# Bedtime - need advice



## karendh (Mar 25, 2013)

I'm not quite sure when to put Birdie to bed at this time of year because sundown in around 5.30 in the afternoon and by 6pm Birdie has moved onto her bedtime perch and is quite annoyed by noise. I switch the lamps on and the tv is on as well, really just carrying on as normal but she obviously feels it's bedtime. Sunrise is also around 5.30 and I don't want to have to get up quite as early as that in order to get her up. 

I put her into her room to sleep at around 7pm and get her up around the same time in the morning, giving her 12 hours of quiet. Should I keep her up or put her to bed at 6pm? She's really crumpy for the last hour before she goes to bed.

What do other people on the forum do with their birds at this time of year?


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## dianne (Nov 27, 2013)

I have a dark cover for my bird cage. I put them to bed at 8 pm and take the cover off at 10 am. I am using fourteen hour nights for hormone control.


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## Tequilagirl (Mar 4, 2013)

I let mine go to sleep whenever he wants to. I remember I was quite concerned last year because of the amount of time he spent "sleeping" in his cage, but he's ok. He's going up to roost at about 6pm now, it will be 5 pm soon enough. The only problem is that I miss him during the winter.


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## Colorguarder08 (Sep 13, 2014)

I make sure Riley is in her cage a good half an hour before sundown then I let her choose when to go to bed and when to wake up She has a heat lamp thats always left on for her so I don't cover the cage because aside from it posing a fire hazard it also keeps all the light concentrated in one area.


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## tielbob (Mar 25, 2013)

Percy would follow a sunset to sunrise sleep pattern if he had his way but I don't cover him until about 8 pm - then it's officially night-night time. He does like to quietly rest in the back of his cage on his 'sundeck' before that if I don't have him out. If he's out of the cage then he lets me know when bedtime is but that can be later than 8 since he really likes his out time. He doesn't get uncovered until about 9 in the morning when he will be next to his food dish looking for breakfast to be served


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## vampiric_conure (Jul 8, 2012)

I'm usually up late, but I have the studio/bird room light on until 10 pm and the birds are up by 8-9 am. Not perfect for controling breeding behaviors, but it seems to work in this household this time of year


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## Jaguar (Jul 11, 2014)

Phoenix is a party animal and would be up all day and night if I let him  I am doing 12-14 hours of sleep per night now, covering his cage with a large dark colored sheet. I haven't had cranky/hormonal behavior from him yet but he is still pretty young


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## estypest (Jul 31, 2014)

Maxi goes to bed when it gets dusky, if she's out I can usually tell when she's ready to go back for bed, or when she's in her cage she'll soon chirp until I cover her up. Quite handy her cage is in a separate room off the lounge, so it's nice and dark but there are glass doors so she gets a little bit of light. Wake up is a bit different.. she's by large windows so presumably wakes up when she's ready, usually has to wait for me to be up before she gets uncovered though bless her! 

Though winter is tough for me aha when she wants to be covered up at 4pm, feels like a long time without birdy time! I'd prefer to stick to her routine rather than force her up with unnatural light (feels bad enough doing it to humans sometimes haha).


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## TamaMoo (Jan 12, 2014)

Joey usually starts settling down about 7:30 or 8 pm and will doze off and on until we go to bed. On work nights we usually head to be at 9:30 (wild and crazy, huh?) and get up at 6. Joey is up for a while, but since it is dark when we leave, he goes back to sleep for a bit. Weekends, we stay up until about 10:30 or 11, and he will go ahead to sleep until then, and sleep until about 8.


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## wagon80 (Oct 22, 2014)

Harley will be covered by 9-10pm then hes up when we are up for work. Id like him to sleep longer but he starts talking under his cover when he hears us up(around 6am) so we uncover him. Seems to work as we've done this since we've brought him home.


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## mohum (Sep 5, 2014)

Peppy is out of his cage all day. He goes to roost about 8pm but doesn't get put in his cage until 10pm. He is then out again at 6am. After reading some posts, this doesn,t seem long enough but he seems ok. We are a quiet household and are in all day.He sometimes has a daytime nap as well.


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## karendh (Mar 25, 2013)

Thank you for all your replies. I have decided to compromise and take Birdie through to her room at 6.30, getting her up at around 7am when I get up. In around a month's time it will be dark here by 4.30 in the afternoon so she will have to get used to me being around for a couple of hours before bedtime!!


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