I have to travel what about my parrot???

[Sarkise]

Hello

I have my African grey for a year now, and I live alone. I have to travel for 10 days. What will be the best thing to do for my parrot? Do I have to put him at a friends house or to ask someone to take care of him in my house. And will he forget what he have learned to talk? Will he be so upset?

Thank you.

 

[_Cass_]

Every Christmas I leave for two weeks and I let my bird stay at my house and I hire a pet/house sitter. She takes care of my pets and takes care of my house. I pay her about $10-$20 a day.

 

[antoinette]

Hi there Sarkise, welcome to a great friendly forum

Tough decision you have there, many pro's and con's.
One advantage of the bird remaining at home is, he is used to his surrounding and environment. If your bird stays at home, will someone be there for most of the day, or "visiting" the bird daily. If he is left alone during the day, ask whoever is looking after him, to leave a radio or tv on, at least in that way, he will think a human is nearby. Ask your friend to spend time with the bird talking and interacting with him.
The bird may become quiet, and not talk much, due to you not being around. Don't worry, he will not forget what he has learnt. They have a remarkable memory, he might surprise you when your return, with a new word or two.
Do you have any other pets at home?
If you decide to leave your bird at a friends house, make sure it is "bird safe". Do they have other pets, dogs or cats. Are children running around? Will the cage be placed in a safe area, not in drafts etc.
Hope this was helpful, sure many other members will give their advise.
The decision lies in your hands.
Good luck

 

[Robin and Pilot]

Hi! When I had my Lilac Crowned Amazon and would go on vacations, I took him to a very nice, local bird store for boarding. There he had tons of friends to look at and would be taken out and placed on the store perch/gym/super-fun-place for a while during the day. ...he probably had more fun there than he ever did at my house--with me in it!! (I paid about $12/day.) I realize I am very fortunate to have a store like this nearby, but perhaps a vet clinic or a local breeder would also board. Best of luck!

 

[HRH Di]

My preference would be to leave my birds at home with a house/pet sitter - luckily I have a 21 year old son who fits the bill perfectly. That way, except for the times at work, he'll be home with the girls and Max all day. We know his friends and he knows which ones are welcome in our home.

But taking him to a friend's house is a good option too, but - as mentioned above, is the house bird-safe? do they know what taking care of a parrot is really like 24/7? are you going to be able to get his cage there?

Good luck!

 

[Spiritbird]

This is the reason I do not go places for more than 1 day. If I did have to go somewhere my bird hand feeder also keeps birds in her home where I know Rosie would be looked after well. I believe we have a forum member who is a bird sitter also.

 

[doodadz]

When I travel I have my friend and her daughter in to feed and play with the birds. I might board them if I had a bird sitter that could handle only certain ones of the crew but I worry about picking up communicable diseases, even if (or especially if...) you choose to board at the vets....

 

[Bobby34231]

Hi Sarkise and welcome to the forum, I guess the best scenario would be to have the bird remain in your home and looked after by someone that the bird is familiar with, family, friend ect, next best thing would be a pet sitter that is experienced with birds to come to your home, if thats not possible then possibly another persons home, one preferably without another bird to minimize the chances of passing on any diseases, if none of these are possible as a last resort I would check with your avian vet if you have one, and see if they board birds, I would strongly advise against ever boarding your bird at a pet store or anywhere that birds are allowed to co-mingle or are kept in the same open space, the chances are to great that your bird will exposed to something that may be extremely harmful, good luck on your delema, enjoy your stay here and your vacation.......

 

[wildheart]

Welcome Sarkise.

Where are you going and how long drive is it? Is there any possibility of taking him with you?

I'm asking because we travel once a month and I take almost the whole family with. My parrot has her own car seat, it is a small cage with 3 perches and toys and she also sleeps in it at night (every night). The change of environment - house etc. is a much less stressful experience for my parrot than what it would be like to not see me everyday and having somebody else watching her. While on 'holiday' my bird sings all the time and we can see that she truly enjoys herself.

If you cant take him with then I would - if I was you - arrange meetings with several pet-sitters and take it from there. I think it will be very stressful for your bird to move location and not have you around - but, it wont be the end of the world.