How to create a healthy sleep schedule in a small space?

[M&M Ninja]

Does anybody live in a one room apartment or travel fulltime in an RV? Or have an alternative sleeping setup for their bird? We are looking for some guidance on creating a good sleeping routine.

We fulltime travel in an RV and do not have a separate bedroom. The bed area has a curtain but there is nowhere in there for a bird cage to go. The kitchen/dinette/living room area has a countertop where we’d put the bird cage. So here is our question:

Will a bird go to bed, and tolerate being removed from the action, if he is sitting a few feet from us?

For example, the bird goes to bed at 8pm and we make noise at the dinette for another hour. I wake up at 6am, grind coffee, and make some morning noises. He is later uncovered at 8am, thus allowing the 12 hours of sleep. (Attached is a photo for clarity. His/her place is at the rear center.)

 

[metalstitcher]

I live in a smallish home and we have worked it out pretty good even with a lot of the outside noises going on from fireworks to other things we are not going to get into lol. I live in a bad neighborhood so your guess is most likely right.

I know a few people here have a sleep cage for their fids. If you have room for something for sleeping for your fid get them in the habit of going to the sleep cage at a certain time every day and cover it. We just keep our voices down and once in awhile we get a grumble but for the most part they both slept through the night. It might take a few days but he/she will get use to it after a bit.

 

[M&M Ninja]

Thank you for the reply. The only place a second cage could go is the shower enclosure. I'm not sure that would be better than leaving him in his main cage and covered. The light in the bathroom would get turned on/off everytime one of us needs to use the bathroom.

 

[TikkiTembo]

We've got our conure in the living room, since I don't want to house him in the same small room as the cockatiel due to night frights,dander, etc. We cover his cage at 9ish, and turn on one dim light that is pink or red, so it disturbs him a little less. When we watch TV, we keep the sound down and use subtitles. I can hear him grinding his beak in there, so I'm assuming he's relaxed enough, and I never hear a peep until 7:30am.

 

[Leih]

I have a spare bedroom but I always keep a table fan on for white noise. I live in a heavily populated suburb.

 

[M&M Ninja]

I can hear him grinding his beak in there, so I'm assuming he's relaxed enough, and I never hear a peep until 7:30am.

Thanks for this! We are thinking about conures and I want to make sure we have a routine that doesn't set us up for failure with regards to vocalizations (i.e. screaming because we are still awake).

 

[Begone]

I'm sure of that @Alien J have a lot of great advice's to give you.

 

[Lady Jane]

Just wondering if you can grind coffee the night before?

 

[Alien J]

We've been full time rv'ers since before we rescued TD, our cockatiel. We were in a 26 foot camper with no separate bedroom for the first year and a half. That was hard. I don't believe TD has had too many full nights of sleep. Not with two dogs, one of whom barks at EVERYTHING! We are in a 33' RV now...but no slide out. TD lives on the dining room table. I just got a smaller cage for him that fits on the TV shelf in the bedroom. The dream is to get him to go to bed in it in the bedroom every night. As I am an insomniac, it's hard for me to do anything at night with him in the dining room/kitchen.

What we do now is cover him around 8:30 pm and just do our best to keep the noise down. We've had TD for over two years now, so it must be enough. Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to work! Good luck! Happy travels! Keep us posted!

 

[M&M Ninja]

Just wondering if you can grind coffee the night before?

Hmmmmm, now that is an interesting idea. Don't know why I didn't think of that. I guess because we are to coffee as some people are to wine, cheese, chocolate, micro-breweries, etc. I guess we could try it and evaluate the tradeoff (less freshness in exchange for a peaceful, well rested fid).

Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to work!

Thank you for sharing your experience. Wow, no slide! My husband would be jealous. He wanted one so bad....but lost that battle. We were originally in a 20 foot trailer (with slide) and are now a 30 foot trailer (with slide). Such an improvement in quality of life. Also have two dogs. I guess depending on what we adopt/purchase, a small sleep cage could go on my 'nightstand'. It'd have to be a very small bird though.

 

[Alien J]

a small sleep cage could go on my 'nightstand'.

Our TV shelf is 16x16. Too small for everyday, though the cage we got with the 16x16 base is quite tall and claims to be for a cockatiel. TD's original cage was even smaller. When we first got the bigger RV it was easy bcuz at night I would just carry him cage and all to the bedroom. It was a very old cage and a couple of the bars broke and TD deserved a big cage since he doesn't get nearly the out of cage time he should. His cage now takes up the entire dining table!

TD is also very small for a cockatiel. Only 80 grams. He had a really bad start in life with very poor nutrition. He was just about dead when I got him. Thanks to the folks here on the Avenue he is still with us today. If you look through my old threads you'll find his horrific "baby" pictures.

 

[Alien J]

I forgot to mention that one thing we did was to remove the chair behind the passenger seat. We have a collapsible table we put there with TD's cage strapped to it for when we drive. The rest of the time it's an open space so the dog's water and food bowls aren't in the middle of the aisle for me to constantly trip over!

 

[Ripshod]

I guess we could try it and evaluate the tradeoff (less freshness in excha

Grind it, put it in an airtight container and fridge it. Should still be fresh in the AM.

 

[Jace]

I have problems with coffee too. Lol. Even better, put the airtight container in the freezer.

Honestly I think this will depend on the bird.
As said above, it doesn't have to be perfect. It's whatever works.

I've tried routines from 8-13hrs sleep and 8-10hrs works best for my Eckie. He goes to sleep when I do (9-10pm) and let's me know when he's ready to get out of bed at about 6-8am.

He used to live in the loungeroom, which would have been fine if my family weren't so loud. I had to put a sleep cage in the bedroom, where I have the tv between 14-20 or soft music all night as it helps me sleep. It doesn't worry him.

So needless to say I don't worry about soft sound. Plus, complete silence indicates danger in the wild. Maybe get a black out curtain to cover the cage of you're worried about light. =)

 

[Rain Bow]

We put Buddy in a sleep cage in our bedroom. My hubby & I sometimes talk quietly & Buddy isn't sleeping but stays quiet in his cage as long as I keep my voice down. We run a tv @ night but his cage gets covered. If I get excited when we're chatting it disturbs him but I think I may be louder than him (& he's a Zon).

 

[Alien J]

I may be louder than him (& he's a zon).

The quieter I try to be, the louder I am...and the more things I drop, trip over, etc., etc.

 

[Porter]

This is going to sound odd but is there a cuboard you can retro fit into asleep space for the bird?

Removing the door and replacing it with a wire door and curtain?
A friend of mine did this with her small dog for 'bedtime' and 'crate' time.

2x3 space for a little 8 pound guy. It worked great!

 

[M&M Ninja]

The quieter I try to be, the louder I am...and the more things I drop, trip over, etc., etc.

Hahaha - I know exactly what you mean!

@Porter
That's an interesting idea and something we'll keep in mind for the future. Since starting this thread, I read an illuminating article by Pam Clark; AA discussed it here. In her article, she questions the assumptions we have about sleep needs in our companion parrots. After reading it, I've decided to carry on with my normal life, see what happens, and make adjustments as needed.

A bird is hopefully in our (near) future, so I'll post an update once we have things squared away.

 

[Alien J]

Since starting this thread, I read an illuminating article by Pam Clark; AA discussed it here. In

Thank you for sharing this wonderful article. I have stressed since day one with TD over his sleep. Constantly quoting the statement, "he needs 10-12 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night" to my fiancee. I don't believe TD has EVER had one 10-12 hours of uninterrupted anytime. Not living in an RV with two dogs and an insomniac. Yet, my birdie thrives.

 

[M&M Ninja]

Since we now have Cord and have had a couple of mornings with her, here is what we have experienced...

She is ready to be uncovered when we wake up. Because we put her to bed at 7:30pm, 6am is 10.5 hours of sleep. Her breeder had told us she gets about 11 hours at night and then usually takes a nap around 2pm. So because she goes to sleep at 7:30, we don't actually have to make any modifications to our morning routine.

Her reaction to the coffee grinder has been a mixed bag. No response day #1, no response from my shoulder day #2, aratinga shouted her head off this morning from inside her cage (even though I went into the bathroom to grind it). So she could have finally decided she is comfortable and wants to 'join in' with loud noises, she might have been unhappy that I disappeared, or she may have just wanted to come out of her cage. We'll continue to test things.

Edit: Wanted to add - We cover her at 7:30 and stay up for another hour-ish. During that time, we are usually talking quietly to each other right next to her, walking by her cage, using objects in the kitchen, etc. She makes quiet noises from her cage but doesn't insist on coming out to join us.