how much time should one spend with their bird each day?

[Buteo]

My Mom takes care of Petey now and he's up around 8AM. He can stay in or on his cage or playset as he choses (He's fully flighted now & does laps around the livingroom & kitchen). The only time his cage is closed is when food is being prepared.

Grace's cage is uncovered & opened usually between 11-Noon. Water/food dish cleaning & the cage floor paper is changed.
She gets her chopped fruits next. After eating, she's allowed to hang out in, or on the top of her cage or on her playset. She vigorously plays with at least 3 or 4 of her toys for a couple of hours.

Around 2:30-3:00 Pm, she either goes inside her cage to get a drink, munch her treat stick or eat some of her pellets....
or if she's on her playset, she just nibbles on the pellets in one of the 2 cups.

After that, she usually goes into her cage & up to her sleeping roost spot in the upper right corner for a little snooze....
or just sits, beakgrinding & practicing her sounds. She may have her flightsuit put on her or so she can get some shoulder time with Judy as she moves around the house.
The flightsuit is removed after an hour or so.

At 5:00-6:00Pm, she gets her veggies when we eat dinner. Judy says goodbye & heads off to work around 7PM

At 7:30 or so, she has her flightsuit put back on so she can get more shoulder time with me, my parents and my daughter.

My Dad is usually the first off to bed (8-8:30). My daughter not long after that 9-9:30Pm).

Mom puts Petey to bed around 9Pm and heads off to Snooztown herself around 10-10:30.
Grace, Max & I are alone till Judy comes home from work (which can be anywhere from Midnite to 1:30Am).
If I'm brushing Max, Grace usually goes to her playset or to the back of my computer chair.

I change the pad in Grace's suit around 11Pm.
Grace love my wife & feels she MUST wait till she sees Judy come home before she goes to bed or she squawks.
After she gets 30 mins of skritches, kisses & shoulder time, we take off her suit, cover her cage for the night & shut off the lights in the room.

The TV is still on for a few more hours, but the volume is kept very low.
It's usually after 5:30 Am or so before I'm exhausted enough to fall asleep. (Not the best hours I realize, but when ya suffer from severe Chronic Abdominal Pain, ya do what ya have to.)

I feel I must add that during her "day" whenever one of us passes her cage we talk to Grace. We get her to step up, give her skritches & kisses for 5-10 mins, then set her back where she wants (playset or cage).

[cbalvino]

Wow,such different schedules,I love spending time with them,and since the tiels are free flight,I know they have fun all day! but at least they are all together and attended to at least twice a day,my family say's you'd rather be up with the birds than anywhere else! yup I would! PS love the term "goons" so funny cracked me up

[Kevin]

Good answer!

Originally Posted by Mike B

There is no set amount of time. The question you need to ask, yourself. Are you offering your birds the best you can do? Thier out time is it quality time? 15 mins spent w/ you is better than an hour alone on top of thier cage. Are your birds healthy? These are questions to ask yourself. Everyones situation is different. Some days my birds are out 7-8 hours some days an hour to feed, and water.

Mike

[gonefnuts]

My sun conure stays out of his cage pretty much from sun up to dusk, unless I need to leave home for a bit. Sunny luvs to be with me riding inside my shirt, just happy all snuggly warm, he demands to be with me whenever he can.