Bedtime with Sonny has not been fun...

[shotz71]

Hello All:

We have had Sonny for almost 6 weeks now...and everything for the most part has been great. He's so sweet and loves coming out of his cage and hanging around with us for most of the day. He is rarely home alone, so he is rarely locked in his cage.

When we go to bed, he has a sleep cage in our bedroom. We put him in his cage just before we shut out the lights, and then we usually watch TV for about 30 minutes or so. He will just sit and cry and whimper until he falls asleep...maybe for 20 minutes. He was going up to his top perch and sleeping up there for the first week or so, but now he has been sleeping in the floor of the cage closest to us. My husband will stick his finger through the bars and Sonny will lean his head on it or nibble it as he whimpers. I have put a blanket on the floor where he sits so at least he has something soft to sleep on. He also has a low rope perch right above the blanket, a cozy corner up by his top perch and a Avian Haven Hut...(it's a fairly bog cage)

He eventually falls asleep and sleeps through the night, but that 20 minutes of crying is heartbreaking! Is this something he will grow out of eventually? Is there something else I should be doing...is the sleep cage in our room a bad idea?

Any advice would be appreciated!!

http://www.parrotforums.com/members/shotz71-albums-sonny-picture4430-sonny-boat.jpg

 

[dishgal1]

Try covering his cage. That should do it. Sometimes they just grumble when they go to bed. I wonder sometimes if they are telling us "It is bedtime, go to sleep". LOL

 

[shotz71]

I forgot to mention that we do cover his cage. We leave one side up for a few minutes and then we pull it down. He cries a little harder once we pull it down, but he eventually calms down.
I am just hoping that he will grow out of it or adjust to the routine...the crying is just heartbreaking!

 

[shotz71]

Maybe he's just telling us to turn off the TV! We usually listen to him

 

[dishgal1]

Maybe he's just telling us to turn off the TV! We usually listen to him

I think you are right. Our little GCC pretty much dictates to us as well. He sleeps in his big cage tho. He doesn't like a sleep cage. He has a happy hut which is really very snuggly and once I partially cover him he goes in the hut and then I put the rest of the cover on. Did you ever think you could become that attached to a bird?
He is only 6 weeks old and he will go thru a lot of stages. When mine was a few months old (he is now 13 months) he started biting very hard to the point I was very worried. I just started really watching his body language and I learned what he DID NOT like.........it took a while and he finally came around. Then he turned into the sweetest bird, still nippy at times but to be expected. You have to learn their likes and dislikes and he will go thru many stages just don't give up on him if and when this happens and you might have to bear the pain LOL. He will get thru it. I really thought I had made a mistake getting him at one point, but he just needed to mature and show his dominance I guess. These little guys certainly make your life interesting.
He does everything with us, eats with us, showers with me, types on the computer with me.....explains the typos sometimes, even takes a nap on my husband's head while he is napping. They definitely develop a routine and they don't accept change very well.

 

[dishgal1]

I'm sorry, I thought you said he was 6 weeks old, You have had him 6 weeks, do you know his age?

 

[Oedipussrex]

pickle has a sleep cage in my room and i don't think there is any problem with that except i think the clicking of my mouse sometimes wakes him, though i put him in the walk in robe if i'm going to be moving through my room too much after his bedtime.

Perhaps he just knows you're there, if you are within earshot/eyeshot of him (which i assume you are if he has oriented himself in the cage that way). and if you were super quiet or put him in another room he wouldn't cry as much if he didn't think you were there ignoring him...

I have often considered getting a baby monitor for pickle, this might help you see if being truly alone in the quiet helps him settle?.. pickle used to be in a spare room because there is never any traffic there, but dad turns off the heating in there to save power, so now its too cold.

 

[shotz71]

I'm Sorry...Sonny is 5 Months old, and he has been with us for 6 weeks...

He has brought so much joy to our lives in the short time that he has been with us, we just need to get our routines set. And NO, I never realized how attached you can get to a little bird, but it's impossible not to...he is so sweet, and I can't get enough of when he snuggles and naps with us!

We will see how it goes over the next few weeks, and maybe consider putting his sleep cage in a quieter room...

 

[AFP520]

IMO TV's will make too much light/sound for a conure to sleep.

I keep Lucy's cage in the living room corner with a nite-light and she never once makes a peep.

 

[ZoeS]

Yeah, turn the TV off or watch it in the living room and then go to bed. Bedtime should be dark, quiet time, where everyone goes to sleep (in the bird's mind, I mean). He knows you're awake and doesn't want to be alone if you are awake and could be interacting with him.

 

[terry52449]

Cameo likes her big cage to sleep in and once I cover her and turn off the lights she is as quiet as a mouse. She has a very quiet room my office to sleep in. Only problem is when I need to work late she will squawk at me to go to bed she`s tired.

 

[Bobioden]

Maxx has a Happy Hut, and he loves it. He climbs in it at 8p, and settles down for the night. I cover it a bit after that and I don't hear a peep out of him until 7 the next morning.

So the avian haven hut is just a cover for a perch? I would try a Happy Hut or something similar. They can actually crawl in and get good and cozy.

 

[Parrotmamma]

My TAG sleeps in my room and if we talk much at all at bedtime he will want out . They like it nice and quiet : ) If they think you are up they want to be with you ( kinda like kids) lol.

 

[shotz71]

Maxx has a Happy Hut, and he loves it. He climbs in it at 8p, and settles down for the night. I cover it a bit after that and I don't hear a peep out of him until 7 the next morning.

So the avian haven hut is just a cover for a perch? I would try a Happy Hut or something similar. They can actually crawl in and get good and cozy.

I have read mixed reviews about the Happy Hut. It looks so cozy, but I was concerned after reading how some folks think it can be dangerous...

I got the Avian Haven because Sonny likes anything that resembles a cave...he explores it, but doesn't sleep in it though. He liked his cozy corner for a while, but now he sleeps on the blanket on the floor...

 

[shotz71]

Thank you all for your replies! I think I will just make sure that when we go to bed, it's lights out and TV off...

 

[Bobioden]

Maxx has a Happy Hut, and he loves it. He climbs in it at 8p, and settles down for the night. I cover it a bit after that and I don't hear a peep out of him until 7 the next morning.

So the avian haven hut is just a cover for a perch? I would try a Happy Hut or something similar. They can actually crawl in and get good and cozy.

I have read mixed reviews about the Happy Hut. It looks so cozy, but I was concerned after reading how some folks think it can be dangerous...

I got the Avian Haven because Sonny likes anything that resembles a cave...he explores it, but doesn't sleep in it though. He liked his cozy corner for a while, but now he sleeps on the blanket on the floor...

I check it every week or so, and have NEVER see a loose thread. He never picks at it, just goes in it to nap and to bed.

 

[dishgal1]

No problem with mine either. They are so snuggly......I have the small one and makes him feel secure.

 

[shotz71]

I just wanted to share that I stopped at Petsmart on the way home from work last night and picked up a Happy Hut...

When we went to bed last night, he was snuggled up to it...not too much crying.

He climbed into it at some point over night, and we have had the quietest night (and latest wake up time) so far...when he started chirping this morning, we looked in and he was snuggled up.

Thank you all for your advice!

 

[dishgal1]

That is great. For some reasons conures love those things. Once mine goes in he doesn't come out til morning. Of course my bird isn't very destructive at all. Some of the larger birds are probably more likely to chew them up. Mine never messes with it at all just sleeps in it.

 

[Bobioden]

I am so glad you got one, and he is using it. Maxx will not sleep without his. Check along the insides for any loose strings. Like I said, I have never seen one in either of Maxx's huts. He uses them to nap and sleep and never picks at it.