Ask Lafeber

Does a bird have to sleep in a cage?

I recently got a Sun Conure, he was barely over 11 weeks old when I got him from the breeder who hadn’t tried to teach him to step up to much. So he was still a little wobbly on his legs. So the first night I let him sleep in his cage, but when I got up in the morning he was still in the same spot, as if he hadn’t moved. The second night he woke me up cause he fell off his perch onto the bottom of the cage. So I took him out of the cage and made sure everything was ok. Then I laid a towel on my chest and put him on it, then folded half of it over him, and I fell asleep with him on my chest like that.

Ever since then he wants to go to sleep in the towel. He will actually crawl down me to the towel which is on the center arm rest of the loveseat I sit on, and crawl between the folded in half towel and sleep there all night long.

Is that ok for him to sleep there like that, or do I need to start making him sleep in his cage at night again now that he is a few weeks older and is more solid on his legs?

Hi Gregory,

This is where tough love comes into the picture for his best interest. He needs to sleep in his cage. If he has a really large cage, you might look into a smaller sleeping cage. But really, the sleeping cages are a newer concept – pet birds have slept in large cages for generations. Most Parrots do not have good night vision. A night light is good to have – he may not have moved that first night because it was dark and he was in a new place. In the wild, most parrots sleep in trees, while some do live in an area where they find cavities in rocks or trees. Adult parrots do not sleep in a nest – a nest is only used during breeding season. Towels or anything with fabric should not be in their cage or available for them to sleep or snuggle in when out of the cages. Conures are bad about ingesting the fibers and will eventually die from an impaction. Also, do not buy any type of bird bed, hut, nest, tent, etc regardless of what it is made of. These end up being a hormone trigger and cause behavior and health issues when the bird is older. And never let your bird sleep with you. There have been countless tragedies where a bird gets crushed or smothered by the owner during the night. You can have perches at various heights in the cage. He might prefer a lower perch right now, and then may move to the highest perch when he gets older. Covering the cage, or covered the part of the cage where he sleeps works well with some birds. They would choose a thick canopy in the wild, so having the cage covered at night offers them some sense of security. They are a prey animal so they don’t like to feel exposed, especially at night.

We have a great free webinar coming up next month that will address some of the things that are sold these days that are not safe for pet birds. You can register for free on this page, or watch for free later on Youtube if you miss the live event:

Webinar: The Grey Way — My Bird Wants That! But Does Your Bird Need That?

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda