GCC constantly crying at bedtime

[stickerz]

Recently my gcc, Pickles, has started nonstop crying once I put her to bed. For some backstory she is my first ever gcc (she has two Fischer lovebird brothers) and I’ve had her since the beginning of April. I got her at around 7 weeks old from a local bird rescue/ breeder. (One of the owners apparently bred gcc’s and parakeets) In the beginning since she was still being hand raised and small, she was kept in a smaller bird cage that I used to use for vet trips. Though once she graduated to big bird seed/ chop she’s in the same cage design (not the same actual cage) that her brothers are in which is a 4 feet wide by 6 feet tall flight cage. When she started off in her big girl cage she never had a problem. No crying or screaming and no general nervousness about moving to a bigger/ new cage. I would now say that she has been in her big/ new cage for maybe 5 weeks? Though now she has started crying and constantly screaming when it’s time for bed. I haven’t changed anything in her nighttime routine. It’s the same steps- turn off her brothers UV light and say “I love you” and give them a kiss and do those same steps for Pickles. Occasionally I’ll put their blankets on their cage if it’s cold in their room but she has no problem with me putting it on. It’s gotten to the point where the only thing I can do to calm her down and get her to sleep is to either- hold her on my finger, wait till she falls asleep and place her on a blanket on the bottom of her cage or make a little tent in the blanket at the bottom of her cage and lay my head in it so she’ll go in there too and fall asleep. I’ve tried just walking away and ignoring her when she does this at bedtime but she’ll cry nonstop to the point where she wakes up my other animals and my family because she’s so loud. I know my processes to getting her down work but they take forever- does anyone know of some ways to help with this? Or a quick way to get her to fall asleep without crying?

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[Mizzely]

Have you tried to put her in the smaller cage for bedtime? Also if you aren't already, try using a white noise machine or air purifier which will help drown out noises she may be reacting to.

 

[Wardy]

Do you have a picture of the cage ?
Covering the cage so it's completely dark may help, you say you do this occasionally do it daily as part of bed time routine

 

[BumblePea]

I had this problem with my little black capped Conure. I got an LED candle (not one that burns or smells) and started putting it out about 30 minutes before bedtime by her cage. It signaled to her that it was time to wind down and that bedtime was coming. She started to associate it with rest and now when she sees it she grinds her beak and is much more calm. But I had to be consistent.

It was a bit of predictability and that can really help Nervous birds. Knowing when they’ll go to bed and having a predictable wake up routine can help a lot. I also have her sleep in the same room as me. She will sometimes do little contact calls that she only does for me in the middle of the night. Once I do it back she goes back to sleep.

 

[BluJay]

I have a sleep cage for my Conure. Also I keep his routine regular; always a blanket on his cage at night. What temperature do you keep your bird room at? I've found that even with the AC set at 74 degrees my guy likes a small heater next to his perch at night. https://www.amazon.com/Pet-Products-9050-Snuggle-Warmer/dp/B07HMLT6SM/ . Just a thought.