Sleeping

[Koko_the_fluf]

I recently have discovered something. Weirdly my bird sleeps on the side of his cage and I've never seen this before. He does seem pretty tired and I don't think he's getting much sleep at night. What should I do?

 

[LaManuka]

I recently have discovered something. Weirdly my bird sleeps on the side of his cage and I've never seen this before. He does seem pretty tired and I don't think he's getting much sleep at night. What should I do?

When you say "sleeps on the side of his cage", do you mean he's hanging by his toes on the bars? If so, it sounds a lot like what my Lilly started to do a while ago. She had been happily sleeping on top of a wicker toy suspended high up on one side of her cage when suddenly she changed her mind and started "sleeping" by hanging upside down by her claws from the other side. I cannot imagine she was getting much sleep up there either!

You could try getting Koko a little seagrass hut like this one, and suspend it up where he is hanging from the bars. I got one for Lilly and did just that, and now she either sleeps on top of it or inside it most of the time...

If you're going to get Koko a hut, it's important to make sure it's a natural seagrass one with an open ended design like this one, as the ones that are made of synthetic fabric can easily be a choking hazard and/or a trigger for hormonal aggression. My Lilly is a chronic egg layer but she has never (not yet anyway) shown even the slightest nesty or broody response to this type of hut but I do constantly monitor her for any change there. You might also try a flat, platform style perch if the hut doesn't work - I did try that for Lilly but she hated it