Sleeping

[chibudge]

How can you tell if a budgie is getting a good night of sleep? I guess I've never seen him fully asleep, but then again I cover the cage and it is dark at night. During the day he is often sitting with his eyes nearly closed, which makes me think he is tired -- then again I'm not sure what they actually do during most of their waking hours.

[Schnapperxx]

I'm not 100% sure about this one. xD

Budgies usually have a chirpy personality, and tend to fly a lot in their cage.
Well if your Budgie talks a lot, it won't talk when it's sleeping.
Maybe you could peek in at night to check, if your very worried.

[larrybird]

I was wondering the same thing. It seems to me that my new little guy closes his eyes alot. I never noticed larrybird doing this as frequently. Do you think maybe its a baby thing? Maybe someone more knowledgable than me will answer your question. I am interested in the answer though so I posted.

[chibudge]

Budgies usually have a chirpy personality, and tend to fly a lot in their cage.

Well, I just got him on Saturday so he hasn't chirped at all yet. He does move around, stretch, preen, and exercise his wings though. He is also very much a baby at 5 weeks old.

[Schnapperxx]

Why don't you wait a few days and see what happens? Maybe he's just tired.

[chibudge]

Why don't you wait a few days and see what happens? Maybe he's just tired.

I know I'm probably worrying to much, but he does look sleepy a lot during the day so I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything blatant I was doing wrong. He was covered for a good 10 hours last night.

[Schnapperxx]

Then i'm sure you have a pretty healthy budgie on your hands. i'm sure your a great budgie owner, Good luck in the future :D

[Robin's Nest]

As long as your bird gets an opportunity to sleep at night for at least 8 hours, he will sleep and will get rest. You may not see him sleep, as if you approach the cage, he will wake up.

Birds will spend time during their day eating, sleeping, playing, making noise and preening. Sometimes they will just sit like a bump on a log and contemplate world issues. ;) How much a bird plays is individual, or how much they make noise is individual. How much they nap is individual. New birds to our home will often not move around or make any noise for weeks while they are adjusting.

Napping during the day does not mean they are not sleeping well at night. All birds nap during the day, even if we don't catch them napping.;) However, if your bird is sleeping all day long, is fluffed up, at the bottom of the cage, not eating, showing other signs of illness, etc., then you would need to get your bird to the vet right away.

[BuBu&Chik]

robin put it well! budgies can sleep up to 12 hours a day! in the wild they sleep when the sun sets and wake up at sun rise! so its no wonder they need to take all these tiny power naps throughout the day! and your budgie is new so he is probably nervous and will not sleep until he feels it is safe and/or there are no predators around him. sometimes if they are comfortable enough, they will try to nap with you in the room exposed during the day, this is if they are completely comfortable or else too tired... but if they try to do nothing but sleep all day long then they may be sick... so just make sure that you get used to your budgies behavior... and remember, every budgie is different with how they sleep, and when they sleep, and how comfortable they are to sleep!~ ;) you will realize this as time goes on...

[sidney25]

I just got my budgie sunday evening and named him Sidney. The first night he didnt move at all or make any noise. Yesterday he finally started chirping a little and somewhat exploring his cage as well as eating the millet i put in for him. Today he is still fairly quiet but moving around much more.

Mine also seems "sleepy"... closing his eyes every now and then. But the majority of the time his eyes are open and he's checking out his new surroundings. I keep him covered about 8hrs at night and he is perfectly quiet.

I guess its normal for a new budgie to not move too much as well as not make a lot of noise. Perhaps the stress of coming to a new home makes them more sleepy and not as active as when they settle in.

[jonash]

I had the same problem with my 2 little guys for the first few days. We just saw them constantly sitting wide eyed and alert. Even when we would peek in under their blanket at night, they were still just sitting there. Very disconcerting. But once they feel more comfortable in your house, they should sleep. I have heard that they need at least 12 hours, so it shouldn't take long before their sleepiness outweighs their fright of a new place. :)