Thoughts on the 10-12 hour sleep rule

[TinyTimneh]

Like a lot of people I used to try and follow the 10-12 hours of sound sleep a night for parrots.

However it wasn't getting me anywhere because in order to get those 10-12 hours with my early-morning risings I had to put the birds to bed early--add this to the fact that I go to school and the birds certainly didn't get alot of quality time with me.

I was reading up on the subject and came across the information that adult greys sleep a lot less than that naturally, maybe only 8 hours or so. Furthermore, when I thought about it, parrots need natural cycles. Although this might be interpreted as 12 hours of sleep, to me the more important thing was when these parrots were sleeping.

Flocks of parrots generally only go to roost when it's dark and get up as soon as the sun rises or else they'd be breakfast for predators. Captive birds probably instinctively do this too---so it makes no sense for them to go to sleep when they know it's still light outside regardless if they're covered or not (the sun doesn't just go out like a light switch, it sinks gradually).

The end result? I've stopped adhering to the 10-12 rule. My birds have a good view of the outdoors so they see the daily light/dark cycles. They go to sleep when the sun goes down (which right now means about 10:00 PM) and get up at between 6-8 AM when the sun rises, just like a wild bird might.

I haven't quite worked out how this will work in the winter because it's dark out by 5 PM ish and the sun doesn't come up till about 7 AM-- but for now they're living in a natural cycle and seem happier for it even though it goes aainst the rules.

The tropical wild ancestors of our birds might have lived on 10-12 darkness cycle but our birds have never known that cycle... furthermore they are adaptable creatures. A person immigrating from a tropical area to a non-tropical one might be accustomed to as 10-12 hour darkness cycle but obviously would adjust for example--and I figure the parrots can too.

[Luvparrots]

Ana Grey has always set her own sleep schedule. At 9:00 pm she is in her cage and on her sleeping perch ready for bed. I have never covered her cage and I have no idea what time she gets up as I am a night person and she gets up before me. She is quiet in the mornings and snacks on her pellets and dried vegetables until I get up to make her breakfast. I hear her playing and moving around in her cage sometimes when I am still in bed. Sully my Eclectus honks like a goose when he wants the lights off and he is also a very quiet morning bird. Interesting post TinyTimneh.

[she]

My two dont get 10-12 hours sleep a night,they would never get enough time with me which I feel is more important.I too like them to follow a natural day/night system and catch up on any needed sleep when I am at work.

[Tycos_mom]

Well in Alaska there is 6 months of darkness and 6 months of light so if we lived there we obviously would have to create a time to be awake and a time to go to sleep that is why its Up to us to decide when our birds should be covered and when they should be awake I have a very hormonal bird at the moment so I'm giveing him at least 14 hours of darkness so that he can get over this as quickly as possible as the longer day kick this in for the birds. It doesn't matter as long as you feel your birds are getting enough sleep time its up to you to make that decision

[she]

Janet my two always let me know when its time for bed aswell.It is usually round nine when they start creating,thats my signal for blankets on.

[Char]

Whisper gets about 9-10 hrs. She gets cranky if she gets any less.

[danmcq]

My birds sleep according to their own beat, it does seem to be strongly tied to the natural circadian cycle ruled by the Daylight hours.

 

I thought others might be interested in the number of hours of Daylight according to the Latitude they live in. Most our Parrots all come from the Equatorial zone, meaning Daylight is a constant 12 hours all year long.

 

<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/06/28 14:29

[Poppy]

George does not got 10-12 hrs straight through .He seems to set his own cycle and as I work during the day he seems to catch up then .Up to date he has never been cranky or seems to be sleep deprieved .

[Jaguar]

Dusty being in the UK in the summer months its only dark about maybe 5 hrs. So we have perches dotted around the house for Dusty to use. Around about 10pm Dusty is wanting to go to his sleeping perch and settle down for the night, but hes normal awake nipping our toes and kissing us to wake up by 6am. I havent need an alarm clock for 1yr now. Dusty has free range of the house and is only locked in cage when we go out( Safety First can have him chewing a cable )

[lovethatgrey]

I really try to aim for minimum 10 hours of sleep. I find that it helps prevent CRABBY :blink: :woohoo: parrots!!

[TinyTimneh]

Lol I find if my parrots have too much sleep time and not enough play time they're very very crabby actually

[karunk]

Guys.. I have only recently got my Chikki home.. i let him into his cage form 9:30 pm.. and he is up from around 6:30 am i guess.. or even earlier as i havent tried to check earlier.. i didnt understand the word crabby.. what do you mean by that.. i just want to make sure i instill the best habits in chikki right from early stage..

[Jaguar]

crabby just means alittle bad tempured not enought sleep and isnt please to see you.

[daveyj]

I half cover Alfie around 8.30 he chatters to himself for a while but dosent sleep i go to bed around 10 and he knows its time for kiss goodnite as hes at the bars waiting. i usually get up around 8am but one night last week the birds outside woke me with the dawn chorus around 4.30 so i lay there listening to them when i heared Alfie starting to whistle and say hello i couldnt stop laughing it went on for ages Anyway he normaly gets around 10 hours and seems fine with that p.s never naps through the day B)

[Christina]

I think it depends on the bird. I have one that has to have 10 hours a night or you have a very grumpy bird. Finnigan can work on 7 hours with no problem. I try to have the minimum be 8. But, like you guys, I go with the sun. I find also that if my birds are the lanai outside when the sun goes down, when we come inside, they are ready to go right to bed, if they are inside with the lights on when the sun goes down they seem to go right by that time and never notice that it is time for bed. If that makes sense. If I'm home, I definetly try to have them outside for the sun going down. They watch all the herons and seagulls and crows in the sky heading for their roosts and we have a small flock of nanday conures that apparently roosts somewhere in our neighborhood as they usually go over our house, presumably for their roost. I think that sky activity helps them to realize it's time for bed. I could be mistaken, but it makes sense to me.

[TinyTimneh]

On a similar note I will say that around my place rainy days are lazy days for my birds.

If it's grey and rainy outside my birds are very quiet and spend most of the day snoozing or preening.

So I'd definetly agree with you Christina that letting our greys and other birds see the sky activity outside helps them decide on the days activities and when to do what.