Should i cover cockatiel

Darkness and nighttime can be very stressful for your bird, particularly if you have recently brought them home or moved them into a different cage. The cover provides a level of protection from the outside world — where they feel more secure and less vulnerable. Secondly, for you as an owner, covering the cage enables you to lower their noise. Cockatiels are quite a vocal species of bird, even during the night.

A cage cover can effectively dilute the noise in which they make, which can of course be helpful when it comes to you and your own sleep. Lastly, another benefit of placing a cover on the cage is that it indicates to your bird that its time to sleep. Its a sign that they can learn to look out for and become familiar with. They will soon learn what this means and what is then required of them. You can essentially help train them when and when not to sleep although of course this will happen naturally when the sun goes down and darkness begins to set.

With a cover, you are able to manipulate the darkness — perhaps bringing extra darkness on early and influencing the time in which your birds can settle down for the night. When it comes to covering your cockatiel cage, you must be aware of what cover to use and how to appropriately put it on.

You need to ensure you are using a cover which is breathable; not too dense and heavy. This is the kind of cover you will want to purchase from Amazon. Being black in color, being non-toxic and breathable are some of the features you should be looking for.

When it comes to placing the cover on the cage, you will need to be strategic in how you do so depending on the cover and how it was designed. A lot of covers that were designed exclusively for birds cages may be able to completely cover the cage due to the materials used.

However, if you are using your own cover — or are not sure how breathable the materials are, you will need to ensure that not all of the cage is covered. This will allow air and oxygen to flow in and out of the cage freely — letting your bird s breathe. Its important that you only use the cage cover during the during sleeping hours. So, it should be mostly used during the night, or for infrequent periods during the day if your tiels want to take a nap.

Ultimately, you are going to need to experiment — monitoring your bird in the process and seeing how they respond. Putting your cockatiel to bed may differ from individual to individual. In the wild, these birds naturally settle at dusk, waking when they light begins to surface.

This will change across the year and as seasons change — so they are very responsive to light and align their sleep accordingly. For birds in captivity, you must try to stick to such a schedule. It is debatable whether keeping them up long after dark is healthy for them.

That being said, many cockatiel owners will put their birds to bed at the same time that they go. This can be anywhere between pm. Generally, when the lights are off and it gets dark, your cockatiels will know that it is time to bed. This is why you need to ensure that you keep a consistent schedule and do not manipulate the lighting drastically day by day, night by night.

One web site suggests that you slowly get them used to be covered by starting just at the back of the cage, I'm thinking of trying this with Boomer. I dont cover Zeus, he really doesnt seem to like it, he hisses and all. I let it go, he knows when its night time, hes such a good boy. I think u should let them decide. Welshanne Ripping up the road Celebirdy of the Month. Mayor of the Avenue. Avenue Spotlight Award. Avian Angel. South Wales, Britain.

Real Name Ann Burdett. All my five cages are covered, but that is because at the moment it gets pretty cold at night even with the cover of central heating. Because of decorating the birds had to stay in the sittingroom for a few nights a few years ago and they got covered and we watched TV with the sound right down, going to bed earlier so they could carry on having their rest!

How daft can you get. There was always a row coming from Leroy's cage until one night it stopped, dead silence. I went over to check all was OK and found a huge hole been eaten in the cover just in line with one of her eyes. She glared at me through it because I was blocking her view of the TV! JoshD Walking the driveway. Real Name Joshua. I think it's better to cover because that way the bird will stay nice and cozy in the chilly night.

But if you don't cover it, you will be waken by beautiful chirps singing to the sunrise early mornin'. Renae Joyriding the Neighborhood Avenue Veteran. Celebirdy of the Month. I have my Cockatiels in the bird room with 8 other birds, so I have to cover them they've always been covered since I got them or else they will scream until all hours of the morning and set the other birds off.

Once they're covered they know it's bed time and they have to go to sleep. I also provide them with a night light in case they have a night fright.. I cover all my birds though, not just the Cockatiels. Welshanne said:.

Gen Joyriding the Neighborhood Avenue Veteran. I cover 1 of my tiels cages halfway because they tend to have night frights if I don't and the other tiel's cage, they are scared of being covered, and prefer to stay uncovered. All of my fids wait until AM to start chirping quietly until I get up, around 7am, hehe! Bokkapooh Ripping up the road Avenue Veteran. I do not cover, but my mom covers hers. So, it's neither wrong or right, it's based on whether which option is right for your own birds.

Then it would seem that Sawyer will always need his own cage, at least at night. Jally Rollerblading along the road Avenue Veteran. Much like people, their rest periods can be disturbed by noise and bright light. For this reason, many owners choose to cover their birds at night.

Parrots in the wild sleep or roost in holes in trees. These holes are commonly called a nest cavity. Approximately 85 different species of birds in North America use nest cavities as well. But there has been a problem with many species of birds due to the destruction of habitat where they locate or create nest cavities.

The habitats they are looking for are sometimes called snags, and they are primarily made up of decaying or dead trees. These nest cavities sometimes develop in trees from a branch that dies and falls off of the tree due to decay from within the tree. Some holes in trees have been excavated by other creatures and are abandoned for a variety of reasons.

Birds will take over the abandoned nest cavity and even customize it by chewing through the decaying wood, making it larger, or they simply take up residence in an abandoned hole that seems to suit them. These nest cavities are dark and protect the bird at night as well as providing a safe place to sit on eggs and raise their young. This cavity keeps the rain off of the bird family as well as shielding them from winds.

It is darker than a nest sitting out on a branch. So if you think about it, a bird's cage or enclosure is not just an environment that protects it and ensures that it doesn't get into any dangerous situations when it is left unsupervised. It is a safe place to rest, to relax, and to play and amuse itself in a safe environment. Using a cage cover at night mimics that nest cavity. It also shelters the bird from any ambient light that is in your home as well as allowing your bird to sleep without any drafts caused by air conditioning or an air purifier that you might have running.