Sleep Screaming?

[Syaoransbear]

Many times when I go into the bird room late at night, I hear my conure, Bitey, mumbling noises and saying 'pretty bird'. Last night at about 3am he was making soft screeching noises for a while, and throwing in the odd 'pretty birdy'. After a while it turned into nearly full blown screeching and screaming. I waited for him to stop because I couldn't hear any of my other birds making noises so I knew it wasn't fighting. He didn't stop, so I went into the room and he was asleep on the bottom of the cage snuggled in a blanket (he sleeps on the bottom inside a blanket every night).

Was he talking/screaming in his sleep? I gave him a bigger blanket afterwards and the screaming never started again. I had disturbed him at 12am to let him poop, could that have done it? He refuses to poop inside of his cage and his morning poops are huge. Bigger than african grey poops. My mom is a light sleeper and she never heard him, so I think that he might be screaming in his sleep every night. I had only heard him because I was still awake in my room next door. Is there a way to prevent this, or is he just a funny little bird with bad dreams?

[Tishrei]

I found this on the internet.

Night Frights In Pet Birds
By: Petey & Petunia


Avian Night Fright happens to some Pet Birds when they fear being
unable to see at night. This is especially true of Cockatiels.


The birds will become scared and thrash around their cages,
which often leads to injury.

Some theories have been put forth as to why birds suffer
from night fright, including nightmares.



Do Birds Dream?

Well, according to a few scientific studies, birds do have dreams,
but the findings suggest they dream about their songs, there
is no evidence to date that birds have nightmares such as
humans do.

Many birds have poor vision at night. It seems to make more
sense that something scares the bird during the night, and
then being unable to see clearly, the bird panics.

Being in a limited space, and coupled with the bird's
natural response to fly away from danger, the bird then flies
into the cage or toys which only tends to increase the
anxiety of the bird.



How To Prevent Night Frights

If your bird does suffer from night fright, then you will
want to make some changes in it's environment. Here's
some suggestions to help prevent night fright.


* Leave a dim light on in the room at night
* Don't cover the bird's cage, or cover it only partially
* Don't put the cage in a new environment at night
* If you get a new cage or toy, allow the bird to become
accustomed to it during the day first
* Lightning or lights from passing cars coming in thru the
windows can set a bird off. Use a clothespin to keep the
curtains in the room shut
* Make sure the bird is getting enough sleep during the night
* Make sure pets are not allowed in the room after birdie
gets to bed
* Avoid entering the room during the night
* Try to make sure the bird is undisturbed by noises
during the night.


Birds that sleep in the wild are accustomed to a certain
noise level in the forest. A complete quietness means there
is danger in the woods for them. Birds in the wild are
also used to having some light at night from the moon and stars.

You may try leaving some soft, soothing music on during the night,
hard rock won't cut it. You can also purchase small recorders
that play soft forest sounds which seem to be soothing to a number
of birds. Petey and Petunia enjoy these sounds and it has a calming
effect on them. Tweet Tweet likes to listen to classical music.


What To Do About Night Frights

If your bird is having an attack of night frights, immediately
turn the lights on in the room. Speak to the bird in a soft,
calming tone of voice.

Don't try to reach in the cage and grab the bird, that may only
scare it more.

Remember, even though night frights may not be caused by a
bird's dreaming, the panic and anxiety is much the same as
if one of your children had awakened from a nightmare.

Just like you would reassure a child, you must also calm
and reassure the bird.

You may want to purchase a transmitter like is used for
babies so you can monitor the sounds in the bird's room
during the night.

[ROYJOY]

my p'let peeped several times troughout the night last night. i dont know if he was awake or not. hope he's not sick.

[Busguy]

Tishrei, thank you for sharing that. Very good information to have!

[Alibluemoon]

Thanks for the info, Tishrei.

I was up in the wee earlies this morning because something scared my ekkie. My sis usually leaves the tv on low and his cage gets some minor ambient light at night, but I turned it off. About twenty minutes later, Linus made the most dreadful shriek and jumped off his perch.

Since I wasn't yet asleep, I know none of the cats were in "crazies" mode.

Linus is now sleeping next to me, quiet and calm--apparently soothed by the computer light. Maybe it really was just waking up and finding it to be all dark. I guess I'll have to make sure he's always got some ambient lighting.