Experiences at the kitchen table at 5:00 or so in the morning...
Cat napping...
Posted 10-31-2009 at 04:02 PM by NotEnoughTime
I've never been able to understand how keeping a bird in 'darkness' helps with unwanted sexual behaviour.
I've had a budgie, cockatiel, parrotlet and now a green cheek to enliven my life. I've never covered any of them when they "go to sleep" and I only noticed unwanted sexual behaviours in the budgie.
My budgie (or budgerigar if you prefer) was the first parrot I'd ever dealt with and, with my then "lack of knowledge," I went with the pet store recommendation for cage and toys. One of the toys was a mirror. "Budgies *love* mirrors," I was told. Little did I know how *much* the bird would love the mirror. The budgie "bonded" with the "bird in the mirror" quite quickly and lost all interest in being with anyone else.
Ever since this time I have never had mirrors for the birds - I teach about mirrors - but I do not encourage any standing in front of mirrors and looking at the "bird in the mirror."
When it comes to covering parrots I could see how there may be some "seasonality" issues with the Australian budgie and cockatiel - but the conure and parrotlet come from the Ecuador/Peru/Brazil area of South America where seasons are marginal if they exist at all. Ecuador and Peru, where the parrotlet lives, experiences little seasonal variation in the tropical Amazon basin.
My view is that we cover a bird's cage for our own convenience and not the parrot's. We like it when the bird is silent when we want it to be quiet and interacts with use when we want it to interact with us... But, in my opinion, this does not lead to a mentally healthy parrot.
So I leave my girl uncovered and she gets up with us and goes to sleep at the same time we do.
I also often see her napping during the day...
Perhaps a cat nap.
I've had a budgie, cockatiel, parrotlet and now a green cheek to enliven my life. I've never covered any of them when they "go to sleep" and I only noticed unwanted sexual behaviours in the budgie.
My budgie (or budgerigar if you prefer) was the first parrot I'd ever dealt with and, with my then "lack of knowledge," I went with the pet store recommendation for cage and toys. One of the toys was a mirror. "Budgies *love* mirrors," I was told. Little did I know how *much* the bird would love the mirror. The budgie "bonded" with the "bird in the mirror" quite quickly and lost all interest in being with anyone else.
Ever since this time I have never had mirrors for the birds - I teach about mirrors - but I do not encourage any standing in front of mirrors and looking at the "bird in the mirror."
When it comes to covering parrots I could see how there may be some "seasonality" issues with the Australian budgie and cockatiel - but the conure and parrotlet come from the Ecuador/Peru/Brazil area of South America where seasons are marginal if they exist at all. Ecuador and Peru, where the parrotlet lives, experiences little seasonal variation in the tropical Amazon basin.
My view is that we cover a bird's cage for our own convenience and not the parrot's. We like it when the bird is silent when we want it to be quiet and interacts with use when we want it to interact with us... But, in my opinion, this does not lead to a mentally healthy parrot.
So I leave my girl uncovered and she gets up with us and goes to sleep at the same time we do.
I also often see her napping during the day...
Perhaps a cat nap.
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