going away for a week

[cdnbirdlover]

A thread on the general parrot info forum has me thinking about a family vacation we are taking next month. We haven't really been away since having Basil. The kids and I left him with my mom (because she will take better care of him than my husband who stayed home) when we went to the lake last summer but he wasn't flighted or an "out of the cage" birdie then.

We are going away for a week and Basil is going to be staying with my parents again. My mom loves her grandbird but is not comfortable having him out of the cage without me around, especially now that he is fully flighted. We will be taking his enormous cage to their apartment and my mom will give him lots of attention and practice tricks and give him treats...but all through the bars of the cage.

Is he going to be ok with this for a week? Is he going to be sad and miss me? Will he wonder if I've abandoned him forever? I am also worried about her doing cage cleaning and having his door open because he might escape. Last summer he would just sit on his perch and watch her do those things. Now he could get mad at her hand in his cage and bite or think she is getting him to step up and come out to play.

Thanks

 

[mistywaterwoman]

From everything I have read so far, I'm thinking you might have to do some taming again when you get back. I've heard that unless you handle them daily, they regress.

If you have a large door on your cage, teach your mom to "body block" it when she's feeding and tidying, that's what I do to prevent accidental escapes.

Hopefully someone with ACTUAL experience will weigh in here for you soon, since I am speaking theoretically, lol...