Chrissy's night fright

[ParrotLover2001]

I woke up last night due to an ear infection in my right ear, I thought I could hear one of my birds flying around the cage, but when I got up out of bed I couldn't hear it anymore so I thought I was just hearing things since I can currently only hear out of my left ear. This morning I uncovered the cage and found out that Chrissy had lost his flight feathers and a few other feathers, it was clear that he had a night fright last night, but I would think his night fright would trigger Elvis and Opal, but other than missing feathers and a broken tail feather Chrissy is ok. The food dishes had been knocked over, water was all over the bottom of the cage. Since my birds aren't in my bedroom anymore I can't always hear them when they have night frights, especially since I have a fear of open doors when it's dark out, so I keep my bedroom doors closed, meaning even less of a chance of my hearing the birds at night.
I've never had a budgie who had night frights before, and Chrissy and Opal are the first budgies I've had that's been covered at night. I don't understand why he had a night fright.


"No one is 'the boss' in true companionship"


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[AmyMyBlueFront]

A bad dream..a noise..shadow..it happens.



Jim

 

[LeaKP]

Sorry, it's so frightening to find that. Hope everyone's ok.

 

[Scott]

Glad there is no severe or permanent damage!

I wonder what causes some species to have night frights while others are more calm and choose not to react. Do avian specialists know whether birds dream?

 

[EllenD]

All his flight feathers and his tail fell out?

"Dance like nobody's watching..."

 

[ParrotLover2001]

All his flight feathers and his tail fell out?

"Dance like nobody's watching..."

His flight feathers and some body feathers came out, along with a couple of the smaller tail feathers. most of his tail is still there but he broke one.


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[BirdSquawk]

Jack occasionally falls off his perch during the night, but has never had a terror. If it happens again I would maybe consider a dim night light so he can see where he is and not feel lost in a dark cage.

 

[Teddscau]

Fudge, I thought you were talking about your cockatiel there for a second. It's amazing cockatiels aren't endangered, given the frequent, often violent night frights they have. Night frights are far less common with budgies, but they still happen. Before moving everyone to the aviary the basement, I'd sometimes wake up in the night to the sound of banging and crashing, and I'd rush down the stairs to the living room and turn on the lights and sit with them until everyone was back in their sleeping positions.

What really helped them was nightlights. A couple years ago, Samantha completely lost her night vision (not that parrots are known for their ability to see at night), so she became afraid of the dark and was scared to sleep at night. She'd go over to the side of the cage to see me, crying. She was clearly telling me something was upsetting her and she wanted me to fix it (she's one of the smartest budgies you'll ever meet. I doubt any of my other budgies would actually try to communicate with me when they need help. Maybe it's because she's so old that she's this smart?). Anyways, it took me a while, but I finally figured out she couldn't see anymore at night, and needed a nightlight to feel safe. After I put some nightlights in the room, she quit crying and wasn't afraid to go to sleep anymore. However, one of the nightlights was a piece of garbage and kept going out, so she'd start crying when I went in to get them ready for bed to tell me it was too dark :3. So cute!

Anyways, I'd recommend a nightlight by each cage. If someone's startled in the night, they're able to see and get their bearings, rather than crashing around, smacking each other in the face. Another issue that can cause nightfrights is if someone wakes up in the night and decides they want to climb/fly to a different perch. The restless bird knows what's happening, but their cagemate freaks out, thinking there's a monster sneaking around in the cage. With a nightlight, they can see it's another parrot (they don't necessarily know who it is since it's dark), and they just tell them off rather than going into a panic.

I have ten birds living in an indoor aviary together, and we haven't had any problems thanks to their nice bright nightlight. If it weren't for the nightlight, I'd imagine their aviary would be a bloody mess. Especially when the kākāriki decide to do laps around the cage while everyone's sleeping.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Fudge, I thought you were talking about your cockatiel there for a second. It's amazing cockatiels aren't endangered, given the frequent, often violent night frights they have. Night frights are far less common with budgies, but they still happen. Before moving everyone to the aviary the basement, I'd sometimes wake up in the night to the sound of banging and crashing, and I'd rush down the stairs to the living room and turn on the lights and sit with them until everyone was back in their sleeping positions.

What really helped them was nightlights. A couple years ago, Samantha completely lost her night vision (not that parrots are known for their ability to see at night), so she became afraid of the dark and was scared to sleep at night. She'd go over to the side of the cage to see me, crying. She was clearly telling me something was upsetting her and she wanted me to fix it (she's one of the smartest budgies you'll ever meet. I doubt any of my other budgies would actually try to communicate with me when they need help. Maybe it's because she's so old that she's this smart?). Anyways, it took me a while, but I finally figured out she couldn't see anymore at night, and needed a nightlight to feel safe. After I put some nightlights in the room, she quit crying and wasn't afraid to go to sleep anymore. However, one of the nightlights was a piece of garbage and kept going out, so she'd start crying when I went in to get them ready for bed to tell me it was too dark :3. So cute!

Anyways, I'd recommend a nightlight by each cage. If someone's startled in the night, they're able to see and get their bearings, rather than crashing around, smacking each other in the face. Another issue that can cause nightfrights is if someone wakes up in the night and decides they want to climb/fly to a different perch. The restless bird knows what's happening, but their cagemate freaks out, thinking there's a monster sneaking around in the cage. With a nightlight, they can see it's another parrot (they don't necessarily know who it is since it's dark), and they just tell them off rather than going into a panic.

I have ten birds living in an indoor aviary together, and we haven't had any problems thanks to their nice bright nightlight. If it weren't for the nightlight, I'd imagine their aviary would be a bloody mess. Especially when the kākāriki decide to do laps around the cage while everyone's sleeping.

Samantha sounds like an amazing little budgie
Gosh they certainly are adorable little beings.

Jim