Quick question about my Senegal Parrot ?
Something weird has happened lately….My parrot used to sleep at night wake during the day normal routine. Recently he has been sleeping through the day I have tried to get him to play like we always do teach him tricks bonding basically. I do this every single day since I took him home from the pet store 3 years ago and being awake at night and going insane in his cage…I havent been able to sleep and I have tried to calm him down.
What could be causing this? And how can I get him back to his normal routine ? If anyone needs any more information feel free to ask and I will post more details here.
Oooh… He could be a victim of night frights. The species that are mostly plagued with this are typically African Greys and cockatiels but its not unlikely that your senegal may have a night fright problem.
I am quoting from the Volume 21 2009 Annual Birds USA magazine:
Top 8 Possibilites of Night Frights in Parrots:
1. Nocturnal animals rodents and insects flitting about in the darkness
2. Cats and dogs moving around or suddenly meowing or barking close by
3. Shadows moving of the cage or aviary
4. A draft or sudden stream of cold air
5. Thunder and lightning
6. Fireworks
7. Flashing lights such as those from car headlights
8. A member of the household coming in late after everyone else is in bed
9. There are also reports of birds thrashing around in their cages just moments before an earthquake
Another possibility is noisy neighbors.. I live in an apartment next to a bunch of frat boys and twice now they have made such a ruckus in the middle of the night that my parrots have woken me up with screaming and fright. Also a friend of mine had a couple of birds that would freak out every few nights or so and she didnt know that they had rats in their walls until after they moved away and an exterminator came to examine their house.
I would recommend getting him a smaller cage cockatiel size and having him sleep in the bedroom with you. That way he would feel safer knowing that youre near. My African Grey sleeps in my bedroom next to me in his sleep cage and he hasnt been bothered by the frat boys since. Good luck with your little senegal
You dont mention if something has changed. Even something as small as a new toy in a cage can throw a bird off. Maybe your neighbors are loud or there are lights coming in the windows to disturb him. It is possible too that there is some other night activity going on that is keeping your bird awake like a cat roaming or maybe a mouse or roaches or something. Even the cleanest of houses at some time can have night invaders. This might be something that doesnt happen during the day therefore the bird is bothered by them.
Is he covered at night?
is the room he is in dark and quiet? Are you playing the TV late?
Something had to have changed and it may be something really small that upset him. i have helped owners whose birds started acting up and we have discovered it to be something simple like a new picture hung near the cage or the cage being moved.
Try to see if anything changed at the time he did.
Other than that setting a strict pattern of morning and night be sure to set and keep the routine.
Have breakfast with him make a point of uncovering and saying good morning and then having breakfast with him than a play time and allow him to rest Birds do need rest periods between play and training Try allowing him snack and nap and then lunch back out to eat and play and when it comes nap time snuggle and watch TV and then place him in the cage and cover and say good night. if he calls IGNORE
If he keeps up and you keep going to him he will learn any sound gives reaction and that reaction can be anything from you going to the cage to you yelling shut up or be quiet it is all attention to birds and they do not care about anything but getting a response so get ear plugs and ignore after a certain time and keep on schedule in time he will learn.