Lovebird falling off his perch

Riot

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Jan 2, 2023
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Lovebird
My lovebird Mango falls off his perch at night when he is trying to go to sleep. I am 100% sure this is not ataxia as during the day he has no problem sitting on the perch, flying, running or climbing the bars. When he tries to go to sleep he ends up drifting to one side and ultimately falling down. I have managed to record a video of him a while ago where he does what I mentioned above. I have no ideea what this could mean or if there is anything I can do about it. It has gotten way too frequent for me to not worry. He used to sleep on top of the dresser in my room but now he doesn't want to anymore and I don't know why either. If he were to sleep up there he wouldn't fall.
Avian vets are not a sollution as the only exotic birds veterinarian in my country is hundreds of kilometers away. (I couldn't send the entire video because the file was too big)
 

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My lovebird Mango falls off his perch at night when he is trying to go to sleep. I am 100% sure this is not ataxia as during the day he has no problem sitting on the perch, flying, running or climbing the bars. When he tries to go to sleep he ends up drifting to one side and ultimately falling down. I have managed to record a video of him a while ago where he does what I mentioned above. I have no ideea what this could mean or if there is anything I can do about it. It has gotten way too frequent for me to not worry. He used to sleep on top of the dresser in my room but now he doesn't want to anymore and I don't know why either. If he were to sleep up there he wouldn't fall.
Avian vets are not a sollution as the only exotic birds veterinarian in my country is hundreds of kilometers away. (I couldn't send the entire video because the file was too big)
Do you think he would like a wood platform perch to sleep on? They make triangles for corners and rectangles for sides. You could even mount a wood rectangle shaped one right below his favorite sleeping perch so if he tilts over he won't land on the cage floor.
 
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Do you think he would like a wood platform perch to sleep on? They make triangles for corners and rectangles for sides. You could even mount a wood rectangle shaped one right below his favorite sleeping perch so if he tilts over he won't land on the cage floor.
I believe he won't like it but I'll still buy one. I saw a model that is 19x19 cms. Was a triangle shaped one you put in the corner. I might have to order it online though as I have not seen it in my local pet shops before.
 
I believe he won't like it but I'll still buy one. I saw a model that is 19x19 cms. Was a triangle shaped one you put in the corner. I might have to order it online though as I have not seen it in my local pet shops before.
I think the first goal is to prevent him from falling to the bottom of the cage and risking injury he does. You know your bird best. If you don't think he will actually use it (perch directly on it and sleep) try mounting one about two inches directly below his favorite sleeping perch so when he does fall he only drops a couple inches. It would need to be large enough to catch him, so 19x19 cm may be too small. Once he gets used to having a platform in his cage, he may decide it's a great place to get a good night's sleep.
 
Is he still a baby? My budgies babies couldn't sleep on a perch for ages and they'd have to sleep in a box on the floor. I ended up getting them a hammock-like swing which they liked sleeping on once they decided they wanted to sleep up high. Now they're fine sleeping on a perch.

I agree with everyone else that says about getting a platform for him to sleep on instead of a perch. Try and make it the highest place in the cage so he wants to sleep there. I got a platform for my conures to sleep together on but they prefer a perch for some reason so be prepared in case he doesn't want to sleep on it. Is there a way you can put some kind of hammock below his perch so that it will catch him if he does fall?
 
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Is he still a baby? My budgies babies couldn't sleep on a perch for ages and they'd have to sleep in a box on the floor. I ended up getting them a hammock-like swing which they liked sleeping on once they decided they wanted to sleep up high. Now they're fine sleeping on a perch.

I agree with everyone else that says about getting a platform for him to sleep on instead of a perch. Try and make it the highest place in the cage so he wants to sleep there. I got a platform for my conures to sleep together on but they prefer a perch for some reason so be prepared in case he doesn't want to sleep on it. Is there a way you can put some kind of hammock below his perch so that it will catch him if he does fall?
I ended up making him a diy platform out of a pictures frame. He likes to sit on it during the day and he ended up falling asleep a couple of times too but when it's night he sleeps on the bottom of his cage. The bottom has a layer of wood flakes so maybe it's more comfortable? The platform is at the highest level of the cage too. Maybe he just needs a little more time to figure out he can sleep there?
 
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Is he still a baby? My budgies babies couldn't sleep on a perch for ages and they'd have to sleep in a box on the floor. I ended up getting them a hammock-like swing which they liked sleeping on once they decided they wanted to sleep up high. Now they're fine sleeping on a perch.

I agree with everyone else that says about getting a platform for him to sleep on instead of a perch. Try and make it the highest place in the cage so he wants to sleep there. I got a platform for my conures to sleep together on but they prefer a perch for some reason so be prepared in case he doesn't want to sleep on it. Is there a way you can put some kind of hammock below his perch so that it will catch him if he does fall?
Forgot to mention but he is not a baby. He is surely over a year old as I could tell his gender via his bones
 
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I think the first goal is to prevent him from falling to the bottom of the cage and risking injury he does. You know your bird best. If you don't think he will actually use it (perch directly on it and sleep) try mounting one about two inches directly below his favorite sleeping perch so when he does fall he only drops a couple inches. It would need to be large enough to catch him, so 19x19 cm may be too small. Once he gets used to having a platform in his cage, he may decide it's a great place to get a good night's sleep.
Ended up making one myself. He did sit on it during the day and even ended up falling asleep a couple of times but during the night he doesn't sleep there for some reason. He sleeps on the layer of wood flakes on the bottom of his cage.
 

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