A bedroom is always inappropriate for a birdcage if you’re immunocompromised, unwilling to clean the room regularly, or for a lone bird that requires ongoing interaction.
The presence of feathers, dander, and waste can trigger allergic reactions and health conditions while you sleep. Also, many birds feel isolated and alone if their human family isn’t with them.
Sleeping in the same room as a bird can prevent restful sleep for a bird and its owner.
Advantages of Keeping Birds in a Bedroom
There are benefits to housing a bird in a bedroom, but the pros outnumber the cons. If you wish to sleep in the same room as a pet bird, here are the advantages:
Peace And Privacy
Too much noise can agitate a companion bird, and a bedroom is less likely to be overstimulating.
It’ll be less of a concern for a bird to be subjected to the general family commotion, like raised voices and TV, traffic outside the window, and other disturbances.
If you work from home and need to concentrate or hold meetings, you won’t need to compete with the sound of a bird tweeting, screeching, singing, or talking.
Easy To Birdproof
Bedrooms are usually smaller than shared living spaces, so they’ll be easy to birdproof. This will help you rest easier if the bird escapes its cage.
A bedroom could be considered birdproof for the following reasons.
- Windows and doors can be closed when the bedroom isn’t in use.
- The noise of human interaction will be minimized while you and your family are downstairs.
- Dangerous or toxic human food (chocolate, avocado, etc.) won’t be within easy reach.
- Direct heat sources, like stoves and fireplaces, aren’t present.
You’ll still need to take precautions, ensuring that electrical cables can’t be chewed through and removing anything toxic, like scented candles.
Disadvantages of Keeping Birds in A Bedroom
There are more problems with choosing to house a bird in your bedroom than rewards, including:
Lack of Social Interaction
Companion birds are social and relish time spent with their human family.
According to Anthrozoös, the ability to interact with owners regularly will improve the mental health of an avian companion, which can make a bedroom problematic for a bird.
A bird will rarely see you unless you work from home in the bedroom. This can make companion birds, especially intelligent species like parrots, increasingly isolated, lonely, and depressed.
Boredom is detrimental to birds, frequently leading to feather-destructive behavior and a troublesome temperament. Smaller birds in bonded pairs fare better but still need human interaction.
If you want to keep a pet bird in a bedroom, ensure you visit regularly and provide opportunities for exercise. The cage itself will also need enrichment to keep a bird stimulated.
Disturbed Sleep
Sharing a bedroom with a bird, or especially several birds, will likely impact your ability to sleep.
If a bird starts to talk, sing, or squawk, you’ll be roused from sleep immediately. This could happen many times in the early evening or morning.
You could get around this by wearing earplugs or getting a white noise machine that leaves you indifferent to external noise. Also, your presence may still prevent a bird from sleeping.
Companion birds, notably larger species like parrots, need about 12 hours of sleep each night. If you keep your pet bird awake, they’ll be bad-tempered and belligerent in the morning.
A prolonged lack of sleep can make birds unwell and confuse breeding cycles.
Do Bird Cages Need to be Covered at Night?
Their cage will need to be covered overnight regardless of where birds sleep.
This doesn’t make a bedroom any more suitable as a nocturnal location. Covering a cage means you can use a lamp at night, but it doesn’t block noise for the bird.
While your bird’s cage is covered, it can hear but not see. This will potentially make a bird increasingly anxious overnight, resulting in disturbances.
Attempting to watch TV in bed or even unavoidable sounds like snoring can cause problems.
Differing Temperature Needs
Humans and companion birds have different temperature requirements, especially overnight.
Birds flourish at temperatures between 65 OF and 80 OF, while humans sleep better at a cooler ambient temperature, closer to 60 OF.
You can reach a compromise because birds can tolerate lower temperatures, and humans can theoretically sleep when it’s warmer. Alas, neither party will be comfortable.
Potential Allergens
If you share a bedroom with pets, you must be certain you won’t experience an allergic reaction.
Zoonoses and Public Health confirm that the presence of animals can trigger skin inflammation, respiratory issues, and gastrointestinal upsets.
Companion birds can be most problematic if you have suspected allergies.
Feathers And Dander
Birds shed dead skin, called dander. They also molt feathers 1-3 times annually.
The feathers closest to a bird’s skin also produce a fine white powder called feather dust. The answer to the question, “Is bird dust bad for you?” is yes, especially if you have allergies.
Bird dust contains bacteria that can be harmful when inhaled. Never keep a bird’s cage above or beside your bed, where you’ll inhale deep lungfuls of compromised air while sleeping.
Some birds have powder-down feathers, which means they create higher levels of dust than others and are most dangerous for people with allergies.
Based on the species, decide if a bird can live in your bedroom.
| Most Dusty Birds | Least Dusty Birds |
| African Greys | Conures |
| Cockatiels | Budgies |
| Cockatoos | Macaws |
| Amazon Parrots | Quaker Parrots |
You can still keep a bird if you struggle with feather dust, but sleeping in the same room is inadvisable. Keep the bird in a larger space where the dust is less likely to result in respiratory concerns.
Urine And Excrement
Some birds eliminate every 15-20 minutes. You can toilet train companion birds, but even if you’re successful, their waste will still linger until you clean it.
Your first concern will likely be, “Is bird waste toxic?” Wild bird droppings contain the bacteria Chlamydia psittaci, exposure to which can lead to the respiratory disease psittacosis.
Eurosurveillance stated that psittacosis is particularly harmful to anybody with compromised immunity.
Smell
Keep a bird and its living space clean to avoid lingering odors. Ways to achieve this include:
- Regular bathing opportunities.
- Spot-cleaning a cage daily.
- Removing uneaten so it doesn’t turn moldy.
- Regularly changing water.
Never open windows to air out the smell in a room because it creates a safety risk for birds. Never use canned air fresheners to mask an odor because birds have sensitive respiratory systems.
Mess
Are birds dirty animals? Any birds that live in a bedroom will be mostly confined to a cage.
In theory, they’ll have limited opportunities to create a mess. Alas, the answer to the question, “Are birds messy?” remains yes if you’re not vigilant about cleaning.
Birds will release dust and drop uneaten food on the floor. In addition to damage and staining, this will attract mice, spiders, and other unwelcome visitors.
Where Should A Bird Cage be Kept in The Bedroom?
If you’re adamant that you can manage the risks surrounding keeping birds in the bedroom, follow these steps for the best chance of a harmonious living arrangement:
- Hang the cage in a corner, not too close to a window or noise source.
- Don’t hang the cage directly over the bed.
- Ensure the birdcage is placed somewhere that could territory.
- Keep a clear route out of the cage when the bird leaves to exercise, ensuring it won’t risk injury by flying into a light fixture or ceiling fan.
- Provide access to clean the bird cage and surrounding area.
Only sleep in the same room as birds if you’re sure it’s safe and have no other realistic options. Smaller birds, like budgies, are less likely to cause respiratory distress, but all birds are noisy.
