Breaking the day routine

[paulo]

Hi

 

I have a CAG called Mojo - he is coming up for 2 years old and I have had him straight from the breeder at 16 weeks.

 

All has gone well, he has been bought up with lots of variety to avoid future fears, i.e. different cages, taken places we go, driven around in cars, exposure to lots of people, different sleep times, different rooms etc. So he is a pretty good well rounded parrot.

 

Ever since we have got him, we have the same routine Mon-Fri, get up, give him toast, fruit, top up the dried food and give him new water. He has a huge cage with rope swings, perches, lots of big toys and we leave a radio playing for him all day. I personally think he eats a lot of food, has a bit of a play and then sleeps for the majority of the day until we come home (I will soon prove this with the IP Cam I bought recently).

 

He really is a lovely bird that makes me laugh and we are always having strokes, teaching noises & talking to etc.

 

My concern is, on weekends (during the daytime) and on days we may be off work (holidays, sickness, working from home etc), he can be incredibly trying and you need to have the paitence of a saint not to blow up ! He'll scream and be incredibly noisy to the point of me going and sitting elsewhere in the house. But this only during the daytime....

 

Do you think that he has built up a pattern of not seeing us during the day & this is causing him annoyance when he does see us ? When he does see us during the day, he is almost saying "What the hell are you doing here ? This is my quiet time ! I'm meant to be asleep by now but you are stopping me !!". I know they have their very funny stuck-in-their-ways methods, but I know they are very social by nature & would have thought they would welcome unexpected people being present.

 

Other than this confusing behaviour he is a great bird with a very big appetite covering a huge variety of foods and comfortable with anybody after seeing them for about 15 mins. If anybody could share their guesses on this behaviour it would be very welcome.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Paul

[Luvparrots]

Hi Paul, welcome to the Grey Family! I do have one qustion, when you are home, does Mojo then spend the majority of the time out of his cage? My grey loves to be out of her cage when I am available. I guess we need to know the routine for when you are home all day to try and understand things a little more.

[Jayd]

Karma and welcome....Sounds like Mojo is a bird with his own mind. I agree with what Luvparrots wrote, it appears Mojo is set in his routine, how long has this been going on? Suggestion, try doing thing a little different on your days off. Keep us posted:) Jay

[paulo]

Hi guys - thx for the responses.

 

Mojo spends quite a lot of time in his cage, it is so big with lots of toys and he always seems to be happy in there. He comes out a few times each night for a stroke or a fly about, but I would say the majority of his time is spent in the cage. His cage is in the living room and we spend all our time in there with him. So he is always getting lots of attention from us.

 

We have been in and out of the house quite a lot today, and when we have returned on several occasions he has been fast asleep.

[Summerc25]

Hmmm I am not sure Paul but it may be that he is not getting enough time out of the cage. My bird is out as soon as I get home until bed time, and the only noise he makes is talking, whistles, etc. The other thing I want to ask you is this, are you making sure he gets a set amount of darkness at night? My avian vet said people often do not realize that they need light/dark. He said he has had a lot of clients come in and say their bird was screaming alot and he would find out that the bird was in a room that always had light and noise and was never getting a good night of rest. He said they have to have almost total darkness for sleep time each night. He may be trying to tell you something is wrong. Those are my only ideas. The only time I have ever literally heard my bird scream is when something frightened him. Now I will say this, when my 6 yr old nephew who is VERY loud was visiting, my bird picked up on some of his noises and sounds and was being MUCH louder than usual. That quit after a day or two though. I also leave the tv on for him all day so he has voices and sounds in addition to his toys.<br><br>Post edited by: Summerc25, at: 2010/01/10 01:31

[kittykittykitty]

Hi! Just my idea but I'm wondering if Mojo isn't telling you he wants to be with you when you are home. I understood you spend a lot of time with him in the evenings on work days. You might try more out of cage time to be with him more.

[Luvparrots]

I know you are asking about a grey, but I have an older rescued ekkie who if the lights are not out in the bird room by 7:00pm, he will literally scream his head off and my ears as well until I turn off the lights. He wants to be in the dark so he can sleep. He is normally a very quiet bird. But this is one thing that he insists on.

[ecodweeb]

My rule of thumb has always been: if I'm home their door is open.