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parrotsmama1940 wrote:Hi I was on my last thought with Sammie, The vet, after several visits had said she might get better and maybe not. She was shaking so much when we started using the sleeping cage, we have gone very slowly back to her 6' cage. Even for about a month she was on formula that she had been weaned on. When she start plucking around her neck I started the formula.She slept in her Big cage February 1st and every night since. I realize, Sammie's problem was/is unusual but she is my baby I brought home at 4wks and she is 12yo now. You can read about the stress with the hawk under Grey's. Peggy (parrotsmama1940)

WOW........I never thought she'd sleep in her cage ever again!! That's great Peggy!! But I bet you miss her sleeping with you in your room?!?! Waking you up talking to you!! I'm so proud of her!! She's back to being a big girl.
Gloria

Gloria, Sammie is a really big girl, sleeping in her big cage and saying new words today. She is showing off. Tellie has been showing off, too. I was bored the other day I was writing down what she was saying. Two day 25 minutes and 45 minutes FIFTY different saying/sentences, half of them she has heard from Sammie. I knew she was smart but didn't know how much. Hey, I sound like a proud mama. Her beak was going like a duck's butt.(old old saying) Did you see the parrot comercial from the Super Bowl.?? Talk at you later. Peggy

ljhassell wrote:How many of you have bought into the Vet saying- You need a sleeping cage for your bird? And do you buy into it-- Me personally and with people I work for and with- We chuckle, sorry but its funny.

While my own birds don't sleep in seperate cages, I wouldn't laugh about those who do. My daughters U2 has had his own sleeping cage for years now. It's upstairs in a spare bedroom and the little toot will walk himself up the stairs, to his cage and pull the door behind him. When he's tired, he's tired and he knows where his "bed" is. It was recommended by a vet when her bird was very young and shredding his own feathers. Problem solved. Coincidence? Possibly, but he now loves his "bed" and so the tradition carries on.[/b]

I am in a one bedroom apartment and I have sleeping cages for my birds. It has nothing to do with what anyone says vet or otherwise. It has to do with what is best for my birds. Just like I have a routine when I go to bed, so do my birds and I know they are getting dark, quiet uninterupted sleep. How would you like it if someone were walking around your bed all night or had the TV on all night. I can guarantee you in a couple of weeks you would be affected by it and not in a good way either. Even plants rest. And not all vets are created equal either. Some of them are quite knowledgeable when it comes to behavior. Some people don't get their birds vetted every year either, I do. I go for a physical every year so my birds don't deserve the same thing. Just because someone has a different opinion that yours, does not mean it's wrong. If you listen with an open mind to what others have to say about their birds and how they care for them, you just might learn something.

If you saw the x-rays of my goffin's respiratory system from being covered, you would never cover a powder down bird again. Those would include cockatiels, greys and cockatoos. I was lucky I didn't lose her.



Bev

GASP ! You mean covering their cages can give them respiratory problems? I NEVER would have thought of THAT. But it maks sense,now that I think about it.... all of that dust contained under a cover..sheesh. Just when you think you're doing the right thing for them, UP comes a reason that it's bad for them. I guess I imposed my own sense of comfort on them by covering their cages. It seemed cozier and more private and it seemed to keep the cage darker later in the morning when it gets so light, so early. Guess there is another management issue that I'll have to reconsider. THANKS !
Cheryl

ZazuSally wrote:If you saw the x-rays of my goffin's respiratory system from being covered, you would never cover a powder down bird again. Those would include cockatiels, greys and cockatoos. I was lucky I didn't lose her.
Bev

OH MY GOSH!!! But..............how am I going to keep them warm if I don't cover them? We turn our heat down to 62 at night and it gets mighty cold. They are never COMPLETELY covered..........I leave an open space at the bottom of the cage. Should I just not cover them anymore? I got one of those cuddle things for all of the birds......Annie chewed hers up, Twinkie and Pebbles use theirs. I AM SO CONFUSED!!! SOMEONE HELP ME!!

We do not cover- as we have 4 cockatoos, and never will. To me they dont stay any warmer covered than un-covered. We are going from wood to gas in birdroom so we can better regulate heat. There is always a pro- and a con. Im always open to learn and explore- but I do stay with what works. Guess its my rut.

Gloria, Take a breath, maybe Mike will let the temp. go up a little and maybe the birds don't need the temp as high as we do we stay about 70 degree year round. You know we had to keep checking the bird room after it was added. we do keep a temp.gauge, in the bird room. Peggy

Don't panic. Zazu was covered for 5 years. My vet wanted to send her to Guelph for an endoscopy. She had this awful, awful cough when I bought her from a university student. I had just lost a bird who ingested some plastic so I was terrified of having her knocked out. I asked the vet to give me some time. She gave me 6 months. I did not cover Zazu's cage and she screamed for hours so the compromise was this: Hepa filter running in the room where they sleep and I coverd the sides and back of her cage with a blanket. Front is completely open. My two greys do not get covered at all. There is also a warm mist humidifier running in that room. It was a storage closet, it is now the bird's bedroom.

If you e-mail me at home, I can send you pictures of what I clean off the Hepa filter in the sleeping room every week. I can also show you pictures of the dander in the bottom of the sleeping cage every week. And I will try to find Zazu's x-rays again and show you those. Once she was uncovered and a Hepa filter running, her "lungs and air sacs" cleared up and have been fine since then. That was 6 years ago. There are people who will say that this is not proven but I say this "you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that all that dander in an enclosed space is going somewhere and some of that some where is your bird's lungs.


Bev
beverley.penny@sympatico.ca

Gloriajean: Have you ever seen Gang-gangs playing in the snow in Australia? I have on TV. I couldn't believe it but there it was. They were having a blast. As long as your birds do not have a direct cold draft on them, they will be fine. That's what they have that down for. And if you are still worried, get those AviTech heating panels. Those are great. I use mine for Zazu after her bath because she is like a lump on a log and trust me, my apartment gets very cold because it is over the entrance and no insulation in the floor.

Wow, even with 4 Cockatoos, we have very little dust, heppas get cleanned 2x weekly and house hepa weekly cleaned. Cages daily as well as room gets wiped down daily. Vet says amazed at the low dust levels.

I have heard and read that most of these birds can take temperatures down into the 40's .. as long as it's not associated with a sharp wind. Now we all know that none of them will be exposed to that.. but many people keep birds outdoors, some all year. As long as the birds are acclamted to temperatures that WE wouldn't freeze in, I think it seems ok to leave them uncovered. My thermostat doesn't go above 65 and my birds don't ever seem uncomfortable. The temperature here in Michigan is hovering around zero, right now and it just seemed cozier to cover them. I definitely pull them away from windows when it's this cold but maybe the cover just over the backside of the cage would block any draft.
Cheryl

Cheryl, that sounds perfect- We have out heat set on 64 yr round. I do light gas logs to take chill off and when below freezing out. keep warm everyone- its a cold blast. We got a call from a client that couldnt understand why his wifes birds were dropping dead- 1 an hour- he was burning Kerosene- Big non-no- I cant stand that stuff, fumes killed all their birds love birds- cockatiels, amazon. So be careful what is used for heat.

Yup, some Toos are dustier than others. I've been covering Yogi for nearly eleven years - but only in the winter.

I used to wonder why some folks would talk about how very dusty their cockatoo was, cuz Yogi just wasn't ... until ... he got older. The first seven years were hardly dusty at all. But after that, he got dustier by the minute! hehehe I cover him with a light sheet, that he has placed strategic holes in at just the right spots. He's always liked to be under covers, and will even climb up under my sweatshirt when I'm watching TV....but I don't cover him in the warmer months.

Cami wrote:Yup, some Toos are dustier than others. I've been covering Yogi for nearly eleven years - but only in the winter.

I used to wonder why some folks would talk about how very dusty their cockatoo was, cuz Yogi just wasn't ... until ... he got older. The first seven years were hardly dusty at all. But after that, he got dustier by the minute! hehehe I cover him with a light sheet, that he has placed strategic holes in at just the right spots. He's always liked to be under covers, and will even climb up under my sweatshirt when I'm watching TV....but I don't cover him in the warmer months.

That is funny all our sheets have holes like swiss chesse, I have french doors and removed one and I place a sheet over that side- and the holes from protesters

Cami wrote:Yup, some Toos are dustier than others. I've been covering Yogi for nearly eleven years - but only in the winter.
I used to wonder why some folks would talk about how very dusty their cockatoo was, cuz Yogi just wasn't ... until ... he got older. The first seven years were hardly dusty at all. But after that, he got dustier by the minute! hehehe I cover him with a light sheet, that he has placed strategic holes in at just the right spots. He's always liked to be under covers, and will even climb up under my sweatshirt when I'm watching TV....but I don't cover him in the warmer months.

Annie doesn't have very much dander either. One time I went to a bird show and this ADORABLE cockatoo stepped up on my arm, looked me square in the eye and said "I'm itchy, will you scratch me?" and lifted it's wings to be scratched under them. Who could resist?? By the time I was done my red sweatshirt was completely white!! I can hold Annie all night (she won't let me but I'm saying IF she'd let me) there's barely anything on me.
And the holes in her cover sheet...........OMG!! She has them all over so she can see whatever she 'needs' to see. Pebbles too. But Twinkie-Dink has no holes in her cover.
Last night I only covered the back and sides of everyone..........no one was frozen solid this morning!! Annie DID wake up 1/2 hour earlier. Messed up my whole schedule!!
Gloria