In bed before dark

[Zazu123]

So as is expected my green cheek is getting more hormonal due to hitting puberty and it being spring. With the changes in daylight savings it gets dark much later now, but in order for him to get more than 10 hours of darkness I would have to put him to bed way before it gets dark. Since he’s out of bed every morning at around 7:40, he’s usually in bed by 6:30-7. He has a sleep cage and in the winter, when it was dark by 6, he would fly into his sleep cage willingly whenever I would say “night-night”, and go to bed without protesting. Now, since the time change, he is very unwilling to go to his sleep cage when I tell him to, and I have to put him in the cage myself. I wake up at 7:30 everyday, and he hears me as soon as Im awake and starts screaming so I let him out. So he cannot go to bed any earlier than 7:30, since I dont want to risk him becoming more hormonal. I was wondering if it is bad that Im putting him to bed essentially against his will?

 

[saroj12]

Mine go to bed at 10 pm and wake up at 8 am ish. Youngest one is 15

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I put my birds to bed at 7:00 all year round, but they love going to bed. My birds sleep in their sleep cages in a closet in a very dark room, however. Is his sleep cage in a dark room, covered? Maybe try enticing him with a treat and some attention from you while he’s settling in?

 

[Zazu123]

I put my birds to bed at 7:00 all year round, but they love going to bed. My birds sleep in their sleep cages in a closet in a very dark room, however. Is his sleep cage in a dark room, covered? Maybe try enticing him with a treat and some attention from you while he’s settling in?

Yeah his sleep cage is in a dark room far away from any noise. I usually dont have a problem getting him in bed until it started getting darker later. Now his bedtime is when it is still light, and he is refusing to go in. And I always have a treat for him in his
sleep cage to entice him to go in. Do you notice a change in their willingness to go to bed now that it gets darker later?

 

[Mizzely]

Blackout curtains. I close the curtains an hour before bed and then dim lights about 30 mins before bed. He puts himself to bed 95% of the time without problems

 

[Craftydan]

I picked up one of these a few months back and it's made all the difference in the world with my conure.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L87MH64/

Mounted it to the wall (I used a clothes iron stand) and when bedtime comes, she goes in the sleeping cage (with toys and food, naturally). The alarm is set to dim over the next 40 minutes, curtains drawn and the overheads go off. Watching from the baby-monitor, she'll play and eat on and off for the next 30, ducking into her sleeping spot briefly only to come out and do something else . . . until she doesn't come back out. By then it's pretty dark in there and she'll be settled for the night.

About 1 night a week we'll have to jockey her into the cage (she likes to fly on top as we're setting her inside), but most of the time she's ready to settle in for a little "me time".

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Yeah his sleep cage is in a dark room far away from any noise. I usually dont have a problem getting him in bed until it started getting darker later. Now his bedtime is when it is still light, and he is refusing to go in. And I always have a treat for him in his
sleep cage to entice him to go in. Do you notice a change in their willingness to go to bed now that it gets darker later?

Oddly enough, it seems like my birds want to go to bed even earlier than before. By 6:30 they are clamoring to go to bed, but cockatiels are known for wanting to go to bed for some reason.