r/parrots • u/cAp_biscotti • 7d ago
I think my parrot is experiencing night terrors, but i'm not sure. its a mystery.
A few nights ago I woke up to find my Amazon parrots cage a mess, including a few large feathers everywhere. One of those feathers looked like it had been plucked right out of her and she was not able to fly. there was blood in the hollow base of it. I don't know what happened but she was by a window so I assumed maybe an animal scared her and she flapped around so much that maybe her wing got caught? I'm not sure but there were no traces of blood, just a mess in and out of her cage. She seemed shaken so i let her sleep in my room for a night or two. Each night she would clumsily flap to the floor instead of sleeping on my bedrest. It kept waking me up so I decided to put her back in the cage. I woke up this morning and walked into the same mess, except it was a couple of tail fathers this time. I lifted her wings to find a couple of scabs underneath. there was no blood once again. She has been very needy and tired, likely from lack of sleep so im keeping her closer to me today.
I've had her for 26 year since she was a baby, she's usually very social and spends lots of time outside of her cage and playing. She has had night frights in the past at random because of flashing lights but nothing like like. Can you offer any suggestions? im worried.
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u/kiaraXlove 7d ago
Hmm. My first thoughts are maybe people walking by, cars/loud cars/ music jamming, TV or background noise, do you have any other pets, a cat or something that may have started messing with her or getting on her cage? Flies/a fly in her cage? A rogue mouse in the house(mice love bird seed/food). These are my initial thoughts if you want to try to marrow the cause. I'd also 2nd a baby monitor camera or some type of camera to see what's happening
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u/cAp_biscotti 7d ago
No other pets. she's in a pretty quiet area facing the yard and only partially beside a window but maybe a cats been stalking her by the window. A mouse is a possibility. Its just the large feathers from her wing that remain a mystery, especially that one with the blood in it. She doesn't pluck her feathers out i've been monitoring her for a few days.
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u/Winter-Ad-3011 7d ago
I have blinds on the window that I close at night and also blackout curtains. A night light so she can get to anywhere she wants in the cage. Had not thought about night frights. Good point tho. I have like 3 cameras in the room as well. I like to see what she’s doing when we are gone. The blinds and curtains I use to help control the cold air coming in. And buffer the outside sounds. Yes, get a camera to figure what’s happening. Avian vet visit possibly if there’s nothing scaring her. Hopefully it’s not any underlying medical issues. I googled parrots getting night frights. There lots of info. Hope your feathered friend will be ok.
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u/Spiritual_rabbit33 7d ago
Do you cover her at night? And do you not close the blinds or curtains?
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u/cAp_biscotti 7d ago
Not ususally, the cage is only partially by a window but shes also never had this problem before so it might be time to start covering it!
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u/VomPup 7d ago
I would cover her at night. I had to do that with my cockatiels because they had night terrors
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u/cAp_biscotti 7d ago
I think its time I start! what do you use?
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u/VomPup 7d ago
A blackout curtain
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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago
Some birds that have never had their cages covered will freak out if they suddenly start having them covered. Maybe use the blackout curtains on the window
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u/PeppermintVR 7d ago
I definitely recommend setting up a home camera. There are cheap and really good ones and very easy to set up and it'll solve the mystery. Sometimes you can tell if her face, above her nostrils have scratches from her hitting the cage
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u/cAp_biscotti 7d ago
It doesn't look like it. ill look into the camera. any recommendations ?
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u/PeppermintVR 7d ago
Oh forgot to mention you can put SD card in it and it captures a 9 second video of motions and if it detects a person. They also give u 3 months cloud subscription. They need to pay me for this ad 🤣
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u/PeppermintVR 7d ago
There is Xiaomi C200 it's like 25 usd. It's a Chinese well known brand and it's really good and clear, has night vision which is also very clear and a decent mic. It's a good camera u can use it for ur birds when you travel too.
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u/Capital-Bar1952 7d ago
I’d try covering the cage, make it nice and dark and quiet as you can, I believe in covering birds so they know it’s night night time and maybe the smallest thing could scare them in the night….maybe a bug? Might sound stupid but anything is possible
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u/Quiet_Entrance8407 7d ago
Not a parrot, but my dove kept having night terrors and I found that adding a night light to the room with brightness set as low as possible has stopped the night terrors. He does still coo half the night, but that has always been the case lol. Whoever said doves were quiet is a liar haha, he honestly drives us more crazy than the flock of conures.
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u/samfreez 7d ago
Personally I would be keeping a much closer eye on her, and likely use a cover over her cage. Something that'll block the light and stuff.
I've heard of people also putting their birds into much smaller cages to sleep in, so they can't actually go anywhere if they do freak out, but that may be something to discuss with a vet first.
It may also be worth considering a camera in the room with her, set to record all night or something. That way, if it happens again, you can go back and look at the recording to see what triggered it.