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Sleep time required for Rainbow Lorikeet

lr24

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Hi, this is my first post.
I will make give some general information and then ask some questions.

Our Lorikeet is less than 12 months old. The bird sleeps inside near the kitchen where there is light and noise from 7am up to 10pm. In between 10pm and 7am there may intermittent trips to the fridge.
We play with the bird typically until 9pm.
I was reading yesterday that it needs anywhere between 10-14 hours of sleep and with a covered cage. Whereas our bird gets 9 hours (10pm - 7am) nocturnal time, sometimes interrupted. And we do not cover with a blanket.
After 10pm whilst I am going to sleep I can hear the bird making noises, not playfully loud like during the day, I don't know if the bird may be dreaming.
The bird seems to sleep at the bottom of the cage, sometimes on the perch.
The behaviour of the bird when it is awake seems to be normal and active typical of Lorikeets.
When we first got the bird, we had a Vet checkup and there were no issues.

My specific questions are:
(1) Are the conditions described enough for the bird to get its proper sleep? And do daytime naps count towards the 10-14 hours.
(2) Are the night-time noises described above normal as its getting to sleep. Is it dreaming or is it in pain?
(3) I read that Lorikeets are supposed to sleep on 1 leg and have their wing cover their faces with the other leg. I have seen the bird sleep on 1 leg at times but it may be that most of its sleep is at the bottom of the cage. Is this OK?

Please provide input.
 

Shezbug

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Welcome to the Avenue :hiya:

Can you share a pic of your cage set up? And of course a pic of your little guy :D

When you say the bird (what is his/her name?) sleeps on the floor, is there a way you can describe this some more? like is the bird on the actual floor of the cage or on a low perch, fluffed up, laying down, crouched, resting against the side of cage- how do you mean he sleeps on the bottom?

Disturbed sleep is not the best kind of sleep for any of us- people and birds alike, however, some birds can really suffer from sleep loss and poor sleep patterns to the point it makes it hard for them to stay healthy and it can impact on behavior and hormonal problems. As we cage them and give them no choice of where they have to roost for the night the best we can do is try to mimic how nice and quiet and dark it would be out in the wild for them. Birds do not often choose to sleep in the noisiest parts of town and there is a reason for that..... we all operate and feel at our best with a proper amount of sleep. Covering cages does not work for all birds- my budgie loves only half his cage covered and he sleeps the best this way (I use his cover to stop any late night lights disturbing him) and my macaw has a tantrum and will stay up all night long trying to kill and remove the cover from his cage if I take the time to try and cover him. Try the cover and see what you feel your bird likes best- just make sure you use something like a linen sheet and not a fuzzy towel so you do not get bird toes caught in the cover.

Can not give you any input into the noises or sleep positions but hopefully someone with more knowledge on them will be along to help you some
 

lr24

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Hi, thanks for responding.
Please see attached picture of Lori and the cage.
When the bird sleeps, it's on the actual floor, at the corner, and I've been told that's its mostly on one leg with the wing and other leg covering his face, this aspect is a good sign from what I read. Sorry I didn't mention this above as I didn't know. But sleeping on a perch would be better I believe.
The sound that the Lori makes when we go to sleep is hard to explain, it's definitely not the lively sound during the day, maybe it's like a yearning/mourning sound as though it's dreaming, perhaps even maybe even like it's sick. On one evening it was such that we went to see what was happening and thought to take the bird to a Vet the next day, but the next day the bird was happy as usual.
Thanks for the advice about the blanket, we will try this and see what happens.
Any further experiences with sleeping behaviour of Lorikeets would be appreciated.


20200308_112229.jpg
 

Shezbug

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Is this cage your birds main cage? I do not see any perches up nice and high- is it just that I am unable to spot them or are there none there? Most birds like to roost as high as possible for the night but if they only have an uncomfortable perch they may choose to perch lower down.
How old is your bird? Do you offer a variety of different sized perches for foot health? Some birds as they get older or if they have been only provided with one size perch most of their life tend to have some arthritis and strength issues in their feet and find it easier to sleep on platform perches so they do not fall or they will choose the floor if there are no platforms.
There are the odd birds too that just like breaking the stereotype and tend to do things weird but it is always best to investigate other possible reasons for odd behaviors than to just say it is a unique thing for this particular bird.

@Zara can you think of any of our members with lorikeets? I am drawing a blank.
 

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lr24

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Hi, thanks for responding.
Please see attached picture of Lori and the cage.
When the bird sleeps, it's on the actual floor, at the corner, and I've been told that's its mostly on one leg with the wing and other leg covering his face, this aspect is a good sign from what I read. Sorry I didn't mention this above as I didn't know. But sleeping on a perch would be better I believe.
The sound that the Lori makes when we go to sleep is hard to explain, it's definitely not the lively sound during the day, maybe it's like a yearning/mourning sound as though it's dreaming, perhaps even maybe even like it's sick. On one evening it was such that we went to see what was happening and thought to take the bird to a Vet the next day, but the next day the bird was happy as usual.
Thanks for the advice about the blanket, we will try this and see what happens.
Any further experiences with sleeping behaviour of Lorikeets would be appreciated.


View attachment 336645
 

lr24

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Thanks for responding, the response to your questions are:
Yes this is the main cage. For a lot of the time the bird is roaming around the house and stretching its wings.
With respect to the perches, my terminology may be wrong but I meant the branches and these are different size and texture. I'll change the layout so that one is higher for sleep. I didn't know it needed a platform at the top so I'll put one in.
The bird's age is 9-12 months.
 

Katcat

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So just some tips on the cage, things I notice missing. Natural branches for perching, toys for stimulation (they need more than those plastic toys ), seagrass mats or some kind of comfy bed, and something nice to walk on.
A few questions. Do you cover the bird at night? Does it have any issues with its feet?

Hope this helps :)
 
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lr24

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Hi, thanks for advising, we are progressing with some of the requirements.
We now cover the cage at night and there are no issues with this. The only thing as stated originally is the sound that the bird makes as it's time to go to bed. Whilst not achieving the number of hours required (I heard up to 14 hours somewhere), the bird is healthy in general.
The number of hours is important for me to find but it's difficult to obtain the answer, the information that I have is colloquial from forums. I don't know if there is a scientific answer given the variables (type of bird, location, bird's makeup, breaks during sleep, etc), and also there is the rest time during the day where there may be naps, but I haven't seen a formal recommendation.
It doesn't have any issues with its feet but we will ask the question on the next vet check-up.
 
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Katcat

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Hi, thanks for advising, we are progressing with some of the requirements.
We now cover the cage at night and there are no issues with this. The only thing as stated originally is the sound that the bird makes as it's time to go to bed. Whilst not achieving the number of hours required (I heard up to 14 hours somewhere), the bird is healthy in general.
The number of hours is important for me to find but it's difficult to obtain the answer, the information that I have is colloquial from forums. I don't know if there is a scientific answer given the variables (type of bird, location, bird's makeup, breaks during sleep, etc), and also there is the rest time during the day where there may be naps, but I haven't seen a formal recommendation.
It doesn't have any issues with its feet but we will ask the question on the next vet check-up.
Is your bird cold? is there any drafts?

Sounds like your onto it. Hardware stores have seagrass mats for cheap, and you can make cable ties and your imagination to come up with all sorts of things for the birds. :)

So my older lorrikeet does this, its 5pm shes tired but comes up stairs wit hus to have her fruit etc while we eat dinner we then taken her down stairs and put her in her cage 3/4 covered up with a heat lamp on for an hour. it is infrared so it dosent bother her and shes often asleep when we cover her by 8pm.

We are usually in the room till midnight and we hear her around 11 coming down for a snack :) and telling us off before she goes back to sleep.

Generally I uncover her at about 7-8am give her nectar, let her eat then let her our for a play till midday when i put her away for a doze and to eat. and then out again in the afternoon before we repeat the process. She seems ok with this and is awake early anyway hehe Hope this helps?
 

lr24

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Thanks for your feedback.
And yes I was aware of the wind gusts which we are careful with, and the bird does not appear to be cold.
 
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