Danarca

The calming effect of the full light is a sign that something woke her up in the middle of the night, the night light probably kept her from a full panic attack, so good job!

The whole 'let's destroy the foraging box right now' thing is a mystery, definitely, but her waking up in the dead of night is something you can investigate.

Cars outside, maybe some drunk people? Hvac going off? Or like people have suggested, unwelcome & sneaky critters?

I think you should get a camera, one of those that one puts in the drive-way, make sure it also catches & triggers on sound.

If nothing registers after a week, it must've been a single-time event like drunks outside. If something registers, you have something to go on.

In any case, sounds like she doesn't appreciate being woken up in the dead of night :p

Good luck!

I counted 11 tiels in a 2-tiel travel cage. The cage couldn't satisfy a single birds needs, stuffing a flock-and-a-half in there actively endangered their psychological and physical integrity.

I have trouble finding an excuse for this setup...

u/FoxiCrumpet what was the reason given for the cage being stuffed with birds?

The nostrils and face gives me PBFD-vibes, which... Could match up with the 5-month age.

If that is the case though, and its just a feeling, then every bird that guy has are walking dead.

That is heartbreaking to hear :(

How bad is it if her chest muscles wither away like that? As long as she can use her legs she can still keep her heart healthy, I'm assuming?

And yes, it's entirely reasonable of her to just want to relax her.. Whole self, after what she must've been through!

Poor Dotty.. Thank you for taking care of her! Good does exist :)

Number 2 is crazy amount of trust!!

Get better soon!