Sad Bird Sitter Story

A sad story about a bird sitter. My neighbor recently went on vacation. She had asked a friend to watch her Budgie while she was gone. The friend knew nothing about birds, but, was told to just feed it, and change the water. Well, my neighbor came home to a dead Budgie. The friend came over every day, and saw the food bowl seemed to always be nearly full. So, she thought the bird missed its owner, and wasn't eating much. So, didn't add new food. The poor little angel starved to death! The bowl was full of seed hulls. When you ask someone to watch your birds, MAKE SURE that they know about properly feeding them! This could have been easily avoided with just a little information. And, in my opinion, a little common sense. But, that's a whole other topic!

The owner said what to do the bird sitter should have listen,she said put fresh water and food everyday that's what she had to do and that's it ,I'm in puerto Rico now my parrot is with my sister (she's 17) I told my sister to give fresh water fruits everyday,and fresh pellets everyday I showed her what to do and that's it,I told her don't open the cage don't touch the birds,and make sure the fruits only been in there a few but she has school so I told her once she gets home to take the old fruits out and put new water.i call everyday So I'm checking up on my parrots...owner should have done this just my opinion I even had my bro take care of my birds I told him fresh food and water everyday and he even called saying they still have food in the bowl should I leave it I said no throw it out put new food

Sorry to hear about the bird dying for this though.

That really sucks. :smile003: It's not really right to place the blame on anyone in this sad tale.
Thanks for the warning though.

Excellent cautionary lesson. There can't be too much detail in instructions when it comes to safety. I've only had somone check in and feed/water/talk to Pritti once in 20 years. It was for a few days (away any longer and he's at the avian hotel or with me). Told them "wash and rinse very well all bowls every day. give fresh water and food everyday, no matter what you see in the bowls or in the cage". (suggestion: leave multiple cups of water and food in the cage if possible incase one gets pooped in. this could be a problem if your sitter won't or isn't asked to open door. I leave extra bowls in 2 front corners which are easy to reach through lower door.

so sad, I had a similar thing happen but thankfully my Nappy was ok. I asked a friend to come over twice a day and put water, 3 nutriberries and a half of a nibblers corn on the cob. I brought her over and showed her how to do this (she lived across the street) I came home and the same corn that had been in the bowl when I left was still there, all nasty. I could tell that she had not been feeding enough nutriberries either. I called her over and asked her why she didnt give nappy her corn and her reply...."there was still some on the cob". So I told her next time her child does not finish dinner do not throw it away or put it in the fridge, just leave it there for a couple of days until she eats it. This was my friend from 4th grade and I have not spoke to her since as she knew what my baby meant to me and she knew what she was supposed to do.Thankfully I was only gone two nights . Since that, if me and my hubby are going to be gone my babies will be with me. I am so sorry for your neighbor and her loss.

I'm leaving on vacation next week but can't take PearlI'm having the same neighbor as last year watch her thank goodness she's good with animals and all went well last year.I'm also having my grandmother stay in the guest area.She won't be taking care of Pearl but will keep her company (Pearl loves her)I won't have to worry about any cooking fumes either because she will be using the 2nd kitchen and there's a door separating one part from another.I will still worry but have everything set.

When I was a small child my mother looked after a neighbour's budgie. The bird managed to escape and was lost so my mother bought another blue budgie and didn't tell them.
When they returned they were amazed that my mother had managed to train their non talking budgie to speak whilst they were away. :54:

That's a very sad story. I'm sure the sitter feels terrible, too.

If there is a moral to the story, I don't think it is that we can never leave home without our pets, it is that we need to be quite careful choosing a sitter for them -- or be willing to board them someplace where we are very confident they will be properly cared for.

I had a professional pet sitter I used for 15 years at my old home. She was EXTREMELY reliable and followed instructions carefully. She also had a ton of experience. Not as much with birds, and I was a little concerned when we first got Scooter, but never that she wouldn't change the food and water as instructed!

At the new house, I've located a professional sitter that has exotic animal training and has birds of their own. I will be nervous the first time I leave the kids with them, and professional sitters do charge real money, but I am fairly confident they will do what they are supposed to.

I also tend to leave a lot of foraging for them when I go away, enough that they could potentially survive on that alone. And everyone has a water bottle in addition to a water dish.

Belt and suspenders.

I had a budgie as a child - it died while being looked after by friends when our family went on holiday for 2 weeks. They were not really bird people. Now I'm wondering if they fed him or not...guess I'll never know. Long time ago now.

It just goes to show - some people really have NO idea about birds, and, common sense is not as common as you might think!

My parents watch Rosie when I'm out of town, I'm never gone for more then 3 days though and I leaven a huge list of all the dangers. I also pre-bag all her food and treats for each day I leave them in a basket next to her cage(that I move into my parents room so she's not alone all day)