• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Settling-In Help

KiwiConure

Strolling the yard
Joined
9/21/20
Messages
133
Location
Canada
Hi hi! It's officially been two months since Kiwi and I have had to move into my sister's basement for the time being, in a house with four people and a baby, four dogs and a cat, it's a bit hectic and she doesn't get as much out of her room time as normal, she also doesn't have her old window.

I've noticed she's become a lot more unsettled in the last few weeks. Her night's are restless, she's been squawking loudly a lot more---and, she's decided that bed time and cage time is NOT for her. Our simple bed-time routine has turned into a frustrating, 1-2hr experience.

I've recently bought her a new fun box that's on the way, and a new playstand from Amazon in hopes to cheer her up, but I'm looking for some tips or help on her behavior and what I can do to make her a happy little bird again?

Thanks!
 

Wardy

Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
4/12/21
Messages
4,706
@flyzipper described a excelent bedtime routine in another post i cant recal the post name though.

My bedtime routine is the following.
Tell them 30 minutes and its time for bed.
Directly before bed remove all foot toys etc. from the tops of there cages put clean water and fresh pellets in there cages.
I then get Mojo and take her to her cage tell KiKi she's a clever girl and she go's back to her cage.
They usually get 30 mins to play eat and drink before i say goodnight and cover there cages.
Consider removing food and water from outside the cage in the run up to bedtime and Kiwi may return to eat and drink close the door praise him offer a treat if he does,

Treats are your freind when creating a beftime routine.

I wouldnt massively worry about less out of cage time short term just aim to be regular and consistent.
Is it possible to plan out of cage time latet when the house is quieter ?
When my grand children visit and the house is chaos i put music on in the room the birds are in this helps.

Are you covering the cage during the night ? If not covering may help Kiwi be more settled during the night.
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,364
Location
Reino de España
Removing food a short while before going back in the cage, as well as allowing some wind down time inside the cage before the cover goes on helps around my home too.

@flyzipper described a excelent bedtime routine in another post i cant recal the post name though.
Use the bookmark tool when you come across great posts so you can find them easier later ;)
 

Pixiebeak

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
6/18/22
Messages
7,319
Location
USA
Real Name
Laura
Of she isn't getting natural light and those cues. Then setting her up to have lights that kinda of mimic that might help, with timers if needed. Low light in morning then bright light during the day back to low light.

I have a very small square box like cage that I added hook on straps to so I can wear it across my chest. Also secured the heck out of by zip tie the bottom to tge cage, all door reinforced so no way could fall apart if dropped.
This has been preferred by mine above the back pack and other travel cages. They feel like they are just sitting on me, has good air flow and can see out easy, and I can touch them through the bars . Something like this
S.T.A SOLUZIONI cage its 10, by 6.5 by 11 inches i think? Going for 35 on Amazon.

Anyway something like that and you can wear her and have her safely come with you around the upstairs madhouse part of the home . Go for walks outside .

Its not sexy like a lot of parrot travel cages and back packs are. But the parrot feels more comfortable, better airflow, sight , hearing,. Its an idea , a way to have her out of the room more, feel like she is riding on you but safe from open doors, dogs. Cats. But if you use this idea really reinforce those cheap cagesc at every point , as some the tops can poo off or bottom fall off. Being light weight us a bonus tho.

Recondition to cage. By lots of random trips to the cage and step to cage for a treat ( safflower seeds my go to) and back to you for a treat . Step into cage and back to you for treats and lots of praise. Lock them up for a couple if miniuts then back out. Switch it up for many times a day. This helps them with positive cage associations, and that going to the cage doesn't mean they are always going to be locked up..then when it is bedtime do your bed time routine. Routine and ritual are important.

When my green cheek is stressed. She needs a good 30 minute of quite cuddling and kisses before bedtime.

I hope those ideas help you
 

flyzipper

Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/28/20
Messages
2,591
Location
Canada
Real Name
Steve
@flyzipper described a excelent bedtime routine in another post i cant recal the post name though
Thanks @Wardy but I think the main value of my/any routine is its consistency rather than the specifics.

Regarding, "a frustrating, 1-2hr experience", something that might be helpful from my routine is I don't put my birds to bed in their sleep cages until they've relaxed at their own pace on their play stands for a couple hours (lights low, low energy music playing, I leave them as I go for a nightly walk) -- they do what they want at this time. Marvin's relaxation place of choice is inside my hoodie when I return. If I left them there, they would probably just sleep where they chose to settle (which is exactly what Oscar does).

I acknowledge this is easier for me since I live alone versus, "four people and a baby, four dogs and a cat", but the main message is to adopt whatever routine works for your situation and give it ample time to work. Perhaps the other message is a question -- do you need to fight Kiwi and make it a frustrating experience? What could you do differently at that might let her express a preferred choice?
 

KiwiConure

Strolling the yard
Joined
9/21/20
Messages
133
Location
Canada
@flyzipper described a excelent bedtime routine in another post i cant recal the post name though.

My bedtime routine is the following.
Tell them 30 minutes and its time for bed.
Directly before bed remove all foot toys etc. from the tops of there cages put clean water and fresh pellets in there cages.
I then get Mojo and take her to her cage tell KiKi she's a clever girl and she go's back to her cage.
They usually get 30 mins to play eat and drink before i say goodnight and cover there cages.
Consider removing food and water from outside the cage in the run up to bedtime and Kiwi may return to eat and drink close the door praise him offer a treat if he does,

Treats are your freind when creating a beftime routine.

I wouldnt massively worry about less out of cage time short term just aim to be regular and consistent.
Is it possible to plan out of cage time latet when the house is quieter ?
When my grand children visit and the house is chaos i put music on in the room the birds are in this helps.

Are you covering the cage during the night ? If not covering may help Kiwi be more settled during the night.
I do have her out in my room with the door closed, but she doesn't get much time out of that same room and she usually seems to enjoy a lot of views and sights! I'm thinking I might start putting videos dedicated to her on my tv or music. I try to have her out when our dogs aren't home and downstairs but sometimes she's not comfortable leaving the room.

My bed time routine wasn't super elaborate at the old place, not as nice as I'd like it to be but my life with school was fluctuating so much that it was hard to keep one, but I always tried to do everything in the same order and around the same time. I'd usually dim the room about a half hour before bed (whether with the blinds or lights depending on the year), tell her bedtime is soon and sit with her in a low-energy way as a little vibe time. After, I'd refill her food, her and I would walk to get her water together, then I'd place a treat in her tunnel, put her in, cover her and say goodnight! I have tried removing food and water from outside the cage (or her access, really) an amount of time before bed but I haven't found that helps? She's stubborn and will wait it out for as long as she wants, no matter how long it's been.
 

KiwiConure

Strolling the yard
Joined
9/21/20
Messages
133
Location
Canada
Of she isn't getting natural light and those cues. Then setting her up to have lights that kinda of mimic that might help, with timers if needed. Low light in morning then bright light during the day back to low light.

I have a very small square box like cage that I added hook on straps to so I can wear it across my chest. Also secured the heck out of by zip tie the bottom to tge cage, all door reinforced so no way could fall apart if dropped.
This has been preferred by mine above the back pack and other travel cages. They feel like they are just sitting on me, has good air flow and can see out easy, and I can touch them through the bars . Something like this
S.T.A SOLUZIONI cage its 10, by 6.5 by 11 inches i think? Going for 35 on Amazon.

Anyway something like that and you can wear her and have her safely come with you around the upstairs madhouse part of the home . Go for walks outside .

Its not sexy like a lot of parrot travel cages and back packs are. But the parrot feels more comfortable, better airflow, sight , hearing,. Its an idea , a way to have her out of the room more, feel like she is riding on you but safe from open doors, dogs. Cats. But if you use this idea really reinforce those cheap cagesc at every point , as some the tops can poo off or bottom fall off. Being light weight us a bonus tho.

Recondition to cage. By lots of random trips to the cage and step to cage for a treat ( safflower seeds my go to) and back to you for a treat . Step into cage and back to you for treats and lots of praise. Lock them up for a couple if miniuts then back out. Switch it up for many times a day. This helps them with positive cage associations, and that going to the cage doesn't mean they are always going to be locked up..then when it is bedtime do your bed time routine. Routine and ritual are important.

When my green cheek is stressed. She needs a good 30 minute of quite cuddling and kisses before bedtime.

I hope those ideas help you
Lighting is a big issue I'm struggling with, since Kiwi went from a room with a ceiling light and huge window access to natural light and natural light cycles to a rather dim basement with a ground-level window. I try to turn the light on in the room around early noon when she comes out, and I keep it turned off on the morning, its too dark to have it off in the evening sadly. I might get a lamp to help with that.

I do have a travel cage for Kiwi! I got it before the move and while it's not overly large, it's enough for her to move and climb with a toy and perch. It's a nice little cage to go for drives in or sit outside in and I would LOVE for her to experience new views in it or get some sun, but she absolutely HATES it. I've been desperately trying to curate positive experiences for her in it, but it's to the point where if she notices it's in view she won't even go near me or any person.

I'm definitely going to do some cage conditioning! Or at least try to, I'm not sure where the negativity with her cage came from so suddenly but I really hope to get her back to the happy little bird she was. It's so stressful on both her and I, I can't wait for the house to get finished so we can be comfortable again.
 

KiwiConure

Strolling the yard
Joined
9/21/20
Messages
133
Location
Canada
Thanks @Wardy but I think the main value of my/any routine is its consistency rather than the specifics.

Regarding, "a frustrating, 1-2hr experience", something that might be helpful from my routine is I don't put my birds to bed in their sleep cages until they've relaxed at their own pace on their play stands for a couple hours (lights low, low energy music playing, I leave them as I go for a nightly walk) -- they do what they want at this time. Marvin's relaxation place of choice is inside my hoodie when I return. If I left them there, they would probably just sleep where they chose to settle (which is exactly what Oscar does).

I acknowledge this is easier for me since I live alone versus, "four people and a baby, four dogs and a cat", but the main message is to adopt whatever routine works for your situation and give it ample time to work. Perhaps the other message is a question -- do you need to fight Kiwi and make it a frustrating experience? What could you do differently at that might let her express a preferred choice?
Usually if I find that it's going to be a night of..difficult nature, I'll leave Kiwi be to wind down and find cage time herself—though, whenever I move to shut her door she flies out and the cycle repeats.

I've found that since moving and being placed in our room, she's not keen on relaxing with me much. In the old place, her and I had our chair where she'd cuddle in my hand or sit on my shoulder, pick at my hair. Now, I've noticed she's fairly distant? Sticks to the top of the tv, the suitcases, the door frame even. I do find it a bit hard to get her to "wind down" now, since she seems to really be on edge or flighty from my movement—any tips for this? I know the move must be confusing and hard on her, and for me I was thrown immediately into summer courses for university as well so I was busy and a bit lacking I'll admit. I just want her to be happy again since we'll be here for a few months.
 
Top