Just how much sleep does a GCC need?

[christie]

Ok, so I'm probably just being a wee bit paranoid. I've got a 7.5 week old Pineapple Green Cheek. I know babies need more sleep, but just how much? She (I'm guessing the sex here, I find out the DNA test results tomorrow) seems to sleep a LOT. But, seems very normal in all other ways. We wake up around 5:30 am, have "together" and eating time (she gets spoon fed formula twice a day right now), then I put her up for a bit while I get ready for work. She'll typically play a little while, eat some pellets or veggies, then once I'm dressed we will sit down and she snuggled into my hand and goes to sleep. At this point she goes into her carrier half asleep snuggled in a wash cloth, and sleeps until we get to work. I put her in the work cage, she plays a few minutes, "shows off" so other staff will get her out. This lasts 30-45 min, then she naps again. We have this pattern. Play and activity for short periods, then sleep. Once home we play for a short period, she plays, eats, we both "groom" her, then naps. Around 8:30 pm she crawls into my hand or a waiting towel and puts herself to bed. At that point I put her into her sleep cage and she sleeps until I get up (or I'm guessing she does, she's covered and I don't hear any activity). She LOVES to be with people, if you aren't actively playing with you, she wants to snuggle in and just "be" with you, and sleeps.

It's been 15+ years since I had a bird this young and can't remember if he slept this much in the beginning. I'm pretty sure he did, but thought I would ask just to make sure.

[Bobioden]

Maxx my GCC just turned 1 year. I have had him since he was 11 weeks. His routine has not changed since I first got him. He takes a few naps a day in he Happy Hut. At around 7p he will climb into his hut and settle down for the night. I usually cover his cage around 8p, and he is out for the night. I uncover him around 6a- 7a, so he gets a good 10-12 hours or sleep a night.

[terri]

I just bought a sun conure .She was 8 weeks old [I never had a bird that young] I was a little panacked too.She was sleeping alot . Ive had her 3 weeks now and has made leaps and bounds growing into who she is.Now she just sleeps at night.[must be a baby thing]

[marie83]

My green cheek is around 2 years 4 months and naps regually during the day. He did nap more when we first got him at 7 weeks old and frequently used to fall asleep on me whilst having a cuddle.
good to see shes getting 10 hours, but is that completely undisturbed? if your still in the room you may want to consider getting her a sleep cage and putting her in a seperate room where its quieter.
When Ollie goes to bed we cover his cage and usually we stay in the same room for a while longer. Usually it doesn't matter cuz we dont have the tv on, my OH is usually on his computer and I'll be busy with assignments for my course. Nowadays if we even dare to talk or have the tv on quietly (rare thing) Ollie will start chuntering under his breath and start getting really fidgety in his hut, if we carry on he will eventually let out two high pitched screams as if to say SHUT UP!! He never used to do this so I think he is trying to put his foot down and say 'hey, this is my bedroom and I'm trying to sleep'

Other idea is the formula, if she's at home with you then why the twice a day feedings? Ollie was fully weaned at 6 weeks and was kept with his breeder another week to be 100% sure, I wouldn't think the formula is enough for her now so you need to reduce it to encourage her to eat more of her solid foods. If your filling her up on formula then she wont have as much room for proper food and she wont be getting as much energy as she needs which may be making her a bit more tired than normal. I'm not saying drop the formula altogether if shes enjoying it but maybe reduce it to small amounts once per day, you can always put it back up again if she doesn't take well to the change.

[christie]

Thank you everyone for your replies!

Phoenix does have her own "sleep" cage in my bedroom. Once I put her in that cage and cover it, I don't go back in there for the most part until I'm ready to go to bed. I have been known to go in just to "listen" to make sure she wasn't awake and stressed at being alone. So when she goes to bed around 8:30, it's undisturbed until 5:30 am. That's only 9 hours, I'm thinking I need to put her to bed earlier maybe.

She is eating a ton of pellets (Harrison's High Potency & Roudy Bush maint), veggies (peppers, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and corn) and fruits (apples and grapes). So she is getting a good verity and is constantly eating. Even when we are playing I keep a food bowl out and she goes to it all the time to eat. She was eating quite a bit of the pellets on her own before I took her from the breeder. I actually got her about 2 weeks earlier than expected. This breeder doesn't normally send home unweened babies, the way I prefer it actually. However there were some extenuating circumstances (death in family and had to leave the country for family and knew it would be a long while before she came back) and I have done the hand feeding thing before, so I know how important the temps, crop fill, empty, ect... are, but it's been a while and I didn't really want to do it again if possible. But it seems I am. Oh, and she is getting the Roudy Bush Formula 3 baby food.

When I feed her formula it is around 6 am and 6 pm. When I got Phoenix, the breeder was still feeding her three times a day, which I thought was a little weird because I was told they should be completely weened at 8 weeks. Which is why I've backed down on the number of feedings. I don't want to make her dependent on the feedings, but I also don't want to take the chance she isn't getting enough nutrition. She has lost a few grams of weight (I weigh her every morning) but seems to be stabilizing now and hopefully gaining weight again soon. She doesn't act like she doesn't feel good, is very playful when first out, then is ready for a nap. However I did notice today she played a little longer before "nap" time. Actually thinking back on it, except for sitting on a perch for a little while she really didn't take a nap until around lunch time.

Phoenix has already started flying 2-5 feet. Her longest distance so far is about 7 feet to get to me last night. She's very smart and very playful, and then she wants to cuddle and go to sleep!

So basically I'm hoping I'm just a paranoid mama and I need to just let her do her thing, and maybe put her to bed earlier. She does get a lot of attention at work (my co-workers lover her), which probably disturbs her "nap" times too!

[marie83]

Sounds like your doing everything right. She's probably just taking the formula because she enjoys it rather than she needs it. Just keep cutting it back and she will be fine, just do as your doing and keep an eye on her weight. I actually thing it's a good idea in the long run to keep feeding a bit of mash/eggfood or juice off of a spoon once a week or so. That way if they ever need medication it should be simple to give it without stressing the bird, I practice with a syringe too as some meds need measuring and when I had to give Ollie antibiotics it destroyed alot of his trust, we are now stronger than ever though.

She's done a hell of alot of growing and adjusting to life in the past few weeks so I think she probably just needs the naps. If your still concerned or her napping increases or she appears lethergic then get her to an avian vet. To be honest from what you've said I don't think you really need that bit of advice

[christie]

That's a great point about the spoon feeding! I never thought about that, but it's probably a good idea!

lol, I've been trying to get this little one to go to bed a little early tonight and she's not having it! Our normal schedule is she cuddles up in a wash cloth, and I put her, snugged into the wash cloth into her sleep cage around 8:30 and she sleeps that way for most of the night. Tonight I got her settled into her washcloth early and tried to put her in the sleep cage. As soon as I put her down she hopped up and ran up my arm so I couldn't leave her there. So now we are snugged back into the wash cloth and sleeping on my lap while I type. *sigh* I'm probably over spoiling her, but I also don't want her to feel insecure either. And she does seem to be happy too, so I'm hoping that means I'm not creating a monster with this, but I probably am!

[Andromeda]

Both my GCC and my brown-headed parrot get 12 hours of sleep. My brown-headed parrot sleeps straight through the entire time but occasionally when I enter the room in the morning I hear my GCC pacing around so it's possible he's sleeping for less than 12 hours. Still, it doesn't seem to be doing any harm and since my brown-headed parrot needs 12 hours and their cages are in the same room it would be too hard to get my GCC up without waking up my Poi as well.

Hope that helps!

Also, their sleep is completely undisturbed as they are shut up in a room lights out with no noise from the house (TVs, etc.)