Sleep; thy name is not Safira

[Safira]

So far every day this week Safira has woke up screaming at 3am. Sometimes, that scream is coupled with a 5 foot drop to the bottom of her cage (which results in face bruises, scratches, etc.)

The poor girl, I have no idea how to help her. I have started thinking about another new cage, one that isn't as tall so the drop isn't very big.

Does anyone have a cage idea that's not too high but big enough for a macaw to stretch their wings and move around? She's in a corner cage (the xlarge one) that's like, over 40x40x 70 something.

I'm afraid that one morning I'm going to wake up to her missing an eye or having a broken wing.

 

[weco]

For birds that spend a lot of time in their cage, it is recommended that the bird be able to turn 360 degrees, with its wings extended and not touch cage walls. Most birds have cages that are somewhere less than that though...

If this is a young bird, its falling may be that it is still learning to grip its perches properly, however, if it is an older bird, you might want to have it checked for possible heavy metal toxicity. A normal, healthy bird's foot will lock onto its perch when it goes to sleep. There is also the possibility of night frights.....something waking the bird....vehicle lights moving across ceilings and/or walls...could cause it to try moving away from a perceived predator.....

 

[plax]

I'm so sorry to hear this is happening... your poor bird . You might try relocating/re-mounting her perch(es) to a lower level in her cage until you can determine what's causing the events. As weco suggested, it may be that she's experiencing night frights. You can perhaps also set up a video camera pointed at her sleeping location. Or you can have someone remain awake in the room observing her as she sleeps to determine any unknown circumstances. Moreover, it's probably a good idea to get her to an avian vet for an assessment.

Those are some of my thoughts. I truly hope you're able to resolve this matter .

 

[willist]

Until you sort things out you might want to consider lowering her perch.

 

[Safira]

Until you sort things out you might want to consider lowering her perch.

That's what I was going to do next. My only fear is she'll spend hours climbing back and forth along the top of her cage before she settles down on a lower perch (if she settles.)

I am pretty sure its just something startling her awake. She'll go a week or two without them and then have a few bad nights.

I also want to note that she will do this during the day, outside of her cage (or in it) on one of her perches. We'll be in my office, it'll be quiet for a bit (sometimes I'm not watching her, I think she naps then) and she'll suddenly scream 3 loud bursts and fall.

It's the most random, frustrating thing LoL. She is 1 and 1/2 years old, she's been doing this since I got her.. She has a clean bill of health from the vet.

I've tried moving the location of her cage. I've tried changing her perches out to different ones. I've tried a new cage. I've tried covering her, I've tried uncovering her. She does best covered completely, not always, but much less frequent random screaming at night. The screaming is never for longer then 2 seconds, usually 3 loud bursts that jerk you awake before she quiets again.


I'm going to hang up heavy curtains to stop any car-lights from passing through at night.

 

[triordan]

I have been looking for a cage that isn't so tall too because of where I need to put it~ I don't understand why manufacturers can't/won't make macaw cages that are wide and deep enough without the wasted space of the height, my macaw NEVER uses the bottom of the cage

 

[weco]

If it's totally dark in her sleeping area, try a night light.....when my patty first joined us, she would have night frights every once in a while, so I put a night light in their room & it helped, but didn't totally stop the problem.

After over a year of this, we figured out that it was a squeaking garage door opening at a ambulance dispatch station about 300 feet away.....one of the rollers was bad & was noisy. During the day, their doors were normally open, but at night the squeak bothered Heidi.

I went & bought a $7 roller & asked them to replace their bad one.....they looked at me a little funny when I told them what the problem was, but a couple days later & the problem was gone.....

 

[94lt1]

If the bird is falling to the bottom of the cage, put a blanket down there or something to pad its falls.

 

[Safira]

Yeah, I had a nightlight in there too at one point. >.< Sorry forgot to mention that one. Nice suggestions though. I've posted on here before about this so a lot of these came up then. Just venting my frustration and hoping I find a solution soon.

And I was thinking of laying some newspaper down on the bottom f the cage, thick enough to be a cushion.

 

[sarafigal]

I'd put a thick blanket at the bottom of the cage--yes, it means washing a blanket every day.

Would it be feasible to put a platform under the perch so her fall is just a step down?

 

[plax]

Yeah, I had a nightlight in there too at one point. >.< Sorry forgot to mention that one. Nice suggestions though. I've posted on here before about this so a lot of these came up then. Just venting my frustration and hoping I find a solution soon.

And I was thinking of laying some newspaper down on the bottom f the cage, thick enough to be a cushion.

The suggestion that both I and willist gave you is worth considering. You've described that it's when your bird is at her sleeping site on her perch that she experiences the panic episodes. If your only concern about lowering her perch(es) is that she may climb around on or hang from the cage bars for a prolonged period at night, please realize that she would at least likely not be panicking to the point of falling and injuring herself while doing so. The perch lowering would thus serve as a temporary safety measure. You could leave it that way until you've precisely identified the trigger and come up with a successful remedy.

 

[goalerjones]

Stop giving ur bird scotch before bedtime.