nite time

[soniagrey]

is it necesarry to cover the timnehs cage at nite? the previous owners srongly suggested that we make her bed time between 8/9 o'clock. my wife and i have been doing such but we miss her when she is covered. she is in the LR, where we spend a lot of time, esp after we cover the cage. we hear her playing in the cage and want to experience that firsthand.

 

one other thing, whats the word with sandpaper perches? we have th perches that came with the cage and we see her rubbing her beak on it. should we get her one or no?

 

i am so loving this site:woohoo:

[CeasarsDad]

Ceasar goes to bed when we do.. That would be around 11 or 12. We never covered ceasar and I have no problems. Ceasar's cage is in our Den. We often watch TV until very late hours.. If you look over at ceasar his head is tucked under his wing and he is fast asleep.. Even with noise in the room. Some say Greys need 12 hours of un-interuppted sleep. I don't know about that as Ceasar has never gotten that in all the time we have him. He is bright and fresh in the morning and ready to play and talk all day long. He does take a nap in the afternoons.

 

We also often don't close the cage at all. Ceasar will play around and when tired he will retreat to his sleeping perch and go to sleep.

 

Regarding sand perches. A vet told me not to use them because they cause callouses on their feet.. You are much better off using large natural wooden perches so his nails are dulled naturally. If you get the proper sized purches you won't have too much trouble.<br><br>Post edited by: CeasarsDad, at: 2007/05/12 06:48

[Guest Monique]

We cover our birds' cages at night. It allows them to have dark, quiet, and more peacefulness when we are up later. We usually put our birds to bed at around 9 p.m. And I go to bed about 10 p.m. If I stayed up later I would let my birds stay up later, too.

 

We do have some textured perches and they help the beak and nails stay trimmed. They are not the only perch in the cage so the birds do not have to stay on them all day which could cause them to have sore feet possibly.

[Guest]

We cover our bird cages at night (but we don't have greys but lovebirds) -

until..........

they got their little 'home' - which consists out of a wooden 'nest' kind of thing hanging on the cage.

 

Since then they just "disappear" sort of into that little bed and are not bothered by light or darkness

 

Isn't there something like that for sale for greys as well?

[Talon]

We put alon to bed around 9-9:15. We also cover the cage as she sleeps in my son's room and he's up all hours using his computer. Talon will not sleep if there is any noise, sh'e a very light sleeper. (My son uses headphones at night)

She also sleeps in a fleece hut. She climbs in when we tell her it's time for nite-nites and rests her head on the side and sleeps most the nite. She doesn't seem to eat or drink or play at nite. We uncover her cage at 9 in the am. She rarely takes a nap. Did when she was younger, but not now.

[Guest Monique]

They do make little cloth huts or you can put boxes in, too. I've seen some people not recommend this due to it relating to a nest and possible encouraging nesting or sexual behavior in the mature adult. I don't know if that is myth or fact, though. Isaac has a "cozy" in his sleeping cage which is basically a little cloth piece that ties to the side of the cage that can be slept beside and is sort of like a standing up blanket. I haven't witnessed Isaac use it yet. The other birds do not have one right now.

[Guest]

I see. Well, ok. With Greys that would -if the myth is true- not be a solution then. With lovebirds there is no such problem - because... well.. because anyway, you know: they're lovebirds :blush:

[Caspersmum]

I'm getting the feeling from reading all of the above that it's all just a matter of finding what suits your lifestyle and your bird. I was told the same thing as Sonia when I first got Casper - that he goes to bed at 8 every night. He now stays up with me until 10, and when I put him to bed I cover his cage (he has his own room, so he's not distrubed once he's in there). He seems completely happy - I think you just need to find what works best for you and your bird,

 

Julia

[Talon]

I agree with Caspersmun. do what works best for you & your grey.

[Guest briansmum]

my other half and i generally stay up late, 11 or 12 ish and although brian has no problem falling asleep with the TV on, i cover him up when we go to bed as his cage is in the living room which has light curtains and i don't want him up at the crack of dawn! by 8am he's wide awake, cherpy and ready to go

[judygram]

I put Josey to bed at around 9:30 or so and I cover her with a black sheet. You don't hear a peep out of her until morning.

[karena899]

We do not cover our Timneh, Buzz, at night because it upsets him especially if he knows that we are still up and that he might be missing out on something real good. My hubby and I usually go to bed at 11 or 12 but before then we will turn all the lights off in the house and just be watching TV. Thus Buzz gets a little light from it but still can sleep if he wants....usually he sleeps. In the morning we do not hear a peep out of him until we are both out of bed. He's a good boy

[matt314159]

Hey everyone, I'm new here, but I thought I'd pitch in my two cents right off the bat.

 

our 18 month old CAG, Ponti, has her own little "sleep cage" that she goes in at night. Ponti had previously had a broken leg and she now has one foot that has been sort of "gimped out"...it doesnt grab too well, and she is sort of prone to falling off her perches during the day. Assuming that it would only be worse at night, we started putting her in a travel cage (maybe 24" x 18" x 18") with towels on the ground and a single rope perch that is only about 2" off the floor of that cage.

 

Around 8 o'clock every night is "snuggle time" which she really looks forward to. As soon as the sun starts to go down, ponti starts saying things like "are you ready to go beddie-by" or "8 o'clock is beddie-by time for little baby birdies" or any mutation of either...we sit down in the recliner together, I have a basket of her favorite toys in my lap, and we watch tv together until 9 or 9:15. She will stand on the edge of her basket and play with toys, or sometimes, just sit there and let me scratch her head for the entire time.

 

Then, about 9:15 or so, we put her in the travel cage, take her into the bedroom, cover her, and turn off the light. she goes right to sleep. our house has some interesting sleep schedules...my dad gets home around 11:30pm from work, and doesnt go to bed until about 1 am, which is usually around the time I go to bed as well. if we were to leave her in the living room, she'd never get the sleep she needs.

 

Then about 6 or 6:30 am, she peeks out from undeneath the towel and starts saying things like "gooooood morning!" or "I seeeee youuuuu". She starts soft, and then gets progressively louder until she wakes one of us up and we take her into her big cage for the day. She's chipper and excited for another day. It's almost disgusting how happy she is for morning to be here. I've never seen anything that was such a "morning person (bird)"

 

Post edited by: matt314159, at: 2007/06/16 04:43<br><br>Post edited by: matt314159, at: 2007/06/16 04:44

[Tari]

I don't cover my TAG at night. We are in bed by 10 or at least not in the living room by then. I am up between 5 and 6. She is usally up and about by then.

She is so far fine with this pattern. No bad habits or phobia's.

I dont cover any of my parrots. Except my finches have one side covered I tend to keep the bedroom they are in cooler then the rest of the house so cover one side so they can get out of the air.

[greylover]

I cover my african grey up,but now it is really hot hear in spain. so i dont put the cover on.But if you have ever been to spain there a these blind's and you carnt see a thing when you put them down.So i put them down in the spear room and he can go sleep and he does like a log.

[Talon]

Talon has a sleep cage as well. We do cover her at nite as she sleeps in my son's room and he is on the computer until the wee hours of the am.

[judygram]

Josey sleeps in the same cage as she lives in but I do have a travel cage that I use some for taking her outside or with me to work and such.:cheer:

[Guest briansmum]

brian sleeps in his main cage, which i cover (leave the side against the wall uncovered for ventilation) and as he is allowed in and out of his cage as he pleases he has started taking himself off to bed about 9pm he will sit there and babble and doze until i cover him and turn out the lights, he's then as quiet as a mouse until morning.

[LunaBaby]

I had always read that it was good to cover them but I'm guessing it really does depend on the bird and the living situation. The breeder I got Luna from didn't cover her so when I brought her home and tried to cover her she was scared. I assumed it would take some time so I 'half' cover her cage, leaving the front exposed. I want to work up to covering her only because I wake up really early for work and I get the 'blinkity blink' of a sleepy bird when the lights come on. I feel bad

[Talon]

I think what your doing is a good way to wean them into it. We cover Talon as we have the same issue. We have covered her in the beginning as well. She's fine with it now.

[judygram]

As long as the cover is on her cage you don't hear anything out of her. I've covered her from day one and it has never been an issue.