The issue I have with "covered" time-outs is that it messes with their light cycles and can trigger hormones etc. It also makes covering seem a bit like a punishment.
I think time-outs can be great when used properly, but I would suggest a time-out space in another room with the door shut (rather than shutting off the lights -so-to-speak). If it worked for you guys, I am glad.
I just have read bad things about covering cages during the day.
Agreed. I think what you may be referring to is the common and unfortunate cases of people covering their birds for prolonged periods because they are screaming. I don't agree with doing that as a 'go-to'. The cause of the screaming should always be identified BEFORE its addressed. With Skittles, I didn't want him to associate his 'day cage' with timeouts, so when behavioral problems arised I got him a 'timeout' cage. I would put him in it and put him in another room for a few minutes. I was doing that at LEAST 2 or 3 times a day for the first year or so. I no longer have that timeout cage. When he 'acts up' and doesn't stop I put him in his cage and cover the front. I don't cover the entire cage, just the front, so he does get light.
Sometimes Skittles will go off on a screaming rampage out of the blue and I'd imagine a lot of people (though none on this forum, fortunately) would just resort to caging and covering. My FIRST go to in his screaming cases is WHY is he screaming. THIS method has worked wonders. Parrots can't speak to us in 'human language' so they use calling for communication. Its our responsibility as parronts to address those calls properly. Sometimes Skittles goes off cause he sees something (a bug, for example) or he hears people outside or in the hall etc. MOST (about 99%) of Skittles screaming is a direct result of a cause. Once I deal with the cause, the screaming stops.
Let me give you a few examples of just how incredibly smart the little stinker is- when he wants juice - he flies to to the top of the fridge and 'wags his tongue'. He will screech too, to get my attention. When he wants a bath, he'll fly onto the faucet and 'ruffle his feathers and sneeze' and screech. If he wants a treat, he will fly over to his 'treat bag' and screech. He doesn't go on 'screaming binges' when these happen, they are just screeches to let me know hes trying to tell me something. When he's tired and its his bedtime he will do his 'flock call' which is screeching and this one is persistent. So I just walk into the bedroom and he follows and most of the time 'darts' into his sleep cage. I LOVE how good he is at communicating his needs, but I also love how he will actually be patient while I'm addressing them. He doesn't screech incessantly with one of his needs unless I 'ignore him', which I don't. Once he knows I'm addressing his need, he stops. He does get 'excited' but he doesn't screech while I'm getting his needs addressed. When I come home from an appt or errand, he's excited and screeches. He leans forward in his cage and 'vibrates'. I let him out and he will screech for a minute or two and I let him because I know he's excited to see me. Sometimes he will simmer down on his own and other times I have to say 'okay Skitty, thats enough. Now stop' in a firm voice. He loves my 'sweet birdy voice', but when I speak to him in my loud firm voice, he knows I mean business. The two voice tones are remarkable effective as well. The firm voice means "i better behave or i'll get timeout". I ONLY use that firm voice when hes misbehaving. When he's screeching out of 'alarm' or 'need' I use my birdy voice to reassure him while I deal with the screech. If he's screaming out of alarm, he needs reassurance not discipline.
I have a friend who had a family member with a GCC that was always screaming (likely because they never let her out of her cage or played with her) they just put her in another room and covered her up whenever she would scream. That poor neglected GCC passed away about a year ago. I told my friend that I never wanted to be in the same room as that GCC owners because I'd likely do something that wouldn't be good. Well, wouldn't be good for them.
When I got Peaches, my tiel, she was a year old. I had bought her as a baby for my mom cause she wanted one. My mom named her 'Bobby' cause she thought she was a male tiel. But my mom never let Peaches out of the cage. So Peaches screeched a LOT. Finally, my mom told me to take her cause she couldn't deal with it. I was not in a place to take in another bird so I had a friend of mine take her. He had recently lost his own tiel. He had her for one night and she was screaming and screaming. The neighbors were complaining. So I had to take her. I took her out of the cage that first day and she spent most of it out with me. She was quiet when she was out with me. I forgot to shut the cage door securely after putting Peaches to bed and when I woke up the next morning, she was cuddled beside me on my pillow. She was a sweetheart and all she wanted was some love and attention.
While it amazes me how smart parrots are, it also amazes me how stupid humans can be.
There is a VERY careful balance between using timeouts/cage covering to control the situation and maintain boundaries AND doing timeouts/cage covering as a punishment cause you don't want to be bothered with dealing with the screeching. That I totally get. You have to set limits and maintain boundaries and thats what timeouts with parrots SHOULD be used for.
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