Pet Sitters and Cage Aggressive Birds

[DallyTsuka]

Just wondering, how do you guys deal with that?

I am leaving on vacation tomorrow, and we have little miss Munch who is very cage aggressive. We left a warning for our petsitter (my mother in law) and a glove for her to service her cage. They're okay with that, but I am wondering what others do?

Just curious, as I can't be the only one with cage aggressive birds and have to have a pet sitter once in awhile.

my husband and I go on short vacations maybe once a year, and only for a few nights at most. But, I've always wondered how other people coped with that and what solutions they left for their pet sitters?

My mother in law knows our birds, and is fine with them and has never failed us before with their care, but last time we were only gone for one night and they only needed to be checked on and given attention.

My biggest worry, my mother in law LOVES to give them heaps of treats so I worry I will come home to a bunch of chubby millet munchers!!!! lol

 

[JerseyWendy]

Coming home to a bunch of chubby millet munchers? That is TOO funny!

When we were away just a few weeks ago (only 3 days, 2 nights), I had a live in pet sitter, my son's girlfriend. She had detailed instructions taped on the fridge, and yes, she had to deal with Niko, who can be a bit cage aggressive, especially with people other than myself. :54: Luckily the food dishes are accessible from the outside, BUT, I have a treat cage in there filled with nuts that needed regular refilling, as well as a foraging wheel that needed refilling as well. Not to mention having to wipe the poop off the perches when necessary.

She had a "little" helper for those tasks. I have an old dog toy, a stuffed animal, a little Koala to be exact. When you push him, he giggles like a child. She would have to hold Mr. Koala in one hand, and do the birdy duties with the other, so that Niko was too busy eyeballing Mr. Koala. Worked like a charm.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I read a article(or maybe it was in a parrot book? I read it a year ago) about a aggressive macaw who the parronts were in the same boat as you. They got through this by teaching their macaw a few simple trick training cues. When the sitter came and the parrot began to be aggressive they cued a behavior, the bird did the behavior and maintenance was able to be done while the bird was distracted by the treat it receieved.

 

[DallyTsuka]

i wish munch's food dishes were accessible from the outside of the cage. our unlucky sitter has to stick her hands in the cage lol plus, munch is a hormonal lovebird. never fun.

i overstock all foraging toys before we go, keeps them busy all week. stash a few almonds deep in a toy so they really have to work on them, bury millet in a bucket of foot toys.... we give them new toys when we leave so they are kept very busy while we are gone. plus, we always bring them home goodies from our trip

we do keep notes on the fridge for our pets, as our sitter is also caring for the cats, hedgehog, and chinchillas! 2 of our cats are feral, so our sitter wont see them at all for the whole time. they hide when company is over. and our hedgehog doesnt like to be bothered either, so it's fairly easy for her.

we leave their treats on the counter all labeled so they know who gets what we make sure everything is well stocked up, and everyone is good to go. my mother in law texts us every day letting us know what's up at home, so we know if everything is okay


it's just Munch. i'll test out the stuffed animal idea myself, to be sure it doesn't stress her. if it distracts her, i will definitely keep that in mind for my mother in law lol


i will have to work on trick training Munch. i've never really cared if my birds did tricks or not, if they wanted to do tricks, they had to show interest first. so far, both Tsuka and Munch will give kisses when asked, and Munch will nod only using a hand movement, but they taught themselves those lol wonder how other tricks might work for Munch?

 

[cdnbirdlover]

We had to take Basil to my parents for 8 days while we were away. My mom wasn't comfortable having Basil out while at her place so he was in his big cage the whole time. We took his usual "home" cage over to their place. My mom did all cage maintenance duties from the outside - food dishes are accessible and newspapers can be changed by drawers. The only thing she couldn't do was wipe off the pooped on perches. She gave him loads of attention and lots of treats (he can definitely be a chubby millet muncher) and he didn't ask to come out once. He had her very well trained to come over to talk to him in the cage.

 

[DallyTsuka]

well we will try to water-bottle train Munch so that when we go away, she will have a water bottle so its easier for my mother in law to change her water but, stumped on a food bowl for her for out of cage. her cage is all horizontal bars :/

 

[coral3]

We have horizontal bars and use these bowls. The attachment/hanger piece means you can slide the bowl sideways along horizontal bars from outside the cage. So when my mother got recruited as pet sitter last time we were away she was able to slide the food bowl further away from the food perch toward the front of the cage before reaching in to change it. She still had to put her hand in, but didn't have to reach her arm as far into the cage - which helped - then she'd just replace the bowl once cleaned & filled and slide it back into position again from outside the cage.

Classic Products Stainless Steel Coop Cup With Hooks Coop Cup 10 Oz - Pet Supplies Comparison Shopping