Is it better to "cover" the cage at night or not?

[Iloveringnecks]

Hi all,

We started to try to cover our IRN,s cage with a sheer black fabric.
He didn,t care at the beginning, but sometimes he goes crazy and tries to bite the fabric.
I guess he dont like that "black thing" above his cage This is why we have stopped to use it. Maybe he was afraid of it too? The sun is early in the morning but he is quite adaptive when it comes to "be screaming in the morning." But he also talks qute noises almost giggles Hahaha sometimes he just screams at me if I am sleeping too long in the morning. He starts about 10.00 in the morning and that is ok,)It is like he almost wait until I am awake, but had enough if I sleep too long, he stretches his wings when I stretch my arms in my bed ( hihi he sees me from the living room )

What about you all?

[killsnapz]

My male is a morning screamer. As soon as it gets light enough he starts screaming every single morning. I tried covering the cage and it confused him for about one week and then i got the same result as you did. He just started ripping the cover to pieces and screaming. 10 am I whish!!!! Where I live in New England during the summer months it is fairly light by as early as 6:30 Am and if he hears you move in bed thats it.
I don't know if this is the correct way but my cage is mounted on a stand with wheels and when he starts screaming I just roll the cage out of the room and close the door. I am hoping he will put the two actions together that screaming will only get him put out of the room and it does stop the screaming and I can finish sleeping! Still for the past 3 months every morning he feels the need to scream every single morning. I though mabye having a full bowl of food might change it but he just wants to make noise not eat. If it keeps up he is going to find himself living in another room instead of being in the room with me at night.

[ellieelectrons]

I'm not sure that there is a right or wrong answer here. However, I do cover my birds at night in an effort to block out any artificial light. During winter I put two covers over them for warmth and during Summer I put one. When the sun is up the light still comes through so they can move around the cage okay but they can't see outside the cage very easily.

I'm not sure if my guys "like" the cover or not. Sometimes they do "snap" at it. However, I tend to think that it's more about the movement of the fabric as the cover is placed on the cage, I don't think mine mind once the cover is actually on the cage. In fact, sometimes when we have the lights on near their cage and we don't cover them, they start squarking at us, I think they want to go to sleep and can't because we haven't covered them.

Our guys are reasonably well-mannered regarding making noise first thing in the morning. They generally don't make noise until they hear us make a noise first. I've always found this quite bizarre as I thought all birds would make noise at sunrise. Although what I'm reading in your posts, your IRNs sound similar too.

Ellie.

[dholari]

covering according to me is fine, mittu doesnt make a single noise until i open the door , he is left all alone in the room and i draw the curtains to make sure it isnt too bright in the morning - i am an early bird so i am always up by 6 am rain or shine , i open the door for him by around 6.30 after my morning chai (tea) and i guess he is used to the schedule now, sometimes on a sunday it might be 7 30 am but he hasnt complained till now, same for his afternoon sleep , even though the room is bright in the afternoon he doesnt complain, he just calls out a few times and if there is no response he remains put up until i open the doors .. touchwood and thank god for that good manners.. covering his small cage - yes i do it when he gets pretty noisy, put him in the cage and cover up - day or night he is quiet after that - the cage doesnt have big opening in the wire frame so whether or not he bites at the fabric no damage done

[Melika]

When Hane slept in my bedroom I just had blackout curtains over my windows (I like to sleep in the dark too!) and Hane rarely ever made noise. Actually, he isn't often noisy anyway, but he tends to stay quiet in the mornings even now. My husband runs around the house with all the lights on (and I mean ALL- I still don't understand it) at 6am. First thing he does though (and what I always did) is feed Hane. I guess Hane is too busy stuffing his face to make noise!

[Iloveringnecks]

Hi all!

I have now started to cover the cage anyway:) The little Loomi snaps at the fabric sometimes
( especially when he see it clearly But anything that "flaps" near the cage he doesn,t like, hahaha when I had to rush away one day and was busy with tying to put my shirt on, the arms of the shirt came to close to cage...oh Loomi really tried to snap at it, and I just laughed, aaah poor bird I told him "No Loomi that is just my shirt", hihi he just stared at me, ready to snap at my shirt again:) I guess he just want to protect his cage
But when it comes to cover the cage... as soon as he have the "cover" above his head, he seems really pleased We have noticed that he is much alert and happy now when he gets his "beautysleep

Before, he woke up every time my fiance got up for work at 7 am and strated to screeeeeam or just trying to have his attention by singing, growling, or just playing or...screaming but not that much:P But then he got very tired very fast. It seems like he feels "protected" under his cover:) I agree with you Ellie, it is difficult to say weither they like it or not ( the cover ) but they seem much more "alert" when they have been sleeping better:)

Hahaha I had to laugh Melika, when you wrote "Hane is too busy stuffing his face to make noise!" Funny little bird! Hahaha our Loomi is "growling" in his food bowl when he eats, he seems to really like what he gets There is allways a little "echo" in that stainless-steel bowl

Dholari, it seems like your Mittu is really adapting to you:)
Killsnapz, oh gosh, hmm yes some birds seems more "awake" , your birdie pehaps wants very much attention? It,s not easy to know what they want in bird language
Tried new toys? Or new treats? Our Loomi loves millet! When I give him a piece of that he is sooo calm and nothing bothers him, he just sit there with his millet that he has grabbed with his toes and just enjooooyyy.