Trouble covering bird cage at night

[BlooBloo]

Hello everyone!

This is my first thread so I'd like to greet everyone at the forum and pose a question!

I've had a pair of young budgies for about a week now and while they're slowly adjusting to their new home a constant issue has been getting the little guys to bed at night. I live in a single-room apartment, so space is a bit on the tight side which makes me feel compelled to have them covered not to have them be bothered by the light and noise I might produce in the evening.

Whenever I'm covering them with the blanket they tend to freak out and fly around in a frenzy, never had this issue with my first pair from years ago! I've tried leaving one side to the window open to give them a little bit of light and this has come with maginal success, they still spook but do settle down much faster. I wonder what to do, tonight they were already sleeping but woke from the noise of the blanket.

Would installing a small night light help? And would it be okay to move the cage to another spot during sleep time to keep them farther away from any noise? The cage is next to my bed and desk right now.

 

[SailBoat]

First, welcome to Parrot Forums!

Try using a sheet doubled and start with covering only one side and as the early evening passes, cover a little bit more. At the same time, reduce the amount of light needed in other parts of the room and the same with the general sound level.

Its only been a couple of weeks and sometimes it can take more time for them to become comfortable with their new home.

 

[EllenD]

Welcome to the community!!!

Believe it or not, it's a very, very, very good thing that you only have a 1-room apartment when it comes to your new parrots, because that means that they are always going to be with you and among their Flock, which is you now by the way, and that is the absolute best way to socialize them, earn their trust, and bond with them!!! Just being in the same room as them, even if you're not directly interacting with them every minute of the day when you're home is still Passive-Interaction and does help tremendously with the bonding process...

I absolutely would keep covering them at bedtime, because first of all that's their notice that it's time for bed/sleep, but also because they can sleep very, very well if you still have the TV on, music playing, people over, etc. as long as their cage is covered and the light is blocked-out. All of my parrots have their cages in my living room, the "main-room" of my home where I spend most of my time, and when it's their bedtime they get covered and go right to sleep, no issues at all with my TV, music, Playstation, guitar and sax playing, etc.

***As far as them kind of "freaking out" when you first cover them, it's simply because they are brand new to your home, to you, and to being covered. I most-likely were not covered by their breeder/pet shop where you got them from, so that's just another brand new thing that they have to get used to, and they will quickly as long as you just keep doing it. A week is like 5 seconds in "new-parrot-time", so they are still settling-in to their new environment, new routines and schedules, and to you as well. So just keep doing what you're doing and soon when you cover them they will simply chirp goodnight and go to sleep without any fuss at all...It also helps if you actually tell them "Okay, it's time for bed!" and say goodnight to them before you cover them...It might sound silly or weird, but Budgies have the intelligence level of a 2-3 year-old human child, a fantastic memory better than ours, and they have the ability to use logic and reasoning skills just like we do. So within a short period of time they will know exactly what "It's time for bed! Goodnight!" means, and they'll actually start to expect and wait for the cover to be put over their cage.. The same thing goes for telling them where you are going and exactly how long you're going to be gone whenever you leave your apartment...So if you're just running outside to get something out of the car, say "I'm just running out to the car, I'll be right back", and they'll quickly learn that "I'll be right back" means that you'll only be gone for a few minutes....And when you go to work you say "Okay guys, I'm leaving for work, and I'll be back later this afternoon" or "I'll be back at 5:00", and they'll know not to expect you back until 5:00 in the afternoon...They can quickly learn what 1-hour equates to if you always tell them "Okay guys, I'm going to the store, and I'll be back in about 1-hour", or whatever amount of time you expect to be gone, and they'll soon know how long to expect you to be gone....

The bottom-line is that you've only had them for 1 week, they'll soon learn not to fear the cover being put over their cage, but rather will know that when the cover goes over them that it's time to go to sleep, and they'll also come to realize that the cover is put over them to block out the light and the sounds so they can sleep...Budgies are parrots, they aren't at all "starter birds' or "beginner birds", and they have the same level of intelligence of any Cockatiel, Conure, etc. They really are on the intellect level of a 2-3 year-old human child, with logic and reasoning skills, and if you treat them as such they will all the better for it. And just give them time to get used to their new home and to you, because the first thing you need to do is to "Earn Their Trust", and once that happens then the bond between you will build and build...And as long as they get daily exercise, metal stimulation, attention and love from you, and a good amount of out-of-cage time each day, combined with a daily diet that is low in fat and high in protein, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc., (a low-fat seed-mix/pellet mix combined with daily fresh veggies and dark, leafy greens), there's no reason that they shouldn't easily live into their mid to late teens. My very first Budgie, who I was given as a baby when I was only 6 years-old, lived to be 18 years and 9 months old, and he went away to college with me!!! I've not ever had a Budgie, even the breeder-Budgies, live less than 15-16 years, and I've not done anything other than what I just described to you...

 

[Kiwibird]

I agree with the above. They simply aren’t used to the act of being covered yet and it is probably quite frightening still. Try going slower and be very careful not to accidentally move or bump the cage. You can also talk in a soft tone of voice, telling them it’s ok. They’ll get used to it eventually. Our bird did. These days, I just toss the thing over and only get a grunt of offense on the rare occasion I accidentally bump the cage hard enough it moves (though with a large parrot cage VS a small one, I’m guessing being gentler would be necessary since its much easier to move a small cage).

 

[BlooBloo]

Thank you so much for all the responses!

I'm going to do my best to slowly get them accustomed to the cage being covered, it's definitely a bit of an adjustment period for both of us. This is all going to help a lot. It's great to find the community here so helpful, I do have more questions but I better put up a bit more of a general thread for that.