Parrot Alone 12h a Day

[RottedKarma]

I have a sweet little GCC called Ivy, but I had to go out of the country for a little over a mount, and the only person left at home to take care of her is only available at night.

That’s 12 hours of her being home alone, and maybe more if she wakes up super early. She’s positioned near the window during this time and has a steady rotation of new toys, but I’m still really worried.

How bad is it, and what else can be done to make it better?

 

[itchyfeet]

Mum's galah's favorite movie was 'Frozen'. He could even sing along.
Parrots seem to enjoy telly and radio

 

[GaleriaGila]

I understand your worries...
When I was working, there were days when the Rb had a lot of alone-time.
Here's what I did.
Every morning, he had at least ten minutes of attention, and every evening, he had 20 or so. I have always kept him on a natural light schedule, in a separate room, so sometimes those times together were in the dark. During the day, he had a big window looking out on a busy street, a television on one of his favorite channels (music channels, shopping channels), a biggg cage, lots of fun foods, and a few toys that I changed out regularly).
I'm retired now, so times are better. Just a month? I hope everything works out.
Good for you for reachng out, for information.

 

[ChristaNL]

Hmmm, just wondering: is there no organisation that arranges fostering places for parrots near you?

(we have Hope for Wings, https://www.demodernepapegaai.nl/ etc. - just an example of course; they do not only find new homes for parrots who lost theirs, but also know many people who will take care of a parrot temporarily because the owner is in hospital etc.)

That way your bird will not be alone so long and with someone who knows what they are doing as well as keeping an eye out for you.

 

[ToMang07]

Yup, depending on the schedule, I leave the blinds open, lights on, and either TV or radio on for Willow when she has long days. Lots of toys, fresh water, and food as well!

 

[Inger]

Same here-blinds open so Bumble can see outside, and radio on. I use iHeartRadio on my Amazon Echo so I can easily give her commercial free variety. One day, “Alexa, play Def Leppard radio,” and maybe Beach Boys the next. Sometimes I put her cage in my room with the TV, but I don’t have cable and most of the streaming services only give you a few episodes before they turn off.

And then she’s out of the cage as soon as I get home until her bedtime.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[itzjbean]

Things happen and we can't be with out bids all the time.

As long as it's just one trip, and not several coming up in a row, your bid will adapt.

TV on, rotated toys, changed food and water daily, hopefully some out of cage time if the person watching your bird can handle your bird.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Same here-blinds open so Bumble can see outside, and radio on. I use iHeartRadio on my Amazon Echo so I can easily give her commercial free variety. One day, “Alexa, play Def Leppard radio,” and maybe Beach Boys the next. Sometimes I put her cage in my room with the TV, but I don’t have cable and most of the streaming services only give you a few episodes before they turn off.

And then she’s out of the cage as soon as I get home until her bedtime.

The Amazon Echo thing is amazing - you can control it remotely as well! I accidentally wake my partner up when trying to play my own Spotify at work and it plays through our Echo instead if I forget to change the output

I'd definitely also set up an old phone or computer with Skype auto-answer, so you can check in at any time. It was helpful when I was long-distance and in different timezones.

 

[SassiBird]

Warning: IT techie here...
I have a laptop in the bird's room running Google Remote Desktop. That let's me control the laptop from anywhere so I can play itunes, launch facetime, run the webcam, etc. Mostly I just launch itunes playlists.
I have a seperate webcam so I can see what they are doing and keep tabs on the thermometer on the wall.

 

[SassiBird]

I would try to see if a Rescue Org would foster short term, or stop by the house for a fee.

 

[RottedKarma]

Hi, I'm back and I wanted to thank all of you here for your helpful advice. I really, truly appreciate it I'll be sure to try the methods suggested above

 

[Scott]

Another indirect bit of advice.... If the person taking care of Ivy at night has a smartphone or access to computer with camera, try Face-Timing or Skyping while you are away. Doesn't help with the daytime situation, but maintains daily contact. Parrots definitely respond to images on various devices.