Away for about 1.5 days over night...

[dhraiden]

Anyone with direct experience with this? I've been away plenty (usually for vacations, most recently for 2 weeks to Italy ending last week), and obviously the fids in that time are with trusted caretakers (for 3 years now it's been Mom, but we've got to start expanding our options AFA back-ups/professional substitutes to that much appreciated service). Given that this "only" for a day and a morning, I didn't want to cart fids over to Brooklyn to Mom's, especially as she just kindly had them in her care for two weeks straight.


Tomorrow I'm up to Boston (3 hr drive, both ways) for a friend-of-the-SO's wedding, and I'm leaning towards leaving the fids in their cages, with plenty of food and clean water, until we get back mid-day Sunday. I've read of others on other forums doing this for up to two full days. This is perhaps the very maximum I'd be comfortable with.


Given fids will be asleep for the intervening night, and we'll tend to cleaning/restocking food/replenishing water very early tomorrow morning, I think this will be fine, but of course always appreciate additional input. We also have a friend who can come by later on Saturday to change water if need-be. Thanks for your input!


PS: My So (and I initially) would've preferred to literally take the fids in their travel cages with us, in the back-seat, but seeing how they are during much shorter trips around NYC when I'm driving/bumping around, I don't think I'd want to subject them to that (or run into any issues with the hotel we'd be staying at, even though their stated policy is "pet-friendly", AFA potential noise-complaints or w/e)

 

[EllenD]

I don't see anything at all wrong with leaving tomorrow morning and then coming back the next afternoon. It's best for their safety if you lock them inside of their cages, I would never leave them out free in the house for that long alone, or at all. But if they are locked inside of their cages and you give them all lots of fresh food and water tomorrow morning before you leave, and you're sure that you're coming back the next afternoon, then I don't see an issue at all...

If you can have a friend swing-by tomorrow night just to check on them and make sure everything is okay then that would be a really good, extra-safe thing to do, and I would suggest having him do that if at all possible, just to be safe. But I don't see any issue with leaving them for that short amount of time if they are locked inside their cages and stocked-up...

 

[dhraiden]

Thanks for the speedy reply, Ellen! I admire your wisdom. They'd be in their cages, not let out, with fresh goodies (and perhaps even a new toy or two).

I also have web-cams setup trained on their cages at all times, though more of a surveillance sort thing (I haven't any rube-goldberg-esque devices [yet!] setup HAHA)

If for whatever reason our return was significantly delayed we'd definitely tap the friend-on-call to go over and tend to refreshing victuals as needed.

 

[GaleriaGila]

As long as you have that cam, and friends to call and swing by, I (the self-avowed Queen of Paranoia) wouldn't worry TOO much!

 

[dhraiden]

Ok, coming from you GG that does make me feel better LOL:smiley5:

 

[wrench13]

I always look for the what happens if scenarios, like what happens if the 1 1/2 day trip turns into 4?

 

[dhraiden]

I liked Boston the one time I went there, but not that much, lol!

in all seriousness I'm the same way tho' -- try to have all angles and what-if scenarios covered, within reason. This excursion is primarily for a friend's wedding thing, so it's one night, tops- as we're both just coming back from a two-week vacation away from our fids, neither of us is particularly eager to stay away any longer than necessary. We've got the cams, a go-to person to come by, a next-door neighbor who can do the same, my folks could come by as well, etc.

 

[ChristaNL]

Same here, though I am convinced they will be alright with all the 'specials' I can offer before I leave ... I always have one of my friends pop in for a quick-check.

Very glad I did a few months ago (had to pick up mother in one corner of the country and attend a funeral waaaaay on the other side) when my friend , in an verry dry voice, advised me (by phone) that my greys were "on the wrong side of the bars".
(they both love him, so no problem getting them back in)

That is when we found out that Appie really knows how to open the little doors (manipilating/ beaking the latchmechanism from within the cage).
Luckily they have an extra 'screw tight' option - so now I only use the large doors, (the small ones are no longer easy-to-open, even for humans)


Glad there was someone who came in for a little look-see

 

[EllenD]

I always look for the what happens if scenarios, like what happens if the 1 1/2 day trip turns into 4?

This is the only thing I ever really worry about when I am gone for a day-trip or a weekend-trip with my birds...I don't take "vacations" at all, the last time I went anywhere for longer than a weekend-trip was in 2013 when I went to Delaware/Maryland for a week and a half camping. I do however go to a lot of concerts, and this is one advantage to living smack-dab in the middle of Pennsylvania, I'm within a 4 or so hour drive to everywhere, literally...NYC, Rochester, Albany, The Finger Lakes, The Catskills, all of New Jersey including Atlantic City and Ocean City, all of Maryland including Baltimore, Washington D.C., Charleston, WV, Cleveland, Canton, and of course all of PA including Erie, Pittsburgh, Philly, etc., and even into pretty-much all of CT, all of these places are within a little over a 4-hour drive, and if I go out to 5 hours then I'm into Virginia, Columbus, Michigan, etc.

So I can go to concerts every day of the week if I want to, and I've followed a few bands/artists around a few times, seeing them multiple days in a row in different places...So I'll leave the birds, knowing that my mom is only 10 minutes away...

But i always worry "What if my car breaks-down?", or any of the other million things that can and do go wrong...My mom and step-father live 10 minutes away, and I have friends, other family, colleagues, etc. that all love the birds (I typically take my dogs with me wherever I go, so don't have to worry about them, or if not able I'll simply board them with my vet)...But what if everyone is busy, away, having their own emergencies, etc.? What if something happens in the middle of the night and I can't get anyone to answer their phones? AHHHHH!!!

This is why I've been thinking about buying a Winnebago for years, or at least a VW Camper-Bus...Then we can all go on-tour, me, the dogs, the birds, it's a family affair...

 

[dhraiden]

A Camper w/ your fids in tow? Fun times XD

We got back from the SO's buddy's wedding in Boston just fine. The only issue was the interminable traffic on the 95/91! A friend popped in last night to refresh their water, and other than being cooped longer than usual they seem to have managed quite well

 

[bill_e]

When I had my previous OWA she would be left for long camping weekends. When we would go for a week or so my daughter would look in on her and top off the food/water.

Nike has been left alone once for 3 days....may happen again this summer at some point. I load the cage with food and water and she's good to go. Actually the way Nike eats, I could leave her a dozen pellets for a long weekend and she's have enough

 

[dhraiden]

That's a good reference point to have for consideration if I ever must do this again out of necessity -- thanks!