2 questions; Honey Sticks & Sleeping Cage

[jaimie]

Hi,
Any input would be appreciated.
1 My cockatiels love honey sticks, then I went to a bird only store and according to the shopkeeper, its like poison for birds. I have already thrown them out, but thought maybe she was a little over the top with it.
Does anyone give their cockatiels honey sticks?

2nd question, I have a TAG 14 mos. old, Newman I have had Newman for about 3 weeks now. The vet advised a sleeping cage, (night frights, though he hasn't had any) so I have been putting him in it every night and covering him. I put Newman beside me to sleep covering him with a blanket, not totally, to keep him warm as he is on meds for an upper resperatory infection. I just read an article that if you cover and isolate your birds they may become aggresive and see it as being seperated from the flock. I put him to bed before me as he needs 12 hours of sleep. The first owner didn't put him in a sleeping cage. When I put him to bed he shuts right up and just peeks through the blanket looking sad. He LOVES to get in the sleeping cage, but not sure if it is to sleep or if he thinks he is going back to his 1st ower.
Thank you

[The Outlaw]

I think you are overthinking this. I only cover birds if they are in the same part of the house with lights and TV on. All other birds here are uncovered.

As for liking or disliking a sleeping cage, my TAG is the easiest going bird on earth. I don't think she cares one way or the other. I provide the opportunity for all of my fids to rise and set with the sun. Its up to them to utilize that time however they choose.

[Tigey]

yeah my tiels love honey sticks, ive just started buying them in the last few weeks. dont know anything about them being bad for their health tho..

[cfulhage]

I believe that honey sticks, plain honey, or anthing else with honey as an ingredient is bad for our fids. Honey is potentially fatal for parrots as it can contain spores of a bacteria, which is why it should not be fed to human children under the age of 3 as well. Maybe the honey on the sticks goes through some sort of processing that makes them okay for parrots, but I wouldn't take the chance, IMO.

As for covering the cage, Ollie's gets covered, but only because she is in the living room where all the action takes place. She does not have her own sleeping cage. I don't think you have to worry about any of the psychology you mentioned behind cage covering...

[jaimie]

I know the questions are kind of dumb but I have been torturing myself with them daily.
The store where I get my advice is over the top with birds. I bought a huge cage for my tiels, they wanted me to bring the birds, all the toys everything to do with the tiels. So they can set the cage up for me.They then threw out 80% of the toys saying they were unsafe, (new store bought bird toys), I had to start from scratch again $600.00 later. Anyhow now I am so paranoid that I am doing the right thing.

[TooLover]

Jamie,
I don't know anything about the honey sticks. I do know that a sleeping cage isn't going to hurt the bird at all. Ms. Cookie came to us with a sleeping cage. Her day cage is in the living room; when everyone else goes to bed she DEMANDS to be put in her sleeping cage where she sleeps on top of her stuffed animals. I am thinking that maybe the pet store is trying to get you to spend money that you shouldn't have to?
Please post any questions here - we are all here to help and learn from each other!

[kp_in_scott]

Slow down and relax. The fact that you are at least concerned about doing the right thing for your birds is wonderful. Just use common sense. Both my greys sleep in covered cages in my bedroom. The rest of my flock, sleep in their own cages and are not covered. It really depends on what the birds get used to. I feel that my greys do better with the rest that a covered cage provides. The other birds don't seem to need it. I wasn't aware of the "honey stick" problem with birds. But logically, if you don't give it to a baby, it's probably better not to give it to a bird. What holds 'nurti berries' together? Maybe you could use something like that or the Lefeber cakes in place of the "honey sticks". As for toys, you don't have to spend a fortune to entertain your birds. I make most of our toys, but you do have to use safe materials. I'd go broke buying toys for my flock. lol
Welcome to the board, we're glad to have you with us.