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Sparky started sleeping on the floor of his cage shortly after we brought him home. He didn't look very comfortable so we got some fleece and cut it up to make blankets to pad the floor for him. He then started going under the blankets so we added a few more and taught him to go in between. He actually streches out and sort of lays down to sleep in between the blankets.

When we put a deposit down on Mika and were talking with Tammy at DJ Feathers, she couldn't believe the way Sparky slept and figured it was so strange that Mika would never go for it. When we brought her home, we also brought home a nice fleece padded tube like the one she and her sisters had been sleeping in. She has never slept in it. She slept on it once. But wanted so much to be near Sparky at night that we put them in together almost from the start. He showed her how to crawl in between the blankets and they have been snuggling that way every night since. Their bed is now a loft near the top of their enormous cage instead of the floor and they sometimes play up there during the day too.

Their cage is in the kitchen and the back is always covered to keep the wall behind it from being coverd with bits of berry or orange. When it is time for bed, somewhere between 7:30 and 9pm, we cover the top and sides of their cage and turn the light down low for them. We also pull the doors shut to block off the kitchen from the rest of the house and generally stay out of the kitchen after they are in bed. They will move a little and make tsk-ing noises if we come in for a glass of water or a snack but they don't really get up until morning around 8:30am. It is so cute when they come out from under the blankets all fluffy and ruffled.

That is so adorable - - Can you send us pictures?

When I first got my 2 baby white bellies, the little boy would kind of cry and I put a couple little hand towels on the big bath towels that padded their cage (in case they fell) and he buried right under it and went to sleep. It was so cute.

My sun conure with the crippled leg does the same thing. He sleeps in his birdie bunk at night but he doesn't have a grate in the bottom of his cage so I line it with newpaper and then paper towels. He likes to go under the towels. I'll say "where is scootie"? and he will peek out his little head.

sandy wrote:Sparky started sleeping on the floor of his cage shortly after we brought him home. He didn't look very comfortable so we got some fleece and cut it up to make blankets to pad the floor for him. He then started going under the blankets so we added a few more and taught him to go in between. He actually streches out and sort of lays down to sleep in between the blankets.

When we put a deposit down on Mika and were talking with Tammy at DJ Feathers, she couldn't believe the way Sparky slept and figured it was so strange that Mika would never go for it. When we brought her home, we also brought home a nice fleece padded tube like the one she and her sisters had been sleeping in. She has never slept in it. She slept on it once. But wanted so much to be near Sparky at night that we put them in together almost from the start. He showed her how to crawl in between the blankets and they have been snuggling that way every night since. Their bed is now a loft near the top of their enormous cage instead of the floor and they sometimes play up there during the day too.

Their cage is in the kitchen and the back is always covered to keep the wall behind it from being coverd with bits of berry or orange. When it is time for bed, somewhere between 7:30 and 9pm, we cover the top and sides of their cage and turn the light down low for them. We also pull the doors shut to block off the kitchen from the rest of the house and generally stay out of the kitchen after they are in bed. They will move a little and make tsk-ing noises if we come in for a glass of water or a snack but they don't really get up until morning around 8:30am. It is so cute when they come out from under the blankets all fluffy and ruffled.

Ooooh! They must be so cute!!! I would also love to see a picture!


Kate

Hi everyone. I was reading all your posts and was wondering if I was doing something wrong. Here is the thing… My husband and I come home after 6 pm so we let Skittles play till about 9pm. His cage is in the family room. After he is done playing he goes back to the cage and watches TV with us almost till 11:30 pm. If I cover him he will call out because he knows we are there. We get up early so sometimes he gets only 6 or 7 hours of sleep. Is it bad? It doesn’t seem to bother him; he is always in the good mood. Also he sleeps during the day when we are gone. Do you think he gets enough of rest? Thanks:)

6-7 hours per night really isn't enough and can lead to behaviour problems or plucking. Birds are supposed to get 10-12 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

I would suggest you get a sleeping cage (maybe you already have a carrier that your caique could sleep in?) and put the bird in a quiet dark room (cover his cage) when you are watching TV. If you don't have an extra bedroom, you can always move the carrier back to the living room when you go to bed...

If you are going to do this, start slowly - otherwise it will be a shock for Skitles. I woud increase his sleeping time by 1/2 hour each day and slowly get him up to 10 hours.


Kate

Here is a brief article I just received about exposure and privacy. Andrea


Remember to start giving cover for privacy to your birds in your cage and
or aviary just like in nature.

We are starting to understand how for some birds more than others the
stress of being too "exposed" is not natural and not at all like in nature and
can possibly in some birds more sensitive to this "exposure"
may be one of the clues leading to ....physical problems
Give him some cover when he wants to have no visual contact from time to
time like if he was up in the trees ...vets are starting to take a long hard
look at this as one of the reasons for some of the behaviors we are seeing from
captivity fall - out ...and look into this and knowing it is not natural
for them to be so often "exposed" like we have them in captivity. Think how
hard it is to see your bird in a tree..even a macaw ! In Kambali Bebas on
Seram island in Indonesia we would put up lots of ginger brances and banana
leaves and stalks and palms so that they could have shelter if they wanted privacy
and we made sure the large huge flight socialization aviaries ( last step
before a "soft" release) was just like the rainforest inside with places for
cover .

They are very cute when they cuddle up, but I don't know how I would get a picture of it. All you would see is a big lump of blankets.LOL!

Also, about Skittles, if he sleeps during the day and it doesn't seem to be affecting his mood, I'd say no problem. Do what works for you. There is a guy who puts together nice bottle brush play gyms who has an interesting writup on this and many other common parrot notions. His web site is http://www.bottlebrushstuff.com/index.html
I don't agree with everything he says but he provides an interesting persective.

I also would highly recomend the parrot university web site
http://theparrotuniversity.com/

Anyway, just my two cents.

Hey y'all


Our WBC Tex sleeps in his birdy buddy usually upside down or on his side. Its so cute cuz when we tell him "time for bed" he just hops over to his birdy buddy and crawls right in and rolls over.


We cover him every night to eliminate drafts and keep him warm.
Sometimes you can hear him crunching on something while he is inside the birdy buddy and we have found that Tex brings a snack of pellets with him to bed.

During the day when Tex is bored he will do what you described and sit on top of the birdy buddy to rest. Normally he will bring several toys with him and either tie them to the birdy buddy straps or lay them on top next to him.