Leaving Gloria for 32 hours or so. :(

What do you all do for your babies when you have to leave them? Normally I have a sitter that comes in twice a day to feed the cats, turn the lights on and off etc. Gloria has a radio that is on during the day. However, the sitter wasn't available on Christmas day. We decided to just travel to our son's hours (4 hours away) early Christmas morning and come home Monday in the early afternoon. Normally the sitter doesn't cover the cage as it gets dark in the house. I put Gloria's avian light on a timer and I'll keep the radio on. Hopefully she'll still sleep okay. She's used to noise as she's right in our family room but she's typically covered.

Any suggestions? I'd take her with us but my son has two really big obnoxious dogs and she's be stuck in a travel cage in the guest room because of them so I figured she's better off at home in her large cage.

I'm feeling such "parrontal" guilt.

You don't have a neighbor that could just check on him? I would ask

It shouldn't be the end of the world so long as she has access to food that won't spoil and water. My parents have left their birds many times for weekend trips (leave on a friday after work, come back sunday morning/afternoon kind of thing). They find someone or hire a sitter to come feed/water them if they'll be gone longer than 48 hours though. They're kind of old school, and people used not to worry so much leaving pets for a weekend. Never an issue, but they do always leave an extra dish of water in the cage just in case the water dish got emptied somehow (bird takes a bath or something). Also, someone always knows their plans and has a house key just in case something happened and they didn't return when expected so the birds aren't left uncared for for longer than a day or 2 (and they always arrange to call the person as soon as they get back and if they don't hear from them, they'll go take care of them. You never know if you'll get ill, in an accident etc...). Something to keep in mind for the future

kozykitty said:

What do you all do for your babies when you have to leave them? Normally I have a sitter that comes in twice a day to feed the cats, turn the lights on and off etc. Gloria has a radio that is on during the day. However, the sitter wasn't available on Christmas day. We decided to just travel to our son's hours (4 hours away) early Christmas morning and come home Monday in the early afternoon. Normally the sitter doesn't cover the cage as it gets dark in the house. I put Gloria's avian light on a timer and I'll keep the radio on. Hopefully she'll still sleep okay. She's used to noise as she's right in our family room but she's typically covered.

Any suggestions? I'd take her with us but my son has two really big obnoxious dogs and she's be stuck in a travel cage in the guest room because of them so I figured she's better off at home in her large cage.

I'm feeling such "parrontal" guilt.

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Pinkbirdy said:

You don't have a neighbor that could just check on him? I would ask

Click to expand...

What you have prepped will work!

I would also put the radio on a (separate) timer.

The real problem is if you cannot get back inside of your 32 hour window. I would recommend, asking your sitter if the worst happens, if she could visit, clearly you would have to call that you are coming or staying longer.

The neighbor is a good idea as a quick check.

Be very prepared to get the stinkeye at the very least and having to beg for forgiveness for not following normal practice.

Clearly all the normal stuff; water, food extra foot toys, etc..

Merry Christmas !

See if you can make friends with folk that own parrots in the area for next time? A reciprocal arrangement can work very well if you trust them and that their bird is in good health. Other than that does a neighbour have a son or daughter that will come do the necessary for you for some pocket money basing this on them being trustworthy and sensible.

Thanks for your suggestions. We do have 2 large water dishes in the cage and I will double up on the pellets. I am giving a key to a neighbor in case of an emergency and leaving instructions out. Once we hit a snow storm and had to stay an extra night and another time we had a car issue. At least in case of emergency I can give her a call and have instructions left for her. I will put the radio on a timer. Thanks!

I won't get the stink eye. I'll get a lot of squawking and being told to "Get to work" when I get back on Monday. Gloria keeps me on task! She'll get extra treats when we get home.