Afraid of normal objects, and the dark

[wildmike556]

Recently I've noticed that my 10 year old grey Rascal seems to be nervous about certain everyday objects, especially at night. Most of the time if I get up during the night I notice that she is just staring into the dark and not sleeping - even if I don't turn on the lights and hardly make any noise.

 

The other night I got up and saw her sitting with her head down and wide eyed. I took her out and she was tense, and when I put my ear to her I could hear her heart was beating quite fast. So I talked to her and walked her around the room, and when we passed a piece of computer equipment with blinking lights she freaked out - flapping around in a fright. I turned on some lights in that room and tried to show her that there was nothing to be scared of, but whenever I took her near there she would still lean away from it and act very nervous.

 

This morning I heard a noise that was probably her bumping into a toy and being startled. I got up to make sure she didn't fall down, and again she was sitting wide eyed, but not looking at any of the toys. I took her out again and this time found she was scared of the lamp I have attached to her cage - something that's been there for months with no problems.

 

Rascal is usually a very calm bird, and generally shows a lot of trust and love to me. However, there are times when she shows totally irrational fear for household objects - and sometimes gets even more scared if I pick them up to try to show her they're harmless. She's totally scared of the lint filter from my clothes dryer, and she fluffs up and shows a defensive posture upon even seeing it from across the room. These are things she's never had an accident with, and I have not used them to tease her in any way.

 

Has anyone had experience with their bird being afraid of odd things, and is there anything I can do about it? I can keep some things away from her, but that's obviously not practical for everything. Plus, I don't want to reinforce any phobic behavior.

 

Thanks!

[dblhelix]

Hi,

 

The first question I would start with is the obvious...is there is ANYTHING new in the room where Rascal's cage is? Anything, plants, lights, computers, chairs, pictures, etc. Anything that emits a high frequency noise or IR light? It sounds like you are doing the right things, showing Rascal there is nothing to be afraid of etc. Some are just more phobic, but from your description I am suspicious that something in the envt it producing this effect.

[wildmike556]

I haven't added anything new to the room,nor has there been any real change to routine/people/toys, etc. The things she seems to be reacting to (The computer and the lamp) are things that she's seen and been near ever since I got her a little over 6 months ago.

 

I suppose it's possible that she's been afraid of these things for some time and I'm just now getting to know her well enough to pick up when she's afraid just by looking at her. Occasionally when I get up during the night I will intentionally leave the lights off and get out of bed very quietly to see if I can catch her sleeping, and she's always awake. On the other hand, she sometimes likes to tuck her head into her back feathers and have a nap when she's sitting on my shoulder with the TV and all the lights on and she sleeps right through it.

 

If this continues I might try putting her in her travel cage to sleep and put a cover over it so she can't see anything. Right now I leave her in her large cage in the dining room where there's a nightlight so it's not totally dark. There should be no moving shadows though because I live alone and have no other pets, nor do car headlights shine on my apartment where it's located.

 

If I do put her in the smaller cage, should I put it in my bedroom where she can be closer to me, or would she be better off on the other side of the apartment where she won't hear me at all?

[slmclean]

do you cover her up at night?

[wildmike556]

I have not been covering her, but as I said in my previous post (kind of buried in there) I'm considering trying it.

[judygram]

I know there is some controversy on this subject but I would try covering her at night and do not check on her during the night, that might be disturbing her too. If you do put her into a travel cage for sleeping don't put her into your room, your moving about in bed might interrupt her sleep.:dry:

[Tycos_mom]

My birds Tyco and Fergie both sleep In m room I find it comforts them to know I'm close by. My moving around at night does not disturb them at all I tried putting them in another room and found they would get night frights at least once a week since I moved them into my room to sleep the very rarely have them I think because they know I'm close and nothing bad is going to happen to them. Its up to you to make that desion if you feel she might feel safer closer to you at night then I wouldn't hesitate on putting her in your room with you

 

[Talon]

I cover Talon up at night, and she sleeps in my room where I can be quite noisy at times. She does fine.

SHe does have a sleep hut that she LOVES!!

I think like us, they like the security that a little privacy can give you. It's a comfort to feel safe when you sleep, and being out in the open to me, is not comforting. I use a large navy blue sheet that I leave a little opening on the sides, so she still has some light if needed.

I would try covering her, but do so gently at first. I never take the cover completely off, I just lift the top up onto the top of her cage, and at night after she is in her cage, gently lower it down as I am talking to her and telling her Good night!

It will take some adjusting on her part as well if she is not used to being covered.

[M2MM]

Our birds all have small sleep cages in our bedroom. They seem to be much happier there, knowing we are nearby and ready the "rescue" them if they get scared. They are also completely covered up with a nice thick blanket each to cut out all light. The only "upset" we've had since doing this was our rescued parrotlet's first week of getting used to this arrangement. When we came to bed that first night, he alarm called until we uncovered the front of his cage and told him everything was okay, and not to worry, it was only us coming to bed. Nothing has happened since.

 

I'm a light sleeper, and have heard them moving about a bit, scratching, and ruffling feathers, but no other upsets since that one night.

[Anmlhggr]

I'm unsure of the objects, but my Grey - Woody - I keep him covered at night and he has done fine so far. He is located in my kitchen/dining room area, not the bedroom.

[wildmike556]

I have been putting a sheet over her cage for the past couple of nights and haven't seen any sign of Rascal having a problem with it. Of course now I can't see her and find out if she's sleeping or staring off into the darkness the whole time, but what are you doing to do... She at least seems happy to see me when I take the cover off in the morning.

 

I'll see if this helps long term. Thanks for the advice everyone!

[danmcq]

It's good to hear the cover may be the solution to the scary nights.

 

Most Greys are VERY fearful of anything new that they don't recognize. If I walk by mine with a Ladder, tape measure or anything else for that matter and get within 3 or 4 feet of Dayo, he will fluff up and scream. Even adding or moving something will disturb their security for a while. They seem to like things in there place and no change for the most part. My wife dyed her hair just a shade darker and Dayo stared at her for the longest time. He was still friendly and was cuddling with her that evening. But, this just illustrates how much attention to details they pay.

 

It could also be the change in seasons that have set off the night frights with Rascal uncovered. Evening s are not cloudy now and if their are windows allowing moonlight etc. in the area Rascal is kept in. There could be very strange shadows he seeing and items do take on a little different appearance in the dark. Car lights etc could also be shining through the windows at night sending Alarms to Rascal.

 

We have always covered Parrots and other Birds. They seem to enjoy the perceived security of a covering with no monsters peering in at them while they are trying to sleep. :-)