The importance of getting your bird well socialized and used

[Natacha]

My boyfriend and I were gone for a week to visit some parts of British Columbia and of course, the birds had to be watched over. This trip also happened to be the longest time I was going to be away from them, if you don't consider my parents watching over Piper while I was off to University.

This also happened to be the first time I brought Pixel to be birdsat somewhere else. Up to this point, her only "outings" were the visit to the vet the day we got her (which was probably one of the worst days in her life) and a recent stint out at one of the local Parrot Club meetings. While I was worried I would have a terrified and nervous bird at the meeting, she proved she had some Red-bellied blood in her and was a total clown and showed off quite some bit. But...I was there with her the whole time. Had I not been there, I'm sure it would have been different, as we are still working on getting her properly socialized...

So I was still a bit worried when it came time for her to be left into my mom's care. I was worried about how she would react, a bit concerned as she might see this as some form of abandonment. I was taking a bit of comfort that maybe being with the other members of the Poi flock would help, but since she didn't seem to have quite a strong a bond with them here as she did with me, I wasn't entirely sure how that would go over.

Well...according to what my mom said, Pixel was true to her nervous self in a new setting, something I was expecting. After all, most of the other birds went through the same thing the first few times they went there when we were away (even Petey who won the title of "best bird" this time around, used to have my mom all concerned because he would barely eat at first). I'm assuming it'll take a few times for her as well to understand that going there is only temporary and that in the end, we'll come back for her.

I was also worried about her reaction when we would come and get her. Either she would be upset with us or she would be happy to see us. Luckily, the moment she saw me she reacted the same exact way as she does when I go to let her out of her cage here and made a few of her happy sounds.

It is obvious we still need to work on her getting used to new settings and new people but I do have hope that she'll get more comfortable as time goes by.