The family is going for it’s first real vacation in 6 years, this summer. It’s a 9 day trip away from home.
We have two cats, a cockatiel and an African Grey.
The cockatiel and the cats are a non-issue, the question is the African Grey. He’s a sweet, good natured bird, but he’s still intimidating to the un-initiated. Case in point: If you’re slow getting the food container in or out of the cage, he WILL bite. Not hard, but it’s a game for him and it can give him ‘interesting results’ if the handler isn’t prepared.
This generally consists of me holding my hand on a far side of the cage, he chases after the hand, I pull the food dish out while he’s distracted.
He can go just fine for that period of time without additional distraction, he just needs his food and water changed.
I’m concerned that i I took him somewhere, it’d freak him out and/or he’d pick up unwanted behavior. I’m concerned that, considering the duration of the trip, the local kids are a bit too young to be caring for him.
Any suggestions? (I’m in Parker, Colorado…South East metro Denver)
I am sure you could find some qualified bird-sitter in Denver. Check for local bird-lover web pages/forums for Denver and start asking there. Doubtless there are others in the area who could handle this.
Also, couldn’t you buy a heavy duty leather glove for the caregiver to wear? That should be sufficient to let the bird “attack” the hand with no ill-effects to the caregiver.
And of course have the caregiver over numerous times prior to your trip to learn the ropes and get acquainted with your animals and them with him/her.
My advice is to join a bird message board, like Upatsix.com or Birdsnways (both Googlable). They usually have a forum for each species.
Meet people on the forums and offer to exchange bird-sitting favors with someone in your area. You’ll meet people with similar interests and your birds will be cared for by knowledgeable, committed people. Plus you get to play with someone else’s birds every once in a while without having to adopt more permanently.
Most people on such boards find themselves needing sitters occasionally and are looking for people just like you.
You might try finding an avian vet in the area as well. I used to work at a vet clinic and we would board birds. Everything from parakeets to cockatoos.
The other concern I have with that is: The Parrot has spent 99.999% of it’s life in a BIG cage. I’d feel kinda guilty leaving him in the travel cage (2x2x2…roughly) in a strange place.
I’ll continue to research the problem, but I’m thinking the ‘leather gloves’ suggestion isn’t a bad one.