12 hour sleep for birds

[Safamirza🤍]

Hello! I have a 2 year old male cockatiel named Kiko.

Today for the first time, he was showing hormonal behaviours by humping his bridge that he sleeps on at night

I did some research and found out that they should be kept in the dark for 12 hours a day. Kiko goes to sleep at 9:30PM and then my brother takes him out of his cage at around 7:30-8:00AM for breakfast and he comes back out at around 11:30-12:00PM. If we put him in a dark place from 9:30-10:30 then won’t he get hungry and wanna come out? How can he eat in the dark?

Thanks to any replies

 

[wrench13]

SO one can go with either the 12 hr on/off cycle or you can mirror the day/night cycle of your location, ie up/down with the Sun. More important is that the sleep time be quiet and as uninterrupted as possible. And that you have a schedule, parrots LOVE schedules and routines!! Predictability!

 

[hiriki]

Agreed with wrench13--I have lights on a timer in my bird nook, just one of those "dumb" timers (nothing on wifi, very cheap to buy if you wanted to do the same). Their lights are off for 12 hours every day (9PM-9AM). However, because I have flight cages and the tops are flat and covered with play surfaces for out of cage time, I don't cover my parrots at night. So, they have 12 hours of no ARTIFICIAL light daily, with a regular day/night cycle of natural light.

Regarding your current routine, I would say you don't necessarily need to keep Kiko in a pitch black location for 12 hrs, but you should probably extend the number of hours with no direct human contact. If he goes to bed at 9:30PM, I'd suggest not feeding breakfast until 9:30AM. You don't need to fully cover the cage, he can have enough natural light to snack on whatever dry food is in the cage while he waits for breakfast, but no talking to him or engaging with him until he's had his 12 hrs.

 

[tassanil]

Hi

I'm hopping into this thread, I’ve been doing the 12 hr cycle with Willy YHA and using a covering for his cage, but I am wondering if the covering should be darker or thick material. He also goes into a different room for the night, but it is not completely dark in there and I keep the bedroom door open. As Hiriki mentioned once he is "bedded" down for the night, I don't bother with him.

 

[texsize]

Hello! I have a 2 year old male cockatiel named Kiko.

Today for the first time, he was showing hormonal behaviours by humping his bridge that he sleeps on at night

I did some research and found out that they should be kept in the dark for 12 hours a day. Kiko goes to sleep at 9:30PM and then my brother takes him out of his cage at around 7:30-8:00AM for breakfast and he comes back out at around 11:30-12:00PM. If we put him in a dark place from 9:30-10:30 then won’t he get hungry and wanna come out? How can he eat in the dark?

Thanks to any replies

I would be very cautious about complete darkness.
cockatiels are subject to night fright and mine get scared easily, especially in darkness.

 

[texsize]

Hi

I'm hopping into this thread, I’ve been doing the 12 hr cycle with Willy YHA and using a covering for his cage, but I am wondering if the covering should be darker or thick material. He also goes into a different room for the night, but it is not completely dark in there and I keep the bedroom door open. As Hiriki mentioned once he is "bedded" down for the night, I don't bother with him.

All my Fids get covered at night but not completely.
about 75%.

it’s a bit of a catch 22.
You are supposed to keep your birds in the area you spend the most time in.
And then your supposed to put them to bed while you’re still up talking and watching tv or whatever.

our big birds are in the living room with us.
we cover them in the evening but leave an area open so they can see/participate with us if they want.
Bingo and Bella do pay attention.
Luna and Merlin mostly sleep after being covered.

If I was to cover Bingo/Bella completely I would feel bad and they would try to pull the covers off I know because THEY HAVE DONE It

 

[wrench13]

So also on sleep - quiet sleep time does not mean silent! Believe me, the jungle is anything but silent at night. Normal sounds they are used to - people walking about, maybe getting something from the fridge, making a drink, stuff they hear all the time does not count as noise. TV however, in my experience is too ....... irregular, uneven in sound levels and predictability, what with cop shows shooting bullets, sword movies with lots of clashing of, yes, swords and the grunting of an Anime shows. Salty in particular finds laugh tracks to be especially irritating. Not normal sounds and TV always has kept my parrots up, even when covered. But our house has an open floor plan kitchen/living/dining all one and thats where Saltys ( and Max before him) cage is.

When you look at your parrots sleep needs and how you meet them, remember each bird is unique unto itself and what works for Bob's bird may not work with Bill's. Know Thy Parrot, lest misfortune seek you out!

 

[Safamirza🤍]

I would be very cautious about complete darkness.
cockatiels are subject to night fright and mine get scared easily, especially in darkness.

So also on sleep - quiet sleep time does not mean silent! Believe me, the jungle is anything but silent at night. Normal sounds they are used to - people walking about, maybe getting something from the fridge, making a drink, stuff they hear all the time does not count as noise. TV however, in my experience is too ....... irregular, uneven in sound levels and predictability, what with cop shows shooting bullets, sword movies with lots of clashing of, yes, swords and the grunting of an Anime shows. Salty in particular finds laugh tracks to be especially irritating. Not normal sounds and TV always has kept my parrots up, even when covered. But our house has an open floor plan kitchen/living/dining all one and thats where Saltys ( and Max before him) cage is.

When you look at your parrots sleep needs and how you meet them, remember each bird is unique unto itself and what works for Bob's bird may not work with Bill's. Know Thy Parrot, lest misfortune seek you out!

I put him in my brothers room because it’s the darkest place in our house, with a small lamp on in a different room so its
Not pitch black. So far he’s not sleeping because he’s scared but I think he will sleep eventually. My other concern regarding his hormonal behaviour is that he’s only doing it on his bridge that he sleeps on. I didn’t let him go in his cage until bed time and as soon as he immediately went in he got on his bridge- but not to sleep.. so I turned the lights off and opened his lamp and he stopped. Main questions: 1. Do I even try to discourage this? 2. Do I take away his bridge? He doesn’t sleep without it at night! 3. Will stopping him from doing this make him do it on something else or make him frustrated/sick? 4. HOW LONG will this go on for!?!?

 

[texsize]

I put him in my brothers room because it’s the darkest place in our house, with a small lamp on in a different room so its
Not pitch black. So far he’s not sleeping because he’s scared but I think he will sleep eventually. My other concern regarding his hormonal behaviour is that he’s only doing it on his bridge that he sleeps on. I didn’t let him go in his cage until bed time and as soon as he immediately went in he got on his bridge- but not to sleep.. so I turned the lights off and opened his lamp and he stopped. Main questions: 1. Do I even try to discourage this? 2. Do I take away his bridge? He doesn’t sleep without it at night! 3. Will stopping him from doing this make him do it on something else or make him frustrated/sick? 4. HOW LONG will this go on for!?!?

From my experience cockatiels don’t have a breeding season like an Amazon or oh…. I don’t know most larger parrots.

they are what I call opportunistic breeders.
In the wild of Australia they can have several years of lean times and little water.
Under those circumstances they don’t breed.

When water and vegetation return they breed and breed and breed.

Us Loving humans give them a world of plenty.
and safety.

and so they want to breed.

thats my theory and I’m sticking to it.

 

[bill_e]

I solved the problem with a day and night cage. Day cage in the living room and the night in our library. I had gotten her pretty off schedule lately and it manifested itself in aggressive hormonal behavior. She's slowly getting better but I have to dim the lights in the living room to allow her to settle down before I can grab her for bed if she is out of the cage. I went for years following the schedule and had zero aggression and hormonal behavior but it actually got pretty bad over the last couple of months.

Her night cage is in a dark room where at most I'm on my computer and she has a black Cozy Cover for her cage and does not display any fright issues when putting it on or removing it as many birds do.

 

[hiriki]

I put him in my brothers room because it’s the darkest place in our house, with a small lamp on in a different room so its
Not pitch black. So far he’s not sleeping because he’s scared but I think he will sleep eventually. My other concern regarding his hormonal behaviour is that he’s only doing it on his bridge that he sleeps on. I didn’t let him go in his cage until bed time and as soon as he immediately went in he got on his bridge- but not to sleep.. so I turned the lights off and opened his lamp and he stopped. Main questions: 1. Do I even try to discourage this? 2. Do I take away his bridge? He doesn’t sleep without it at night! 3. Will stopping him from doing this make him do it on something else or make him frustrated/sick? 4. HOW LONG will this go on for!?!?

So just to clarify, he's using his sleep bridge for "naughty activities" (lol)? If that's the case....... I hate to say it, but you may need to remove that.

I had to remove my jenday's snuggle hut recently because after 10 years of sleeping in it nicely every night, she'd started shredding it to make a nest. When it comes to changing around sleeping arrangements, it's always trial and error. She was so upset at first, even though I gave her a safer sleep hut alternative (she ignored it)... she slept in her food bowl every night and it made me feel like garbage that I did that to her lol. I just kept trying new sleep surfaces, putting them in the last place in the cage where she'd slept, until I found a corrugated cardboard shelf that she likes. I don't think she likes it as much as her snuggle hut, but she's sleeping on it, and if she gets the urge to shred it's an appropriate material.

I think when you say he's not sleeping, you're probably helicopter parenting a bit, because there's really no way for you to know whether he's sleeping without watching him (unless you have a camera pointed at his cage so he doesn't know you're watching). Truly, you'll never find out if he's sleeping like that, because if you're in the room of course he won't sleep! Unless he's showing clear signs of distress, like having a night fright or flock calling for you, I think you need to close the door and leave him to it. He will sleep when he's tired.

 

[hiriki]

So also on sleep - quiet sleep time does not mean silent! Believe me, the jungle is anything but silent at night. Normal sounds they are used to - people walking about, maybe getting something from the fridge, making a drink, stuff they hear all the time does not count as noise. TV however, in my experience is too ....... irregular, uneven in sound levels and predictability, what with cop shows shooting bullets, sword movies with lots of clashing of, yes, swords and the grunting of an Anime shows. Salty in particular finds laugh tracks to be especially irritating. Not normal sounds and TV always has kept my parrots up, even when covered. But our house has an open floor plan kitchen/living/dining all one and thats where Saltys ( and Max before him) cage is.

When you look at your parrots sleep needs and how you meet them, remember each bird is unique unto itself and what works for Bob's bird may not work with Bill's. Know Thy Parrot, lest misfortune seek you out!

Agree 100% to this as well... we have a very small living space with a pretty open floor plan, so we pull a curtain around the birds at night to keep our artificial lighting from bothering them, but we do have to adjust our nighttime activities sometimes for them. Watching Youtube commentary videos has never really caused issues, but if we watch a movie and someone onscreen starts laughing, I hear my conure on the other side of the curtain start slowly laughing.... or my dove starts yelling at me to shut up...... lol........

 

[Safamirza🤍]

So just to clarify, he's using his sleep bridge for "naughty activities" (lol)? If that's the case....... I hate to say it, but you may need to remove that.

I had to remove my jenday's snuggle hut recently because after 10 years of sleeping in it nicely every night, she'd started shredding it to make a nest. When it comes to changing around sleeping arrangements, it's always trial and error. She was so upset at first, even though I gave her a safer sleep hut alternative (she ignored it)... she slept in her food bowl every night and it made me feel like garbage that I did that to her lol. I just kept trying new sleep surfaces, putting them in the last place in the cage where she'd slept, until I found a corrugated cardboard shelf that she likes. I don't think she likes it as much as her snuggle hut, but she's sleeping on it, and if she gets the urge to shred it's an appropriate material.

I think when you say he's not sleeping, you're probably helicopter parenting a bit, because there's really no way for you to know whether he's sleeping without watching him (unless you have a camera pointed at his cage so he doesn't know you're watching). Truly, you'll never find out if he's sleeping like that, because if you're in the room of course he won't sleep! Unless he's showing clear signs of distress, like having a night fright or flock calling for you, I think you need to close the door and leave him to it. He will sleep when he's tired.

So do I take away the bridge forever? He’s been using it since he was 2 months old :,( another thing: I don’t know if this is me being confused or thinking too much but I have this feeling that he’s only doing it on his bridge when there’s someone AROUND. When I come upstairs he starts to scream for me and I hear him making talking noises and I peek down the stairs to see him on his perch, but as soon as I go down he gets on his bridge- what if I take the bridge away and he uses something else

 

[hiriki]

So do I take away the bridge forever? He’s been using it since he was 2 months old :,( another thing: I don’t know if this is me being confused or thinking too much but I have this feeling that he’s only doing it on his bridge when there’s someone AROUND. When I come upstairs he starts to scream for me and I hear him making talking noises and I peek down the stairs to see him on his perch, but as soon as I go down he gets on his bridge- what if I take the bridge away and he uses something else

Hmm, well, I think this is a one-size-does-not-fit-all type scenario. In my experience with cockatiels, sometimes if I take a toy away after the bird identified it as a spicy toy for spicy activities, I can wait until their behavior and hormones even out and they've long forgotten their forbidden toy love, and then I can return it to them with no issues. But I have occasionally come across specific toys that my birds just always wanted to be naughty with. I've also come across toys that they wanted to be naughty with in one location, but if I moved them to a different place in the cage they would either lose interest entirely or play with them normally. Either way, if that bridge is a go-to for naughty things, you should remove it at least for now.

As far as him using something else goes, maybe he will. You could remove the bridge and completely rearrange the rest of the cage in one fell swoop to shake him up a bit and discourage that? In my specific experience, removing the toy was always pretty much the end of it for at least a couple of weeks, I have never personally had a bird swap their affections to a different toy immediately. It does sound like maybe his hormonal behavior is more directed at you than the toy, though, if he's flock calling for you and then starting the moment you enter the room, so maybe just reflect and make sure you're not triggering this? No petting his back or tummy, under the wings can also be a no-no zone for some birds, and if you feed him from your hands I'd do it from a flat palm and not by pinching the food between your fingers because you don't want to simulate feeding behaviors that mates engage in.

 

[SailBoat]

The goal with either sleep pattern is what works best for your Parrot.
With the larger Parrot getting it wrong can be dangers, especially with the Big Hot Three Amazons.

We train early when a new member joins our household. At first we will work with them to note the amount of Sunlight the evening provides and as the Sunsets, moving him or her to their sleeping area and settling in for the night. It does not take long before our Amazon will be pushing us to take him or her to sleep time. Wake-up for us is Sunrise and few Parrots have any difficulties!
Clearly, we are following the Sun Schedule!

Notice: With the ever increasing use of Daytime, LED Lights it becomes important to set them on dimmers as to follow the brightening morning and darkening evening. This is a critical part of setting their and our biological (internal) clock!! Do not screw-up the Biological clock as issues with being able to sleep is not recommended.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Oh, goodie, another chance to tell the Rickeybird's sleep-story!

I got him in 1984 when I was in college... I was old-school... natural dawn and sundown governed his schedule through some big windows.
And at least I could spend a lot of time with him during days.
Then there were were years (about 25 of them) when 5-6 days a week, I was gone at 7:30-ish and back at 6-ish.
Some did and will consider me wrong and think I should have re-homed him. My husband at that time detested the bird. My current ol' man tolerates him with good humor. No, the bird wasn't responsible for the first marriage's ending!
Anyway, here is what I think made it work.
I moved and got new jobs maybe 5 times or so. BUT...
Every morning, he had at least ten minutes, and every evening, he had 20 or so. I have always kept him on a natural light schedule, in a separate room, so sometimes those times together were in the dark. During the day, he had a big window looking out on something interesting, a television on one of his favorite channels (music channels, shopping channels), a biggg cage, lots of fun foods, and a few toys that I changed out regularly).
He KNEW he could count on those two crummy sessions a day. Somehow we both made it.
I'm now retired and times are good again. I do know I can't imagine life without him at this point.
Good luck to you in making a decision. You'll get lots of empathy and advice here.