Help with finding bird care

[The Green Demon]

Hello everyone,
I am new to the forum. I have a cheeky lovebird called Salvador, who is nearly five years old. She was a hand-reared baby, and she and I are very attached. Recently, I had a trip to see family and was lucky enough, after a long search, to find someone to stay at home with her to bird-sit. However, this person has moved on, and I am back in the position of trying to find someone I can trust to stay with her. I am in a situation where I now need to travel at least twice a year.
Where do you start? The pet owner I bought her from would suggest boarding, but she will hate that. She has always been at home, with her cage and familiar surroundings. I did try Trusted House Sitters last time, but that was unsuccessful. Does anyone have any advice?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I'm very lucky that I have a co-worker with experience with birds that comes to our house twice a day while we're away to take care of my 20 budgies. For $50 a day she comes in the morning, feeds and waters them and lets the 10 free flyers out of their cages for the day. She comes back at about 5pm to service their food and water put them all back in their cages for the night. I can't bear to keep them caged while I'm away and I do trust them not to get into trouble. She doesn't spend the night. I don't know what I would do without her. It's hard to find bird sitters.
I suggest you try vets offices and good pet stores for employees interested in the job. Some dog or cat sitters would probably be okay with b8rd sitting a lovebird in your home. They aren't difficult scary birds like large parrots.
Good luck!

 

[The Green Demon]

I'm very lucky that I have a co-worker with experience with birds that comes to our house twice a day while we're away to take care of my 20 budgies. For $50 a day she comes in the morning, feeds and waters them and lets the 10 free flyers out of their cages for the day. She comes back at about 5pm to service their food and water put them all back in their cages for the night. I can't bear to keep them caged while I'm away and I do trust them not to get into trouble. She doesn't spend the night. I don't know what I would do without her. It's hard to find bird sitters.
I suggest you try vets offices and good pet stores for employees interested in the job. Some dog or cat sitters would probably be okay with b8rd sitting a lovebird in your home. They aren't difficult scary birds like large parrots.
Good luck!

Thank you. I am going to create a flyer and hand it out to some pet stores and vets. I don't like the idea of leaving Salvador at home on her own all day, even with someone to pop in to let her out. She would get lonely, but then she is not always comfortable with strangers. I appreciate your comment, though, and that you share the struggle to find care for your birds when you are away. Perhaps if she wasn't a lone bird, I wouldn't find it so difficult.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I agree about not leaving her alone as a lone bird. My budgies that I leave alone are not alone because they have each other. I wouldn5 leave a budgie alone and out in the room for more than a few hours.

 

[nkrbkr]

When we leave town for only a couple of days, we have a bird sitter come in once a day. I found her through my Avian Vet. If gone for longer, my lovebird’s breeder will board our birds & spoil them while we’re away.

 

[SailBoat]

We have long taken our Amazon with us as we travel. We are lucky that he is a traveler and loves to ride in the SUV, while keeping an eye on the sky for any mean things fly above.
We use a cat sized travel cage and a table top perch when we travel. He has always been a great companion while on the road!

 

[rheashard2]

Have you asked your local vet(s) for suggestions? Sometimes they can be a good source. For all their faults, large petstores sometimes have a listing. Whatever route you choose double and triple check references!

 

[rheashard2]

I know there's an avian source here. Is there a list of how and what to evaluate in potential bird sitters?

 

[The Green Demon]

When we leave town for only a couple of days, we have a bird sitter come in once a day. I found her through my Avian Vet. If gone for longer, my lovebird’s breeder will board our birds & spoil them while we’re away.

Thank you. Maybe I should contact the breeder and see how she can help.

 

[The Green Demon]

Have you asked your local vet(s) for suggestions? Sometimes they can be a good source. For all their faults, large pet stores sometimes have a listing. Whatever route you choose double and triple check references!

I honestly didn't even consider asking the vets. I will do that next week. I am very nervous when it comes to leaving her with anyone, so triple-checking references will be a must! Since I have had her, until this April, she has only ever been left for a day at the most, with a close friend popping in mid-afternoon to check on her. I don't even like to be out of the house for more than 6 hours at a time without someone popping in to visit her. I don't know if that is a bit overboard, but I bought her during COVID when I was working from home, so she hasn't been left for long periods. A recent trip to visit my new grandbaby meant I had to find someone who could stay with her for longer term, as I was away for 3 weeks. She hadn't been very accustomed to new faces either, as I live on my own, and it is usually just her and me. This is something we are working on now, as I try to have more regular visitors. The person who stayed with her while I was away was brilliant, but no longer lives in the area. So we are essentially back to square one!

 

[The Green Demon]

I know there's an avian source here. Is there a list of how and what to evaluate in potential bird sitters?

I will have a look and see what I can find. thank you.

 

[nkrbkr]

Thank you. Maybe I should contact the breeder and see how she can help.

Sometimes, breeders will offer this, as they want to be sure their babies are well taken care of. When I had a cat several years ago, his breeder did the same for us too.