Leaving to college soon and I can’t bring my sun Conure. Any advice?

[Koki101]

So I’m going to be leaving for college in a few weeks and I’ve had my Sun Conure since I was about 7 years old. I’m very nervous about having to go to college because I will be about 7hrs away (via driving) and I know that she will probably be confused as to why I will be gone for so long. Another issue is that they don’t allow pets and I am required to live on campus for my first year. The good things is I have many vacation dates where I can come down to visit her. She has a pretty good relationship with everyone else in my family as well but she loves me the most which is why I’m a little worried. Does anyone have some advice on how to tackle this?

Here’s a goofy little photo of her as well!

 

[Navygal]

Video chat with her, whenever you can.
Good luck in college.

N

 

[clark_conure]

This is why we don't encourage 16 yo's to get birds...there will be a a life change. HOWEVER you got it at 7 so yep

1) yur awesome
2) the bird will remebber you and.... you can ask to be off campus, my freshman year I got a waver, never hurts ask, all they can say is yes or no. They might understand. It does happen all the time. But you have to ask for it.
3) tell them it's an emotionally support animal or something, they always buy that stuff.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

This is why we don't encourage 16 yo's to get birds...there will be a a life change. HOWEVER you got it at 7 so yep

1) yur awesome
2) the bird will remebber you and.... you can ask to be off campus, my freshman year I got a waver, never hurts ask, all they can say is yes or no. They might understand. It does happen all the time. But you have to ask for it.
3) tell them it's an emotionally support animal or something, they always buy that stuff.

Even if you can somehow take your conure to school with you I can see some serious issues with that so I don't recommend trying
Unless your Sunnie is very unusual, they are notoriously loud birds and mostly incomparable with apartment living, even if you have no roommates. Their voices travel through walls and may drive your neighbors to try to have you evicted and they'll probably succeed. College roommates won't want to be awaked by or having to study with a screaming parrot in the house. They may think it's cool at first to have an exotic bird for a roommate but it will get old fast.
If you can rent a room in a single family house with people who don't mind the noise, great, but make sure they don't have pets (dogs, cats) of their own that could terrorize, harm or kill your bird.
I hope your family is willing to give your bird the attention it needs to be happy and healthy in your absence. It's a lot to ask of people who probably don't have the same feelings for your bird that you do. Parrots are much higher maintenance pets than most people appreciate. They can't be treated like toys that you simply take out to play with and then put away for long stretches of time. If your bird already has a bird buddy at home to socialize with it would be a lot easier but now is not the time to get another bird.
So, I guess you have to trust that your bird will be well taken care of both emotionally and physically while you are doing the most important thing at this stage in your life- furthering your education. Good luck to you and your Sunnie.

 

[Koki101]

Video chat with her, whenever you can.
Good luck in college.

Thanks!! I’ll be heading out in like a week 😭 I’ll be sure to video call with her!

 

[Koki101]

This is why we don't encourage 16 yo's to get birds...there will be a a life change. HOWEVER you got it at 7 so yep

1) yur awesome
2) the bird will remebber you and.... you can ask to be off campus, my freshman year I got a waver, never hurts ask, all they can say is yes or no. They might understand. It does happen all the time. But you have to ask for it.
3) tell them it's an emotionally support animal or something, they always buy that stuff.

I wanted to bring her as an emotional support animal but I’d have to bring proof from like a doctor or something in order to allow it. I might see if I can go off campus after my first year though!!😔

 

[Koki101]

Even if you can somehow take your conure to school with you I can see some serious issues with that so I don't recommend trying
Unless your Sunnie is very unusual, they are notoriously loud birds and mostly incomparable with apartment living, even if you have no roommates. Their voices travel through walls and may drive your neighbors to try to have you evicted and they'll probably succeed. College roommates won't want to be awaked by or having to study with a screaming parrot in the house. They may think it's cool at first to have an exotic bird for a roommate but it will get old fast.
If you can rent a room in a single family house with people who don't mind the noise, great, but make sure they don't have pets (dogs, cats) of their own that could terrorize, harm or kill your bird.
I hope your family is willing to give your bird the attention it needs to be happy and healthy in your absence. It's a lot to ask of people who probably don't have the same feelings for your bird that you do. Parrots are much higher maintenance pets than most people appreciate. They can't be treated like toys that you simply take out to play with and then put away for long stretches of time. If your bird already has a bird buddy at home to socialize with it would be a lot easier but now is not the time to get another bird.
So, I guess you have to trust that your bird will be well taken care of both emotionally and physically while you are doing the most important thing at this stage in your life- furthering your education. Good luck to you and your Sunnie.

Thank you so much! Yeah she’s very loud so it would be difficult to have roommates with her. I unfortunately still can’t bring her with me for the first year as I’m required to live on campus but I may live off campus in the future. I really do appreciate the advice!!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Thank you so much! Yeah she’s very loud so it would be difficult to have roommates with her. I unfortunately still can’t bring her with me for the first year as I’m required to live on campus but I may live off campus in the future. I really do appreciate the advice!!

I hope you enjoy college! I loved it. Maybe you can go home for a weekend every 4-8 weeks to visit your Sunnie and your family.

 

[ravvlet]

I imagine your family helped care for her when you were younger, and will get by while you're gone! My 11 year old can barely be trusted to remember to change the cat's litter, haha. She will miss you but will adjust, especially if you visit often! Change happens and it can't be helped.

One day, my now-6 & 11 year old, who our orange wing amazon and baby dusky conure love very much, will also go off to college, and while I'm sure they'll be sad they will recover too. Duskies and suns are of the same genus, so my youngest kiddo is really close to the age you were when you guys brought home your sun!

I assume (and I apologize if I'm wrong) that your parents have a lot of experience with bird care and handling at this point, and the only real concern will be how your birdie handles your absence.