himself.

 

[cdnbirdlover]

If you get a young and potentially hormonal bird, the longer days may tell your birdie to get out there and start making baby birds! My Basil is around 2 and I have been careful about covering him for 12 hours to try to avoid giving him the cue to go looking for a mate (or worse, if he's a she, start making a nest and laying). Our house is bright (and I'm in Canada so I understand your long days, even though ours are not as long) and I cover him as best I can. Unfortunately we don't have a curtain where his cage is. I try to keep my kids and husband quiet. Kids go to bed soon after Basil anyway. I'm sure he hears the outside birdies (who are all very busy nesting and having babies) but he doesn't call in the morning until he hears us moving around. Someone on these forums had a chronic egg layer and she finally sorted that out by covering her birdie for more than 12 hours.

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

Perhaps having a strict bedtime for companion birds works well to keep a household or person's scheudule in sync. My feeling and experience is that as long as my birdie has enough sleep and a good sleeping environment, then all is fine. In general around 1am to 11am has turned in to the usual around here, with naps during the day. There are two different places my birdies sleeps (one on play gym in my bedroom and one in family room in the big open door cage). It is good for the bird to have access to a safe and comfortable place for him/her to go to on his/her own to go to sleep without you doing it. All in all, I'd say he gets 12 hours of good sleep per 24/hrs, plus those shorter light naps. Night sleeping in darkened room, no cover.

 

[xreinx]

Thankyou for all the information, growing up, Cherry (the lovebird) never had that problem of laying eggs. At least I dont remember her ever laying during the summers I spent with my grandmother and aunt and uncle.

Aside from that.. thankyou Wanna for bringing up the two diffrent sleeping stations. Aside from my summer home, the only other family that I had ever seen with ...cages... for their birds was that one home with the wild african greys. Every other family I ran into had feeding stations for their amazons, and play perches... no actual cages for their birds and most of the familys had 3 or more parrots.

The women I spoke of, (my sisters friend) kept her birds in the livingroom. three steps from the front door, and it was amazingly clean from what I could see from the door. but there were play stations (trees with no bark and lots and... LOTS of toys.. on squares of plywood covered in newspaper, the brances were as tall, or taller then myself im 5 ft 3) I didnt see the feeding stations, but my sister said she had them, one for each bird. The play stations were up against the back window, and she didnt look like she had drapes either so... ...blows my mind is all I can say.

Are smaller parrots harder to take care of? Is that why so many people have cages for conure size and smaller?

 

[mtdoramike]

I kind of wondered about birds sleeping in places like Alaska as well with the 24 hour a day sun and such. Huh, the strange things we think about when we are waiting on our wives to finish shopping.

 

[xreinx]

lol yea, Alaskas diffrent thats for sure, Ive known about 4 people with large parrots who dont have cages for their birds, including a homeless women who lived in the woods with her pink Cockatoo...(she said 10 years at least) and I dont know how that is possable because it gets sometime -30 F in town, Ive known it to get colder in other places. The only reason I knew, was when she came in from getting tossed in jail, they brought the bird to the shelter, but we couldent hold it because she was the owner on the paper and she told us to our face she had no home, and half the time didnt have a tent. (the birds feathers were in poor condition, looking ratty with broken flight feathers as if it spent most of its time in her jacket)

I know I am beating this subject to death, but I just want to make sure I have all the info. for when I get my bird and I find its better to get more info from people who know, then what I am accually exposed to and seeing from others.