Nighttime Food Question

[Maui's Mom]

Pardon me for sounding silly but maybe ya all can help with this one.
The youngest GW, she is 8 months old. During the day she eats well, just telling ya that so you dont think I starve her during the day. She along with the others are given plenty to eat during waking hours.
Lately, she has been emptying her dinner bowl and then goes and plays. I'll say she eats 75% and 25% gets played with and dropped or thrown about.

Between 7 and 8 everynight the cages get their 2nd cleaning up for the day. Bowls are washed, fresh water. The bottoms are cleaned up and they are put to bed.

Between 9 - 10 p.m. little miss comes down off her perch and goes hunting in her bowl for food. Now during the evening ( after cleaning them ) I leave a small amount of food, nothing fresh, some nuts, seed and some pellets. Until recently no one ate the evening food, they all just went to bed. Now she is coming down, eating and then looking at me as if to say , " More Please".
Do I keep feeding her this late at night ? I dont want to ignore her but she puts those big beautiful eyes up against the cage and looks at me as if she is so hungry she hasnt eaten for days.

So, do I put extra food in at night ? if she empties the bowl do I refill ?
Am I hurting her in any way having her eat so late at night ?

I just realized recently that Desi ( the Hy ) comes off her perch around 4 a.m. and eats all the food out of her dish. I heard her dropping the mac nuts the other night. She is covered and Im wondering if she is sleep eating ( lol ) better than sleep walking I guess.

Suggestions and replies are sooo wanted. Thanks very much.

[The Outlaw]

Hmmm Assuming that your bird's weights are correct for their age, sex and species, I would think its up to you. My birds never finish everything I offer. As a matter of fact, I'd say that on average, they probably also leave about 25 percent of whatever I offer in their bowls or on the cage bottom papers.

Young birds do seem to eat a lot. I would give her more.

[Maui's Mom]

Thanks so much. Her head hasnt left the bowl for the last 10 minutes, she must be the slowest chewer ( lol ).

[gbird]

Pita gets his breakfast, then I make his dinner. The rest of the day he has his pellets, his dried fruit/seed/nut/ mix, and some treats. He snacks all day....so when I make him his dinner he he picks out his favorites (corn, apples & cheerios) then just stops eating. I leave his pellets and nut/fruit mix all night, so he always has something to snack on...lol

[cfulhage]

Ollie also has pellets/dried fruit and nut mix in her cage 24/7. If she's hungry there is always something. I think unless your birds are overweight or you are training with a food reward system this is the way to go. If they're hungry, let em eat!

[Maui's Mom]

Thanks everyone for responding. I dont use food as a reward, I figure I eat when Im hungry, so why shouldnt she. Tonight she seems to tired to come down for her late nite snack. I think her new Christmas prezzies tired her out today.

[Cindy215]

Are you saying she's in the dark and eating or is she in a lighted room?

If she's not in a dark room then she's not asleep which is why she's eating. Of the birds I'm reading about that are doing all this eating at night it seems like the ones who get covered. Proving covers dont really do anything. Unless it's one of those dark HEAVY ones and even then I dont think they're so great.

I've never had a bird in 20 years wake up to eat. Their metabolisms just dont work that way. If they are in light then they HAVE to eat that's how it works it's a sensor in the brain.

I urge everyone to move their birds to a dark peaceful room where they can get a good nights sleep. It's healthier and their behaviors will be better during the day, too. Ask your vets.

[Big_Blues]

I normally leave some pellets in their dishes just in case they are extra hungry for some reason. The pellets will not spoil overnight and if they are "really" hungry they will eat those. Depending on their daily exercise depends alot on how hungry they are.