Advice for Inconsiderate Spouse?

[TJ Relic]

I hesitated to return to the board at all, because I wasn't sure if I could be tactful about those who want to judge my relationship by one small issue. Please keep in mind that I wouldn't come here for marriage advice, and your "not criticizing" was impolite. Thanks.

As far as being able to tell us his sleep is being disturbed, I don't think he would. He isn't very vocal at all, his average chatter is a low quack-like sound. He only gets loud if he hears the refrigerator door squeak, or that vaccum commercial with the squeaking sounds. Also if he is serious about chewing on my shirt or being on my shoulder, he will sometimes give an angry screech when I remove him. He isn't allowed on my shoulder at all, and chewed holes in all my shirts the first week I had him, so that's not allowed either.

He beak grinds and makes odd little sounds for about 1/2 hour when he is covered and then he is quiet. But when I listen closely I hear him moving around. You can definitely see the results of bad sleep the next day, when he is grumpy.

I highly recommend Green-Cheeks as apartment pets, that's for sure. He started pooping on command today too, I'm so proud!

[swanwillow]

green cheeks are awesome, I give ya that :D

[shadowsmom]

Please don't take my post as judging your relationship....I didn't mean it that way at all. My husband and I disagreed about Lola's sleep too, and we just agreed that the lights would go way down when we covered her and the tv volume went down as well. It's sometimes hard to convey what you are thinking by typing it on the internet.
When Lola is put to bed she grinds her beak and then she is quiet for awhile too. SHe will move around later on though and eat or flap her wings~~just like a kid not ready to go to sleep quite yet :)

[hands2talk2u]

In order to better help you, I decided to monitor my own behavior with my budgie. I am a night owl and often am up (as you can see by this post) way into the night. Cayman (my budgie/parakeet) and I compromise. When I want to stay up late, I cover his cage, turn down the lights, turn down the volume on the DVD player (I have one that is connected to the surround sound..I HAVE to use surround to watch DVDs), and turn on captions/subtitles. He will sing/chirp with the music for a while, but when he's sleepy he falls asleep. I hope this suggestion will help you out.
If your bird is grumpy the next day, you might want to let him sleep later into the day if possible. Not everyone's situation lends itself to that.
Hope this helps!

[Tinna]

Originally Posted by birdguy

sleep cage in bedroom.

My lovie is in the living room with the TV, radio, etc. which is connected to the kitchen so there is always noise. she will just fall asleep when ever she feels like it.

personally, i think that you are being overcaring of your conure. saying to your husband, who is supposed to be more inmoptant than your birds, that he can't have the TV on past 8 is non-sense. in my time zone, all of the good shows start coming on at 8. get the bird a sleep cage in a different room or just leave him in the living room. he'll adapt, that's what animals do.

Whoa whoa whoa...the husband does NOT take priority over the bird.


Everyone in the house hold is of equal value and can find a level ground to come to an agreement on. Come on now you have a bird you'd never ditch him if your husband/wife threw a fit about it you'd launch back and fight them about it! I completely understand where she's coming from about the bird. There are WAY too many rehomes because humans can't come to terms about the lives they're entrusted with and if Hubby can't deal or be sensitive to her concerns about the bird I'd put my foot up his backside too and tell him to deal with it. As for being over sensitive about the bird, birds are fragile little things they're here for one day and can be gone in under 24 hours before we can save them if we don't catch the signs. Unless she's going around and taking far more care of the bird and ignoring the husband there's nothing wrong with it. All she has to do is make sure that everyone in the house hold is treated equally and no one is neglected, that includes her concerns about the hubby cranking the surround sound and frazzling her bird.

[Stasia]

I was actually just talking about this issue while at the vet's today... :)

We recently moved and I was concerned about our conure and tiel being in a room that is sort of attached to our living room, like a den but there is no door there to seperate. He was stressing to me the importance of sleep time being completely un-interrupted and said as long as we keep the cage a reasonable distance from the TV (it is at around a corner far from it now), keep the volume low, keep the area by the cages dark and try not to walk near them (he said movement and light would be very disruptive to sleep) that it should be fine. He also strongly suggested a thick cage cover saying that it would muffle the sound of TV.

Good luck! :)

[TJ Relic]

I was looking at fabric at the craft store the other day for a better cage cover. I decided what I was going to buy, then wandered off to look for wood pieces and beads, decided I didn't want wood pieces or beads, and walked out without returning to the fabric section. Doh! I'll be returning tomorrow.

[sgoad]

I think your spouse is more important that your bird. Plus, birds sleep whenever they want with or without distractions. ZZZZZZZZZZZ

[dani_L]

Whether or not the bird or the husband is more important shouldn't be the issue though... There can be a little give and take i suppose, hubby should be encouraged to be a bit more understanding of your bird's requirements, and you could also make the necessary adjustments for birdie to get a better night's sleep.

[Tinna]

On another note they sleep and play through out the day and some birds are easier going. I never cover Jean's cage, I'm up from 10AM until 3AM in the morning every day. The TV's always on for him unless we're sleeping etc. Maybe we're over reacting a bit by thinking it has to be a must to have a cave covered or worry about us walking by the cage. Unless your animal's high strung I can't see it being detrimental and the bird will let you know when it doesn't like it. So if Hubby's not being excessive with the noise it should be just fine to leave em in the room or if the TV has to be on with the light then cover the cage but the bird will ignore the volume eventually. He'll pluck or become irritable if he doesn't like it. You've had your bird long enough I know it's always good to err on the side of caution but your bird can be a big boy/girl and handle some of the stuff we worry about on it's own.