GPL Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 (edited) Hi there, Please can somebody help me. I found a lost TAG about 4 weeks ago and despite being tame and clearly bonded with a human somewhere down the line, nobody claimed him. Whilst I was waiting for him to be claimed I had him in a spare cockatiel cage I had. Unfortunately the cage only had one small perch in it so it wasn't very comfortable. On the weekend I put him into a larger parrot cage. He is fine in the cage during the day but the time it comes for me to put him to bed, he gets very anxious and is clearly not happy. If I turn the lights off he flaps around so I have resorted to leaving the passage or bathroom light on for him. Although this stops the flapping and panic, it doesn't stop him from being nervous and anxious. He still paces, squarks and just doesn't settle. I have owned birds for quite some time now and have never had this problem before. I presently have a cockatiel and a CAG of my own and they both delight in going to bed so this is all new to me and I'm at my witts end. I have tried covering him, not covering him, moving from the lounge when it gets dark so that I don't have to turn the light on and save him from the sudden turning it off when it's dark. Even in this case, if it gets dark naturally and I haven't left another light on he starts flapping around until I turn one on. I have tried talking gently to him, tried ignoring him, tried distracting him - nothing is working. I live in a flat where my bedroom and lounge are right next door and have placed his cage about 2 metres from where my bed is so he can see me and hear me. He also ends up going to sleep 'frozen' on his perch and stays like this for until morning. It's sad and I would love to help him feel peaceful in his cage. During the day he is as right as rain. Has anyone got any suggestions for me? It concerns me that he is not getting a good night's sleep. Regards Gillian Edited February 19, 2013 by GPL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Welcome Gillian and bless you for trying to find this lost TAG's previous owners. I suspect while he was out in the wild and scary outdoors, he probably encountered some horrifying events like a cat, possum or other creature trying to make him dinner and of course scary noises. The dark is obviously a very scary place for him right now. Since you have a CAG of your own, you know how temperamental and paranoid a grey becomes when experiencing a change. This is a huge change and unfortunately you cannot possibly know how his previous home interacted with him at night and maybe even not caging him at night, which a few owners do. Turning that night source on for him and not covering the cage at night, is at least giving him a little reassurance by being able to see his surroundings. Only time, patience and love from you will overcome this and help mend his mental wounds from the outdoor experiences he encountered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Hi Gillian, have you tried a night light, like the ones used by parents of small children so that they aren't frightened at night or so that they can see down the hall in the night. I had one that automatically came on in the evening and went off in the daylight. I hope you find this sweet grey's home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPL Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 Thanks for your response. I don't know if a night light will be enough at this point because it may not be light enough to ease him - the passage light I leave on lets in quite a bit of light where he is - maybe when he's feeling more comfortable I will go with the night light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPL Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 Thanks for your reply. Although I still check websites everyday to see if anyone has posted a lost AG, I have given up much hope of finding his family for him . I left my particulars with all vets and other community centres/pet shops where one may report a lost bird where I live and followed up on fliers and lost pet adverts I came across and nothing. TAG's aren't as common as CAG's where I stay and all leads related to a lost CAG, not TAG. Poor chap and poor family who is missing him ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 hi there, where are you located, I do know of someone who lost their tag, but I don't know what part of the world you are in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPL Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 South Africa ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Thank you for the reply. You are doing a wonderful thing, your new addition must be so frightened..poor baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Hi there, Please can somebody help me. I found a lost TAG about 4 weeks ago and despite being tame and clearly bonded with a human somewhere down the line, nobody claimed him. Whilst I was waiting for him to be claimed I had him in a spare cockatiel cage I had. Unfortunately the cage only had one small perch in it so it wasn't very comfortable. On the weekend I put him into a larger parrot cage. He is fine in the cage during the day but the time it comes for me to put him to bed, he gets very anxious and is clearly not happy. If I turn the lights off he flaps around so I have resorted to leaving the passage or bathroom light on for him. Although this stops the flapping and panic, it doesn't stop him from being nervous and anxious. He still paces, squarks and just doesn't settle. I have owned birds for quite some time now and have never had this problem before. I presently have a cockatiel and a CAG of my own and they both delight in going to bed so this is all new to me and I'm at my witts end. I have tried covering him, not covering him, moving from the lounge when it gets dark so that I don't have to turn the light on and save him from the sudden turning it off when it's dark. Even in this case, if it gets dark naturally and I haven't left another light on he starts flapping around until I turn one on. I have tried talking gently to him, tried ignoring him, tried distracting him - nothing is working. I live in a flat where my bedroom and lounge are right next door and have placed his cage about 2 metres from where my bed is so he can see me and hear me. He also ends up going to sleep 'frozen' on his perch and stays like this for until morning. It's sad and I would love to help him feel peaceful in his cage. During the day he is as right as rain. Has anyone got any suggestions for me? It concerns me that he is not getting a good night's sleep. Regards Gillian A night light is a very good idea. Greys don't have good eye sight at night. It allows a grey to open the eyes and see things that will eventually become familiar. Some things you should understand about your new bird 1--you really don't know what life style or environment he was previously in. 2--he's obviously an adult bird that may be used to a routine that he doesn't have right now. 3--his cage may have been set up or positioned in a different way in the previous home. 4--he may have lived with one persson and now there's more people 5--you may be doing things too fast for him. He's an adult. They don't accept change quickly. 4 weeks isn't enough time to make judgements concerning behavior. Each thing you do to acclimate your bird should be given a while to succeed. The main thing that bothers you occurs at night time. The rest of the day, he's fine. If he has a night time sleeping/nervous problem, he needs time to accept a new habit. More than likely all of this is gonna take quite a while. I'll say it again---he's an adult. My personal feeling is no cover. Let him see that light. I really don't know what you mean by being frozen to his perch at night but I will tell you about the gemneral habits of many greys First, they find a certain place to sleep. Eventually, that perch becomes permanent place. He may leave that perch alone all day long but when night time comes he eyeballs that perch. Maybe there's even 2 perches. Second, a grey usully goes on that perch through the night and never leaves until the morning. Not every single bird will do this but the huge majority will. Through the night, the only time they leave that perch is when they accidently fall off while sleeping. After about 10 to 15 seconds they start climbing back up to the perch and continue sleeping. Maybe your other birds don't do this but they do have different habits. I believe you should do things slowly and start to accept the nervous things he does. He'll eventually relax. Don't try to correct things in a short amount of time. You'll fail if you do that. I don't know your room dimentions but you may eventually put you other grey near him. Greys learn to copy other greys. Whatever you do, take it slow and try to calm down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheckTheBarn Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Thanks for your response. I don't know if a night light will be enough at this point because it may not be light enough to ease him - the passage light I leave on lets in quite a bit of light where he is - maybe when he's feeling more comfortable I will go with the night light. I have a small 5 gallon fish tank with my betta in it that I leave the light on at night and it is in the sunroom with Loki's cage. I really think it has made him feel more comfortable being in a new and strange home at night. It is brighter than a night light, but not bright enough to bother him while he is trying to sleep. Besides, he seems to like to watch the fish swim around and the bubbles from the pump whenever he is awake as well. Just an idea, but I'm new to all this so............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 I do not cover my greys at night, I don't like to enclose them in the same air. Fresh and circulating is the best, in my opinion. Also, perhaps your grey would like it better where at least a couple/three of the sides were next to walls. It might make him feel more safe and protected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Good thought about the walls making him feel protected. What a difficult situation for you and the bird! Not knowing what environment he came from, what he is used to, his preferences etc. would make it tough for you and him. Bless you for taking care of him/her. Timber (TAG) has several indirect light sources and I don't cover him at night. It doesn't seem to disturb his sleep. My thought is, if your bird is more comfortable and sleeps OK with a light on, leave it on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPL Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 Thanks Dave. Your information is very useful and it's helpful to be reminded that these things take time and I must just be patient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acappella Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Another thought. Is it possible the light at night is casting a strange shadow? I'm glad this TAG found someone as experienced and caring as you, but I feel so bad for the poor baby and the family that's out there missing him. Hope he settles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPL Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 Thanks for everyone's help. I do appreciate it. We had a much better night. His cage is next to a wall and I decided to cover the top of the cage but left the front and the side where he sleeps open because I did notice that when he first walked into the new cage he looked anxious everytime he looked up and he doesn't venture to the highest perch often, preferring the mid (where he sleeps) and lower ones so I reckoned that he felt safer and not so exposed having a cover 'roof' on the cage. Also, when I removed his fresh flood bowl out of the cage before putting him to bed he walked onto my hand - although he has held my finger through the bars on the odd occasions he has never ventured onto me so to speak and I gave him a hand hug which he took to and was a lot calmer afterwards. I woke up at 2am to discover that our electricity in the area had gone out during the night so there he was sleeping in the dark without any problems. I went off to sleep with one eye open in case he woke up and panicked as I wouldn't have been able to just turn on a light to get him to stop flapping but all was well. I will however continue with leaving the passage light on until such time as he is ready for me to leave it off. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 What good news that he is initiating contact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingy Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 There are inexpensive battery operated emergency lights that go on when the power goes out. I have several of them in various locations to light my way and one by my guys cage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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