DO YOU COVER YOUR CAGES AT NIGHT?

[L in Ontario]

One hint - I wish I had taped or hung my lights on the wall behind the cages instead of on the cages themselves. I can't roll the cages out to clean as they are all 'hooked up together'. Someday I'm going to redo the lights and hang them on hooks (peel and stick) on the wall behind the cages.

[B CAMP]

The lights can be real cheap this time of year I got a bag full at yard sale for 1.00 must be 10sets of lights

[cindy]

Sooo Cindy, did you cover last night

AHHHHH YUP! Gotta get my nerve not to cover, don't tell my mom!!!!!

I have a ton of little lights left from the second tree we used to put up, maybe I will dig those out. I also have these real nice string of lights with a little lantern effect....MMMMMM decorative, functional and no covers. Check with me in Thursday morning and see if I covered.

[FeatherHarp]

I do cover my cage since it is in the dining room and near the TV area. I feel it gives my finches a little privacy and blocks the ambient light from the TV and also us shuttling past them on the way to the bathroom.

But my little "potty peeper" society finch still announces to the whole world whenever the commode gets flushed or the shower runs.

[cindy]

Deborah, that is cute..my mother's canary used to sing everytime the we ran water in the kitchen sink. He would watch your hand on the faucet and start singing, we used to love to pretend to do so he would sing.

[Pukasand]

I don't cover my cages either. I would need two tarps, at least. I do have night lights, though. Most of my birds sleep in their nests except my canaries.

[James]

I use to cover my cages till I got the double flight and the single flight now I don't also it scared them so bad when I put the covers on or took them off. Also when there was a storm they would go nuts but when the covers were off they were ok. I think it was because they could see the room and could tell that nouthing had changed. I do have a night light that stays on all the time. I'm a night owl and stay up till 2or3 sometimes mostly 12. the birds share my computer room. they have daylight lamps over ther cages, that go off at 11pm. and when that happins they start to goto roost. my owls go to roost at 8pm no matter what. The sociatys at 11pm. but my zebras well they may stop all the flying but they still chirp. but the minute they all hear the computer shut down they go to roost no matter the time as they know that the lights are going out. Their night light is bright enough that I can come and go in their room without scaring them. I couldn't do that when their cages were covered as they couldn't see me.

James

[cindy]

I DIDN'T COVER MY CAGES LAST NIGHT

I went into the attic to get the lights down and realized I had pulled the ones for the front of the house out. I used a bright night light, turned off the day lights and everything was just fine. I am going to look in Target for a string of decorative lights, add a touch of whimsy!

I do cover my lovebird Louey, if not he plays and drops his toys in the middle of the night. The dogs hear it and start barking, then we are all up. Louey gets on or in his cozy and sleeps.

[lovemyfinch]

Congrats Cindy Isn't it so much easier not to have to cover and uncover?

[cindy]

Yes, the little gold breast did not startle, I just turned on the lights and they hopped out when ready. I need to get a timer for the day lights, off to Target...that wonderful place, oh and IKEA!!!!

[Pukasand]

There ya go, Cindy. I use a Timer also. That's the best invention since sliced bread. No covers and nightlights. EveryBODY happy!

[cindy]

I found white mini lights at Target for $4.99. The cord is white so it won't stand out, I am going to make a wire design and string the lights to it and hang it next to the cages. A project!!!

[ac12]

About the light timer.
I first got a mechanical timer, cuz it was cheaper than the digital timer. But I had 2 issues with the mechanical timer
1 - setting the time is real coarse (I can adjust to the nearest 20 minutes but I cannot get it any closer)
2 - there was some variability as to when it will turn OFF
Combine #1 and 2 and I did not know when it will turn off, except some time in a 30 min window.

This would normally not be an issue, but since I am recording video with my nestcams, knowing when the light will come on and turn off becomes more important.

I ended up replacing it with a digital timer, so I would know EXACTLY when it will turn off.

So think about how accurate you need the timer to be.