Have a trip coming up in a couple months, Qs

[Mechanical8dragon]

My BF, me, and our roommate are all going on a 4 day-ish trip to Las Vegas, NV. Our house will be empty. Ya see where this is goin' already, I know it LOL.

We're traveling by United Airlines, and from my understanding, they DO allow small animals to travel in the coach with you, but they charge I think it was 125$ each way, and if there are lay overs, another 125$ for every layover I think. We don't have any layovers. But this was the first option I discovered, but the tickets are already purchased. Will I be able to add her on if i go this route? Which I might?

The other option is to just leave her home. I'm training her to use a water bottle, and its a BIG water bottle. The food bowls in her cage are HUGE and not counting the water bowl, i have 3 of them I can fill to the brim with like 2+cups of pellets. I have no concerns that she'd end up running out of food and water in 4 days. However, what does concern me, is being left alone for 4 full days and nights.

My dad and I used to visit my grandma on the weekends so we'd leave her at home for the time we're gone (We'd either leave right after dad came home from work on friday (the early saturday morning), stay saturday, and then come back sunday evening). So I know 2 days alone are ok for her.

Thoughts? Will she be ok? Or should I just take her with me even though she'd be in the hotel room alone for 90% of the day. My thinking is I might as well just leave her at home, as we'll spend VERY LITTLE TIME in the hotel. Literally just coming back to go to sleep, thats it. So she'd get very little attention while we're there.

There's no one here either that can 'bird-sit' her. I don't have friends here, I don't trust anyone by BF knows to come take care of her, and even if they did, it would be 5 min of interaction that would result in them most likely getting bitten. Jardy does NOT like strangers. None of the people we know are familiar with birds.

And the person I 'rehomed' jardy to awhile back is far to busy and quite a distance away from us, and again, Jardy cared little for her as well, as I've seen first hand (she had multiple deep bite marks and healing bite marks on her hands). So again, even if she did take jardy, again she wouldn't get much human interaction.


Personally, even though it might be quite the boring 4 days for Jardy, I feel it would be better to just keep her here at home rather than pulling her thru the stress of a plane flight, a busy airport, another plane ride, a strange room, etc. etc. but I still wanted to ask the opinions of those here who've owned birds FAAARRR longer than me. My adventure with Jardy has only just begun, while you guys have had it going for quite some time (safe to say, most of you 10+ yrs? hehe).


Do you feel it would be better for her to just leave her here? Take her with me? (bird sitter is a no go, I don't trust anyone to take care of my animals, I don't know of anyone who would even be willing to, and the only person I do know has too much going on in her life)

PS: To some of you who DO know about the past unfortunate event with Jardy, you may ask: "Why didn't you just wait till after your trip to take her back?" I've already asked myself that question. Jardy's situation at her 'new home' wasn't ideal, again she hates strangers as she wasn't socialized well when she was younger and everyone at the store was scared to death of her except for like 3 guys lol, Jardy hated every single woman in that store. idk why... they said she didn't like women, but I walked up to her and picked her up with no issues... I'm rambling. Back to it: Her 'new home' wasn't ideal, she didn't like the people she was with, and although other birds were a plus (I was told she got along with a smaller cockatoo species) being so human-dependant, I didn't feel she was as happy as I was hoping this situation would be for her.

My thinking was this: She's already been with that lady since.... November of last year I believe... so if I waited it would be even more MONTHS of unhappy Jardy vs. 4 days of alone time (of which she's partly already experienced in the past and did fine in). Believe me, I've thought about this particular situation multiple times before I settled on just bringing her home.

 

[texsize]

I would not leave my birds alone. So much can go wrong.
I had a very close call with one of my cockatiels. His foot (at the ankle) got caught in an S bend of a stainless steel chain. If someone had not been home it could have been tragic.

 

[chris-md]

Agreed. Maybe a day and a half at most. Not four days. I would find a vet or bird store who can board her.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Water bottles can stop working. They must be checked regularly, as in at least daily. Search here for threads - this has happened to people here. If it were my bird, I'd see about boarding her at our vet's office. Plane travel is extraordinarily stressful. There are under seat carriers, but you have to check with the airline as they limit the number of pets in the cabin, plus you need a good travel cage for the hotel and permission from the hotel. Please don't leave your bird home alone for that long, because if something bad happens it could go on for four terrible days.

 

[itzjbean]

I would highly recommend NOT taking her with you on the trip. It would be SO much unnecessary stress on her, and it probably would not be very enjoyable for her.

Your veterinarian should be able to take care of her while you are gone. Just like dogs and cats getting boarded, they will probably charge a fee, but this way, she'll be constantly monitored and taken care of. It would be the best option for her safety and well-being.

 

[EllenD]

I would never ever leave one of my birds home alone for four days and nights, that's just irresponsible. I'm not trying to be harsh, but so many little things can happen in that amount of time...Water bottle stops working, pellets/food gets spilled, birds gets a foot stuck in a toy or the cage or anything else, bird gets upset you're gone for so long and has a fit, flying around the cage and hurts itself, bird swallows something, I could go on and on. If you were to come home and he was either dead or suffering you'd be devastated. Just because you've left him alone for 2 days before doesn't mean you should have either, the next time could be the time something awful happens. You wouldn't leave a young child home alone for even a few hours, so why would it be OK to leave your bird for 4 days?

You need to either find somewhere to board him or take him with you. I can't believe there isn't a vet, bird or pet shop, etc. anywhere that you can leave him.

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[itzjbean]

You need to either find somewhere to board him or take him with you. I can't believe there isn't a vet, bird or pet shop, etc. anywhere that you can leave him.

The owner lives in California. There should be an abundance of avian veterinarians in the general vicinity, or at the very least, a regular vet.

 

[EllenD]

You need to either find somewhere to board him or take him with you. I can't believe there isn't a vet, bird or pet shop, etc. anywhere that you can leave him.

The owner lives in California. There should be an abundance of avian veterinarians in the general vicinity, or at the very least, a regular vet.

Then I can't imagine it's an issue at all. I live in rural Pennsylvania and there are multiple vets and breeders within 1-2 hours of me that board birds.

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[Mechanical8dragon]

then I guess I'll find a vet that will be willing to board her. I'm not leaving her in a pet store. sorry. I did that in the past when dad and I were gone longer than 2 days and when I got her back each time she was a screaming mess for weeks.

thanks.

 

[Scott]

then I guess I'll find a vet that will be willing to board her. I'm not leaving her in a pet store. sorry. I did that in the past when dad and I were gone longer than 2 days and when I got her back each time she was a screaming mess for weeks.

thanks.

As others have posted, leaving Jardy alone for four days is definitely not recommended. Most avian vets will board, but at a price - mine is about $40/day.

There is nothing inherently wrong with taking a reasonably well socialized bird on an aircraft in the cabin. I just learned United (my employer) will not accept cockatoos in the cabin!) Not sure how the surcharge applies to stopovers, but since you are on a non-stop flight there is no issue. If you choose to take Jardy, let United know ASAP as there are limits on the number of "pets in cabin" per flight - varies depending on aircraft type.

My bigger concern would be where Jardy will live while in Vegas. If a hotel, be advised all sorts of nasty chemicals are used during room servicing! If approved by the hotel, you will wish to communicate this to the cleaning staff. Would you feel comfortable leaving Jardy in the room?

Good luck, and have an awesome vacation!!

 

[itzjbean]

then I guess I'll find a vet that will be willing to board her. I'm not leaving her in a pet store. sorry. I did that in the past when dad and I were gone longer than 2 days and when I got her back each time she was a screaming mess for weeks.

thanks.

I wonder if maybe hearing all the other birds in the store she 'found' her voice? The same thing happened to our dog when we brought him to the kennel and he was hoarse from barking so much. Poor guy! I would hope Jardy would do better at the Vet clinic. Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[BeatriceC]

then I guess I'll find a vet that will be willing to board her. I'm not leaving her in a pet store. sorry. I did that in the past when dad and I were gone longer than 2 days and when I got her back each time she was a screaming mess for weeks.

thanks.

As others have posted, leaving Jardy alone for four days is definitely not recommended. Most avian vets will board, but at a price - mine is about $40/day.

There is nothing inherently wrong with taking a reasonably well socialized bird on an aircraft in the cabin. I just learned United (my employer) will not accept cockatoos in the cabin!) Not sure how the surcharge applies to stopovers, but since you are on a non-stop flight there is no issue. If you choose to take Jardy, let United know ASAP as there are limits on the number of "pets in cabin" per flight - varies depending on aircraft type.

My bigger concern would be where Jardy will live while in Vegas. If a hotel, be advised all sorts of nasty chemicals are used during room servicing! If approved by the hotel, you will wish to communicate this to the cleaning staff. Would you feel comfortable leaving Jardy in the room?

Good luck, and have an awesome vacation!!

My vet charges $30/day for the macaw and a lower price for smaller birds (smaller cage, lower price), though I can't recall what that price is. Boarding really isn't that expensive and it's worth the price to know that when you get home your baby will be safe.

 

[Mechanical8dragon]

Yeah i actually didnt even think about boarding her at a vets. Forgot that was a think

 

[GaleriaGila]

I'm a big fan of house-sitting. We have a local Ursuline Nunnery which offers that. We met Sister Collete at an unrelated civic protest, and she told us the sisters house-sit as a revenue thing and outreach, to all, Christian and otherwise. She sits in a rocking chair and reads the Bible to the Rb. He likes her! No improvement in temper so far, butttttttttttttt...
She says nunneries often offer this.
And what's a more trustworthy sitter?
Their rates are ridiculously low. We insist on doubling it.