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Night Frights

Doris M

Sprinting down the street
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12/28/14
Messages
333
How do you deal with night frights? Where did it come from? Are they night mares or seizures? What is a solution (night light, foam, physical problem)?
Mine just started having them - pretty much around the same time when we got a puppy. The puppy would cry for a couple a days throughout the night at first. But now everything has worked itself in and he still has them. Tonight I installed a night light.
 

ConureTiel

Sprinting down the street
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6/24/14
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534
Location
Virginia, USA
I am sure the many knowledgeable grey folk will have great things to say, but as for my 'tiel, I am firmly in the camp of - there's usually a reason for night frights, something they saw/ heard/ sensed in the environment. Car lights passing by and throwing reflections or shadows near the bird's cage, a noise, etc.

We don't cover cages and for Opal having maximum ability to see/hear seems best. That is probably an individual bird thing though. But again I think there is usually an environmental cause.

I would bet the new pup is making some kind of noise/ rustling that is scaring your Aquila, and the change to the household may be making him more sensitive to things right now as well. The night light may help him figure out it is just the pup, or you may need to give more soundproofing from the pup if that is possible.
 

Rob

Walking the driveway
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1/27/15
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183
Yea, Conuretiel is right; it's an individual bird thing so no one can give you a definite answer. That's why birds are some complicated because no one can really tell you why your bird does something. For example, my aunt has a little grey tiel and when she first got it it was thrash around the cage and scream at night. She covered the cage at night from the start because that's what she was told to do, as soon as she removed the cover it stopped.
 

Doris M

Sprinting down the street
Joined
12/28/14
Messages
333
Yeah, I've never been a fan of covering. E live in the country, so it's like extremely quiet. The puppy is in a crate at night the rooms removed from the bird room. They have their separate spaces. I wake up from any sound such as puppy wincing to go out, which is rare now.
I think I might need to reevaluate his perch perhaps. I'm also going to see how that night light will do.
 

bluedawg

Meeting neighbors
Joined
3/18/15
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59
Location
Croton on Hudson, NY
Real Name
Mary Murphy
I bet the night light helps a lot. I have a grey too who also suffered from night frights. She is also not clipped not caged and fully flighted so her night fright would usually end with her clinging to my head or somewhere around my pillow where she would then climb onto my head. Apparently a safe place. Since I have been leaving her some light source on at night she has not had one in a while.
 

Doris M

Sprinting down the street
Joined
12/28/14
Messages
333
I have done quite a lot of reading linking night frights to a possible vitamin A deficiency in some birds.

The science is there for some cases.

Avian Maintenance
Thanks guys!
Macawnuts, I thought about some sort of deficiency. But I even grow my own vegetables (I.e. broccoli from efficient I take leaves etc), and I also cook for them. I actually have an entire list from which I pull my foods; my fingers pigs need high in vitamin C, birds vitamin A... This, I provide a varied diet that includes pellets as well. I'm hoping that it's not the case. I'm going to do the elimination process: taking one variable at a time to see if that might be the cause. If this night light doesn't work, I'll go to the next possible cause. Ugh
 

Chantilly Lace

Rollerblading along the road
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Paco has been having night frights, they came on very suddenly and have happened the majority of the nights this week. We bought him one of the Featherbrite Moonlights and will see if that helps, as well as feed him extra sweet potato for the vitamin A that Macawnuts mentioned. Interesting article.
 

redbarnmacaw

Sprinting down the street
Joined
7/20/15
Messages
538
Location
South Bend Indiana
Sarah, I was going to say the same thing. We had a CAG, she would thrash around only at night. Did a blood work up & her vitiman A was low along with her protein level. She was given a couple injections - and the rest we up'd with food. She still had them but maybe only 1x a month instead of every night some times 2x's. I thought to they had to be some sort of sezire activity. Glad it wasn't she went to heaven Oct 1 of 2014 so still a open wound.
 
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