Can Birds like Budgies Sleep With Their Eyes Open?(Is It Safe?)

Many birds including budgies can sleep with one of their eyes open using a process called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep where a portion of their brain falls asleep while the other part remains awake.

Let’s take a deeper look at this topic…

Why do my budgies sleep with their one eye open?

Parakeets can sleep with one eye open when they feel like they are not safe enough. Birds have got the capability of sleeping with one eye open where half of their brain will remain asleep while the other part remains active.

However, such sleeping practices are not healthy in the long term. The main goal of sleeping is to rest both the body and the brain. But when parakeets sleep with their eyes open they essentially are not resting both body and mind as about half of their brain remains awake.

Is it okay for birds to sleep with an eye open?

It is ok for the birds to sleep once in a while with their eyes open but they should not always sleep with their eyes open as they won’t get proper rest and in the long run it can be detrimental to their health.

It’s much more common to find birds to sleep with one eye open out in the wild as they always need to watch out for some kind of attacks by the predators.

It’s normal to find your bird following such practices even if they are staying in a safe environment since their early childhood. But instinctively they may still end up sleeping with an eye open especially when they find themselves in an environment at night where there are loud noises or continuous light exposure nearby.

So when the parakeet is sleeping there should be pin-drop silence in the room and the room should be dark. Many bird owners have got in the habit of covering the birdcages and then playing TV or talking loudly with other people in the room.

Such practices are the main reason why the birds fail to have a sound sleep and as a result, they will be forced to sleep with an eye open.

Birds like parakeets and cockatiels are known to be very much prone to night frights. By natural virtue birds are designed in a way that allows them to be always alert  As in the wild danger can come from any side at any moment.

Hence, parakeets like all birds are extremely light sleepers and they will wake up instantly from their deep sleep even with noises of very low intensity.

This means that while being in a completely dark room, any particular sound will end up spooking them and as they won’t be able to see clearly in the dark they won’t be able to go back to sleep again as they will be wary of the danger. Hence to avoid such problems it is also best to use dim night lights in the room.

Do Budgies Lie Down When Fully Asleep?

Budgies do not lie down when they are asleep. They are usually found lying down when they are gravely ill or are already dead. If you find the budgie lying at the cage bottom and showing signs of extreme lethargy, you should immediately give the vet a visit.

Budgies are pretty active birds so fatigue and idleness can be a sign of serious concern for them. They rarely lie down under normal circumstances.

How can budgies sleep in a half-awake state?

Birds are capable of sleeping while being half-awake by using the phenomenon of unihemispheric slow-wave sleep which lets them control the level of their alertness.

 Using this process parakeets can keep half of their brain inactive form while letting the other half rest.

With time as the bird decides the environment has become safer for it to remain asleep it will slowly start to doze off into deep sleep and will slowly close the opened eye.

So if you regularly find your parakeet to sleep with its eyes open then it is a sign that the bird is not feeling comfortable while being asleep in its cage.

To prevent such stuff from happening

• You should always keep your birds at the location of the house which is not busy especially after the sunset.
• You should keep them in a dark room right after the evening and make little to no sound in that particular zone.
• Also if your parakeet is comfortable enough and doesn’t suffer from any respiratory issues then you should also try to use cage coverings which helps in minimizing the light and sound exposure. Cage covers also help in providing the bird with the cushion of safety as it hides their view and makes them feel comfortable.

When do budgies sleep with both eyes closed?

Parakeets sleep with both of their eyes closed when they remain in an environment that is devoid of any kind of sound or light. They will only be able to sleep with both their eyes closed when they have entered a state of deep sleep which can only be attained under conditions where they feel safe.

For the natural well-being of the bird this extremely essential that they regularly attain such levels of deep sleep, as, a failure to do so can affect their mood, behavior initially and has the potential of affecting their overall health in the future.

If you have any queries feel free to leave a comment below…

Cheers…