Vacation: leaving budgie for first time…any tips?

[CosiGirl]

Hi All,

My husband and I will be going on a vacation next month for about 9 days. This will be our first separation from our budgie since we brought her home 4 months ago. Of course, my heart breaks at the thought of leaving her for a bit, but it’s necessary due to our travel arrangements (no birbs allowed).

Our plan is to bring our budgie to a trusted friend or relative’s home while we are away. I’d like to leave her home and have someone check on her and spend time with her everyday but Cozy is so social that I think leaving her alone that much would be detrimental. Even if she’s not directly interacting with someone, she really likes to have people around. She is also pretty bonded to my husband and me.

All of this to say, I’d love to hear what everyone else does when they leave their fiddo with a sitter. Any tips on how to make things smooth and simple for both bird and person administering care while we are away?

 

[ravvlet]

Your instinct to bring her to someone’s house rather than have her stay home alone was right on the money! She’ll likely be much happier with company, even if it’s not people she knows well.

If they aren’t already parrot owners, make a list for your bird sitter of all the things that aren’t bird safe, because a lot of stuff are things most folks wouldn’t even think to check. Print it out and include it with their food and cage! Nonstick pots/pans, scented candles & air fresheners, electric space heaters, hair dryers, most toasters, etc. This post covers a lot of that stuff, and other good tips for first time parrot owners/sitters:

A Warm Welcome And A Few Friendly Warnings To Keep Your Parrots Safe

Bird ownership is a challenge for the best of us, especially in the beginning. So many things are dangerous or even deadly to parrots. The information and hazards can be overwhelming at first. We've all been there, we've all made mistakes. Straight to the point. Open flames-any open flames...

www.parrotforums.com

It also might be nice to include a list of things your parrot DOES like: favorite treats, music, etc. Giving them a new special toy before you leave may also help keep them occupied.

And, if you’ve got time… FaceTime/video call to check on them! I have a camera with two way audio in my office that I use sometimes to chat with Kirby if I’m in a different part of the house for a bit and want to make sure he’s not lonely. He seems to get a kick out of it.

 

[Cottonoid]

I've been on the other side of this for many years - I've watched my son/gf's cockatiel now and then and had NO clue what I was doing 🙂 The biggest help to me was knowing that I needed to dump out food and refill it every day, and change the water every day. Then his favorite music (which made a big difference!) And then knowing his general personality, that he'd be fine if I couldn't get him back in his cage at night and he'd be fine if I used a towel over him. I would never have had the courage to do that with a budgie though, I would have been so scared of hurting it! Keiko does totally fine staying in his cage the whole time when other people have watched him so I bet Cozy would too.

I love ravvlet's idea of printing out a list of toxic household items! So important and so easy to misunderstand or overlook.

 

[CosiGirl]

Thanks so much for the tips ravvlet and Cottonoid!

My husband was thinking about having whoever is watching her just keep her in the cage for safety reasons. Is that acceptable if we are gone for 9 days? Is that too long?

 

[HeatherG]

If the bird watcher is not familiar with little birds, keeping her caged might be the best thing. Or at least the SAFEST thing. 9 days is a good amount of time but not forever, and hopefully a budgie can get some exercise in her cage that a bigger parrot might not be able to.

 

[Flboy]

Absolutely, not if you have time, make time for daily FaceTime!

 

[CosiGirl]

All good thoughts, everyone. It makes me feel better knowing that it is OK to for her to stay caged while we are gone, with the caveat of FaceTime ☺️And she had a pretty large cage for just one budgie, so there’s lots of hopping and flapping room for her to get the blood pumping . Phew ok.

Gahhh! One last question. The blow dryer thing. I never use one because I’m lazy and my husband is balding. What are the rules for that exactly? Can a person use a hair dryer if they are upstairs and the bird is down stairs? We keep a HEPA filter near her cage always, which probably doesn’t stop those kinds of fumes, but what do I tell a bird sitter about blow drying her hair?