Is it ok to own a parrot and have an irregular sleep schedule?

[future]

As I've said in a previous post, I want a parrot in the future, but will unlikely own one for many years as I'm waiting to be in a time of my life where I feel suitable to own one.

As part of my research, I wanted to know if it's ok to have a parrot if you have an irregular sleep schedule. I don't know what my future work will have in terms of work hours, but if I have a choice in my sleep schedule I like to go to bed at around 5am and wake up late in the afternoon. But I've heard that many parrots wake up in the morning and go to bed around the time the sun sets.

Could their sleep schedule be adjusted to mine? Or would that be unhealthy for them?

 

[charmedbyekkie]

I wouldn't call it irregular (which makes me thing of polyphasic sleep or something less scheduled), but we've adjusted so our little guy sleeps from roughly from midnight to noon. Right now we're adjusting back to those hours, since my partner and I were overseas with an 15-hour time difference and Cairo was at a parrot boarding place with completely different sleep hours.

However, we chose the 12-12 way because I work officially 9-6pm, but it's culturally expected to overtime at least a little every day. So if I get home around 7 or 8 (or 9), I still have time with him (at least 3 hours). It's doable for us because my partner freelances from home, so he can wake Cairo up. And Cairo still gets a lot of sunlight.

That being said, on the weekends, we do tweak things slightly - we might put Cairo to sleep a bit earlier so that he can wake up earlier for his weekend flights. He's been ok with it, so long as he does get enough sleep time.

If you make sure they get enough sleep (12 hours), keep it relatively consistent, and give them enough sunlight, they are typically ok. That being said, it will be entirely dependent on the individual bird. Cairo, right now, is very agreeable about changes in his life. Some birds are very rigid in their schedule, and you will need to follow their schedule.

 

[noodles123]

12 hours of sleep at the same time each night-- you want bed-time and wake-up to be consistent but as long as the sleep it gets is dark/uninterrupted, you should be okay (in theory). That having been said, there is some importance to daylight but the use of bird-lighting is fairly controversial, so that is another can of worms.

 

[fiddlejen]

From your prior post I think you're looking for a somewhat larger breed but I'll just chime in about my own Sun Conure. My budgies seem to not care when they sleep or wake, but my Sun Conure sure does. She wants to go to sleep an hour before sunset, and if she had her choice I think she would love if I would wake with her an hour before Dawn. (Instead, I wake as early as I can, uncover her, and sleep in front of her.) I work second shift, and we make it work. I imagine with the help of artificial sunlight and blackout curtains, it MIGHT be possible to trick her into a different schedule... Or, it might not. She is seriously self-determined about her bedtime, and I think it might be species-specific. She's a Sun Conure. She's friendly and happy and loving... and she's determined to arise and settle a little Before the Sun.

If your true preference is to go to sleep at 5 am, then I recommend Not getting a Sun Conure.