How to find a bird sitter?

I'm going on a two week trip to see my (elderly) grandparents and go on a vacation with them, and I'm having trouble planning what to do for Nico while I'm away. I have a little more than two weeks to get this figured out.

I've found a respectable boarding facility that only boards birds and offers out-of-cage time to every bird that boards there, but there are tests that need to be done on Nico before he can board there. I called my local vet and she said she does not recommend that birds be boarded at all, and that she does not run complicated lab tests that the boarding facility requires (negative tests on PVD, PBFD, Polyoma, etc). I would have to take Nico to Seattle (100 ish miles away) for those, and the people at the clinic there haven't called me back (I'll try calling again on Monday). She also added that Nico is a young bird and running a bunch of tests at once might not be good for him.

She recommended that I find a qualified pet sitter, and I'm having trouble finding one. How do I look for a pet sitter that specializes in birds in my local area (Bellingham, WA)? So far I have only been able to find dog and cat sitters, and only one that "also has a Goffins cockatoo so is good with birds". They also seem to charge by hour and not by day, so I don't know how that would work.

My worst case scenario is that I would have one of my roommates take care of Nico. Her sister had a parrotlet growing up so she has a little bit of experience with birds. She adores Nico and Nico likes her, so personality wise it would be a good match. However, she has never taken care of a bird by herself before so I'm a bit worried about that.

Any advice would be appreciated!

I'm leaning towards the roomie. Reliability, trustworthiness, familiarity...

Maybe you can have some fun by bringing her a well-deserved please-and-thank-you gift/souvenir!

I definitely think the roomie is your best bet - he can stay home, she already likes him, and you can spend the next couple weeks training her! That they like each other already is something that is pretty much priceless.

Yeah if your roomie doesn’t have a problem that would be easiest.

Contact the sitters. Not all companies advertise that they have sitters with bird or exotic pet experience. I work with a pet Sitting company for money on the side but the focus of that company is dogs & cats. They do get bird people and it’s amusing to me when we get people that think they have a ‘difficult’ bird hahaha. Like a blue and gold macaw that they say I don’t have to handle because he’s difficult and all I can think at them while laughing in my head is that you guys obviously haven’t met a difficult bird huh and then I wonder if they would want to meet Kelly (my amazon)lol

The pet sitting companies can give you an estimate if you want someone to stay for an extended bird of time. Usually it’s up to the sitter what to charge exactly but it’s usually within a certain range.

I agree, I think your roommate is a good option and Nico doesn’t have to go anywhere unfamiliar! You have a couple of weeks to get your roommate familiar with Nico’s routine too.

I have conures and a cockatiel, and am close by in Ferndale but not set up to bird-sit. I haven’t had much luck finding a bird-sitter in the area either. I’d be happy to be a resource if your roommate runs into any difficulties while you are gone (I work in Bellingham), pm me if I can be of any help .

Out of the available options I would definitely think about letting the roommate look after your Nico. New locations and tests I agree are pretty stressful.

Just food for thought....


Barbara Heidenreich refuses to hire a bird sitter to watch after her birds. Instead, she hires regular cat/dog/what have you sitters. In this way, the pet sitters are unbiased on how the birds *should* be taken care of and she can teach them how she wants the birds cared for.


Came across a person locally who has chickens and is in need of someone to watch them temporarily. The one major condition is that the person watching them *must not* have chickens (or probably, more specifically, birds) of their own to avoid any potential cross contamination. In this way, it keeps their flock safer.

I don’t really care how other people take care of their birds and just do what they want me to myself. I’m certain there’s people out there though that think their way is best and ignore instructions. Of course I don’t think not having birds would stop that though. You should see the terrified face of every dog/cat sitter I’ve interviewed for my collection of exotics. They have no clue even after it’s explained what to really do haha. Plus, I think 15ft snakes are a bit intimidating for the nonsnake people and Folgers demonic laughing while he bites the bars is a bit off putting(funny but apparently not inspiring confidence...who knew:20. Luckily I found someone that is both a bird and reptile person for my guys and willing to trade off on petsitting between us.

The disease testing thing is big and you’d have to verify that any sitter with birds has tested ones. The one I found actually only has a bird from the shelter I’ve worked with so I know it’s been disease tested.

I agree that the roomie is the bird's best option by-far...

For future reference, if this pops-up again and you don't have the "roomie" option, most Certified Avian Vets board birds/parrots, and that's always a good option, as it gives you peace of mind...you know that they know what they're doing, your bird will be well-cared for, and if your bird happens to become sick, it's already in the right place, and they will surely notice something is wrong, where as most non-bird people will not...

MonicaMc said:

Just food for thought....


Barbara Heidenreich refuses to hire a bird sitter to watch after her birds. Instead, she hires regular cat/dog/what have you sitters. In this way, the pet sitters are unbiased on how the birds *should* be taken care of and she can teach them how she wants the birds cared for.


Came across a person locally who has chickens and is in need of someone to watch them temporarily. The one major condition is that the person watching them *must not* have chickens (or probably, more specifically, birds) of their own to avoid any potential cross contamination. In this way, it keeps their flock safer.

Click to expand...

This is an interesting take on the situation, and does make sense...However, the only thing that I would worry about with a "non-bird person" who has no bird/parrot experience is their lack of understanding of illness/injury. A person with no bird/parrot experience isn't likely to catch the signs/symptoms of a sick bird, or a bird that is in pain, as you well-know they are subtle...But it does make sense...

Here's a quick story that will get you thinking...I thought my mom and my stepfather were going to sue this vet's office...

My mom and my stepfather went away for a week to Colorado (we live in central PA, so they weren't close, and they drove out for a wedding)...They had 2 dogs at the time, their pug, who they still have, and a very old, adopted, German Short-Haired Pointer, who my stepfather had gotten about 5 years earlier, who was severely neglected and abused his entire life, was totally emaciated when he found him, skin on top of bones, and who only got a dish of water once a week or so...So this dog craved water all the time, and carried it's bowl around in it's mouth and would give it to anyone and everyone who he saw...it was sad, even though he was a great dog and bounced-back fine and actually turned-into a great hunting dog, he had this water thing..he would drink out of all toilets (he could lift the seat), and would drink until he was either vomiting, or literally peeing WHILE he was drinking...And the pug would also drink until she vomited, lol, not at all like him, but pugs have a short-throat and small stomachs, and if they eat/drink a lot they tend to get sick. So my mom and stepfather would give both dogs a full bowl of water in the morning, at lunchtime, late afternoon, and early evening before bedtime (and still do with the pug today, the pointer died at age 13, he was old)...

They ended-up hiring this service that their General Vet offered, where instead of boarding the dogs in a crate at the vet's office, they sent a "certified" dog-sitter over to their house 3 times a day to walk both dogs, feed and water them, etc. It was better for the dogs, they got to stay at home and had the run of their house and the outside runs they had access to through the doggie-door...This woman came over and got the tour of the house, met the dogs, and got WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS about what/when/how much to feed and water them, walk them, treats, etc. The woman had made a comment to my mom about the dogs not having "unlimited water" all day long, and both my mom and my stepfather explained the situation with the Pointer...So they left...for a week...and keep in-mind that my mother is literally and seriously suffering from OCD about the inside of her house/cleaning/etc., it's bad, I grew-up in her house and it was tough at-best...Well when they came home a week later, they said they could smell the urine from outside the front door...They opened the door to a literal "river of urine" running across the hardwood floor of their living room from the kitchen...the kitchen was FLOODED, literally flooded with urine, the downstairs bathroom, the pantry, the living room, and the carpeted area of the living room was completely ruined, soaked-through the padding to the sub-floor...then there was vomit EVERYWHERE...My mom found a huge pile of her good bath and hand towels in the food pantry of all places, all completely soaked-through with urine, and just thrown into a pile in the FOOD PANTRY...both dogs were extremely ill, and then they saw why...

This "certified dog-sitter", trained by their vet and given full, written instructions in addition to the verbal instructions from both my mom and stepfather, had decided that my mom and stepfather were "animal abusers", her words, because neither dog had unlimited water all day long, OR FOOD...that's right, she came 3-4 times a day to their house, for a week, and had ditched their dog bowls and instead put down my mom's huge mixing bowls and whatever else she could find (like a dutch-over), and completely filled them with both water and food all 3-4 times she came over, every single day...Both dogs could have eaten themselves to death, she had like 4 to 5 huge bowls of food out all day long, and the same with water...and then she only let them out 3 times a day for a week...And when the urine and the vomit got "out of her control", her words, she decided to just leave it, as they were "animal abusers"...

Both my mom and my stepfather are life-long animal lovers, owners, and breeders...they both have always had dogs, birds, end my stepfather has always had reptiles, ferrets, etc. They have a wild box turtle that they keep in their massive vegetable garden for christ's sake...and they were officially reported to their vet as being "animal abusers" because they had their dogs on a food and water schedule, and didn't just give them unlimited food and water all day long, every day...They immediately called the vet's office, and when they were told that the "dog-sitter" had written a report on them, they flew over to that office (she kept the key to their house too, like she was going to "take" the dogs to "save them")...They got to confront this woman, who told them that they had no idea how to take care of a dog, had no business having them at all, and that she decided to "do what was best for the dogs and ignore their neglectful instructions"...now keep in-mind that both dogs go to that vet all the time, for everything, they get every little thing the vet recommends, and have always been given an excellent bill-of-health for years and years...but suddenly they are "neglectful animal abusers" because this "certified dog-sitter" said-so...