Boarding Fear

[TrixieF]

Hello Everyone,

A week ago today, my beautiful Taylor, a black capped conure, lost her battle with PDD (Proventricular Dilatation Disease). She was just 2 weeks shy of her 2nd birthday.

The only contact she had with other birds was when I boarded her while away on vacation. I boarded her twice at the pet store where I adopted her. Once I discovered our vet boarded birds (for a much higher fee), I decided to board her there because they required testing for certain diseases before any bird was allowed in the healthy bird room (each bird is kept in an individual cage but there are several cages in one room). Any birds not tested were required to remain in isolation until their tests were completed.

I am in no way ready to consider getting another bird. I need to take time to grieve for Taylor. However, when I feel I might be ready to bring a new bird into my life, I'm concerned that I will have nowhere to leave him/her when I am on vacation since I am now extremely hesitant and fearful of boarding - at a vet or anywhere else.

I know that some people have friends or hire bird watchers to come into their homes on a daily basis to take care of their birds while they are away. But, I'm wondering if a bird would do well having company for only a short time, once a day, for up to 10 consecutive days.

Any comments/advice would be most welcome.

Thanks!

[Saber]

Mine seems to do just fine (I have a congo african grey) if left in my house for a few days - a week or so. He does have a very large cage with a whole ton of toys. Sometimes I just can't take him with where I'm going. I have a friend of the family come over and hang out for 30 mins - 1 hour. In addition, I leave the TV on for him. He loves to watch "Cops"....there's no accounting for taste lol. I think he likes all the bright lights from the cop cars and loves to sound his "siren" when he hears it on TV lol. I work at a vet clinic that will board exotics and birds (along with dogs and cats) and I don't leave him there. It probably sounds weird but it takes a special kind of person to care for a parrot (as all of you know). And I just feel more comfortable keeping him home, even if he is lonely for a couple days. I love Skype...I can check in with my friend on her ipad from my ipad and I can see him and he can see me I think it helps a little bit /shrug.

[Wolf]

I simply don't do vacations and if I must be gone for more than a few hours, I time it so that my Lady can be at home to take care of them. It is mostly the other way around and she goes on vacation while I take care of the birds and other animals.

[Saber]

Each bird is different and unique. My advice would be to provide small increments of exposure to various scenarios. I made sure Scooty did well without me for an entire day, then worked up to a weekend and so on over the course of a couple years. I also had the people I would put in charge come over often so they were familiar with each other before I actually needed them to babysit. i taught them how to prepare food, shop for food, cleaning basics, and all the other run of the mill stuff. It really comes in handy for emergency situations. I had gotten a call that my grandmother was passing away. I was able to call my friend and jump on the next flight out knowing she knew what to do.

Again, Skype and FaceTime are great because if she has any issues she can basically both show me and tell me.

But by the time you are ready for a new kiddo there maybe other options available to you so keep discussing this and hopefully you'll end up with a lot of options and great ideas

[Pajarita]

My husband and I usually don't take our vacations together precisely because of the animals... as a matter of fact, he is now back home because one of our sons is getting married for the second time and I stayed here. But, every few years, we take a week or so together and, when this happens, a daughter that lives nearby comes over three times a day (early morning, noon and evening) to care for them. I would not ever consider boarding my birds anywhere.

[shiraartain]

I don't consider boarding an option. We traveled last year and Fajr stayed with my friend who is a bird person. I will be going abroad for 6 weeks soon and my family will be taking care of him. I think family, if they are nearby and bird people, are the best option. Or a friend who is a bird person if no family is available. I don't know how boarding works, but a situation where your bird has one on one attention is best in my opinion.