another vacation topic but this ones more complicated

[idlepirate]

I noticed alot of topics coming up about leaving your birds when you go on vacation.
I have a similar problem but its much more complicated so just thought id start a fresh thread about it see if anyone can help me.

My crisis is as follows:

Once a year I have to go to southafrica to visit my family but i usually go for 2 months (as its winter in the uk and its summer there and its the one time in the year i get to see my family)
Oriignally I wanted to take Lorenzo with me but now im having second thoughts.
First off the price and probably the laws on transporting birds there even with cites papers etc.
Im worried that the climate change would affect him, winter to summer. Theres a 12hour flight and then once there, because its so hot, my parents would have windows and door open. Lorenzo is flighted and would have to be inside his cage all day so that he wouldnt escape. He would be able to be outside and enjoy the sunshine at least where here theres never enough sunshine to do so!
Id organize a cage there but the whole scenario would be very stressful for him.
Here in my room in uk hes out all day, hes only put inside to sleep and sometimes when I go out. For him to sit in a cage for most of the day would break my heart.
I suppose now with him ill only go away for one month.
I could possibly get him on the aviator and take him with when we go out or sit outside to eat.
Anyway thats my option of taking him with.

The next is if i leave him here.....
problem: everybody works all day and again if someone would take him in, hed have to sit inside the cage all day which hes not used to.
Hes lucky with me as i work from home so we're together all day.
I dont think i know anyone id trust with him so id probably leave him in my room and get my neighbors to feed him and let him out in the morning and then at night put him to bed. im sure theyll spend a little time with him but only on weekends and evenings since they work fulltime.
they have a budgie which is also out (but 24/7) so they wouldnt be able to have lorenzo in the same room as them incase he attacks the budgie.
He has a routine here and i suppose with my neighbors feeding him and letting him fly free aorund my room hed be most in the routine but he wouldnt have me for a month and im worried how lonely hell get.
in between im sure my boyfriend will come over and check on him too if he gets the time.
Its also a bit much to ask someone to clean after him and his cage all month as well.

Which is the best solution as its really starting to stress me out haha i feel quilty being on holiday and being paranoid all day about him and not being able to check on him. I did also want everyone to meet him

I might look around for a petsitter but the chance that hell still have to be inside a cage all day.....

any ideas would be apreciated. thanks

[zazanomore]

That really sucks, and I'm just stressing over a week. I wish I had some advice.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

IF it weren't for the complication of being an international venture, I'd probably take him with me, personally. I understand birds can quite enjoy traveling unlike, say, cats. But the quarantine thing would make me very nervous.

I expect he'll survive either way. You'll just have to use your best judgement as to which is the lesser of the evils (or the greater of the goods). If he will be faced with being cage bound more hours of the day, you might want to try getting him accustomed to spending more time in there. I get the impression it isn't such a big deal in the middle of hte day when they tend to be less active anyway.

[Michael]

Here's my general rule of thumb for this kind of stuff:

Domestic Travel: Take bird
International Travel: Leave bird home

All other concerns and conveniences aside, the difficulties involved in transporting an "exotic" animal across borders is just too problematic. I'd be worried about some ignoramus trying to confiscate the animal under some unknown pretenses.

I don't take my birds domestically if airline travel is involved either, but I would at least consider it. International, no way. So if your trip was domestic, I could have gotten into ways to improve the trip for the bird, but since it's international, I'd rather talk about how to leave it home.

Basically you have to put your foot down and take a few months to ease the parrot into the kind of circumstances it will be under while you are gone. The other option is to go cold turkey. It will be as though the parrot got rehomed and will just have to deal with the new situation.

Sorry things are so problematic and that we can't give better advice, it sucks. You can take children internationally with little difficulty, but bringing the feathered child is sooo much more complex. If it should happen that South African/British procedures are much more lenient and you think it possible to go through, let us know and we can brainstorm some things to make the trip easier for the bird.

[idlepirate]

Thanks guys for the words of advice, its definitely made things clearer.
I suppose it would be best to leave him here (hope he wont hate me too much when i get back).
I thought 12 hours in a plane would be the most stressful for him but its true you never know with border control if they just take him for so many months in quarentine.
oh well:(
or if i got to southafrica and then would have the trouble back in UK.risky.

Basically you have to put your foot down and take a few months to ease the parrot into the kind of circumstances it will be under while you are gone. The other option is to go cold turkey. It will be as though the parrot got rehomed and will just have to deal with the new situation.

Cold turkey might be the best option as id go in a month and when im in room and hes in the cage he just wont have any of it. He always wins and i let him out. after a few days he might get used to it. ill leave the tv on for him and hope neighbors or someone will visit him a little each day.
Hes just always been odd with cages, He wont play with anything inside it, only when the toys are outside hanging as high as possible, he wont sit on any of the perches, just clings along the bars. He pretty much only sleeps in his chube at night and goes into his cage for his food but first thing in the morning if he cant be out when he wakes up he'll cause hell.
His cage is big enough for his size but obviously every cage can always be bigger.

Do you think any stressrelated issues like plucking or suddenly hating me, forgetting all his training or generally just being different could happen after a month of being in a cage without me?

Sorry things are so problematic and that we can't give better advice, it sucks. You can take children internationally with little difficulty, but bringing the feathered child is sooo much more complex. If it should happen that South African/British procedures are much more lenient and you think it possible to go through, let us know and we can brainstorm some things to make the trip easier for the bird.

thanks so much for all your advice though. It is complicated, people are too funny with birds. I think if they have a full vet check up and have a certificate they should be allowed to travel. if theres proof that theres no diseases.fair enough those parrot smugglers that just pick birds from the wild and take them over.

I think for now ill work on keeping him here and maybe maybe maybe i can organize a bigger cage to make him more comfortable. and start keeping him inside a little extra each day even though he flips out each time.
Ill post again here if i can think of anything or how its goes. Might still look out for parrotsitters.

One more question though: about bathing, if hes left alone all day and someone comes to see him he might be too excited to bath but should I ask them to mist him a little bit or else hell just be swimming in his water bowl?

[Michael]

How old is he?

[idlepirate]

Hes just over 8 months old now

[Michael]

Oh he's young. He can just deal with it.