Full Time Job and Parrot Ownership

[RainbowFlo]

Sorry to butt in to this thread... if 10-12 hr isn't always necessary, is there a minimum sleep time? Also, is there an earliest time you can wake a bird up? By the way, welcome to the forum

~ Estella

 

[BirdLady13]

When I kept my Blue & Gold in my bedroom he would go to sleep when I did. He always woke up before me but he wouldn't make a peep until he saw me wake up. Thinking back it was the sweetest thing. Since then I have worked every shift possible and worked many doubles and it hasn't had any negative effects. As long as you form a strong bond and offer a fair amount of attention, your bird is likely to forgive you for your work schedule. If you decide to take the plunge and get a bird, remember that quality time supersedes quantity of time. As long as you are willing to offer up affection, you and your bird will find a balance!

 

[Tielygirl]

I can only speak to my experience.

My birds go to bed around 8:30-9 or sometimes a little later. The lights are on a timer, on at 8:30am off at 8:30pm. I used to work second shift or a rotating shift and go to school full time. I think what has been said is good advice. 10-12 is a guideline, and obviously you need to watch your birds to really judge how well they are doing. Just remember: They DO nap during the day when you are away. My vet told me an 8-9 hour night with napping during the day is perfectly fine. This is the schedule I operate under, and I honestly have not had very many issues. The biggest thing to consider is the quality of time you can give them, nutrition, spacious cage, etc. I think you will find your parrot will adapt more to your schedule than you think.

now remember! Parrots are LOUD, MESSY, DESTRUCTIVE, EXPENSIVE, LONG LIVED and adorable. if you can survive the first 5 I think you'll do fine.

 

[Monaco]

I have Monaco on a weird schedule. She is in her sleep cage roughly 12 hours, but they're definitely interrupted and not totally dark. We chat back and forth before I go to sleep in the wee hours. She orders the dogs around when I get home from work and before I let her out in our "morning" routine. She has done remarkably well with the routine. Now that I have a second job, I have made some major changes to her day cage. I think enough enrichment that they enjoy can keep them pretty happy. The key has been to find her idea of fun, and make it happen. It only sounds easy!

 

[elitys]

This thread has been quite an interesting read. It's really making me think about my bird's sleep schedule. Since I've gotten Poppy, I've followed that regurgitated advice: 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep. She gets covered sometime between 10-10:30pm, and I get her in the morning between 10-11am depending on how late I sleep. I can tell she definitely isn't sleeping the whole time, but I thought that this schedule at least gives her the opportunity to sleep as much as she needs to. She's usually been up, chattering and eating for a while before I get her.

Lately, I've been experimenting with a sleep cage in our bedroom vs her main one in the living room to see what works best for her. On one hand, she seems to prefer getting to hear our voices in the same room, but it also seems to distract her; after her initial few screechy protests, she calms down but stays up quite late grumbling, almost in annoyance ("why aren't you guys going to bed too??"). With her cage in the living room, she throws a much louder tantrum at bedtime. I can hear her first few loud screeches fade into a few minutes of heartbreaking little cries before she finally begins to settle down.

This was a long way to say that I'm not sure what is best. There's so much we don't know about these complex little beings, and it makes it so frustrating when you're trying to do everything right but nobody even knows for sure what those right things are!

I guess all we can do is keep researching, observing their behavior, listening to their communications, and trying our best.

 

[fluffypoptarts]

I think it can vary, depending on the individual needs of the birds. I usually keep my girls covered for 12 hours, but the boys start calling for me and fussing if I try to leave them covered more than 9-10 hours. They let me know that they’re not interested in 12 hours of darkness, lol.