Work hours

[Ekkietiel]

Very random question but maybe you all will have some insight. Currently my wife and I work 3 12 hour shifts at the hospital every week. It’s not ideal for our ekkie, but honestly what work schedule is for a parrot? The days are very long for him given we leave early and come home late. We’re considering trying to switch to 4 10 hours shifts as a way of making our time away from him shorter. But it also means an extra day away from him every week and an extra day of waking up earlier than we would on our days off. The big difference is he’d be able to go to sleep about 2 hours earlier every day. If we work back to back 12s he only gets about 8 hours (on days off he gets 14 hours).

Anyone have any experience with something like this? What would work better (if there is such a thing) ? Thanks for any insight.


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[SailBoat]

Are you both working the same schedule or what???

Commonly, if there is some kind of consistency to your schedule(s), your Parrot will adapt to your schedule. Problems tend to develop when everyday is different as to when you leave and when each of you return.

Map your schedule(s) out and tell your Parrot each day what your schedule will be and when you will return home. Arrival home should always be a big event even if you are dead tired!!!

 

[chris-md]

Honestly, so long as you have entertainment in the cage, I woudln't worry about a standard work day. Once upon a time when we had one hour commutes one way, we were out of the home for 12 hours a day. Parker was just fine, he got out after we got home, life was good.

Don't stress it.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Things can help like light timers, may be some form of camera set up that you can access at work to check all OK? A friend is away long hours and he can access his air con set up and adjust the room temp for his Amazon. Adding a radio for background again may be on a timer?



It is coming to a compromise that works for you all. If you change the hours and become 'unhappy' who wins then?

 

[Ekkietiel]

Thank you all for the replies. Sailboat, we work the same schedule. Sometimes only one of us is working and it seems to make Charlie more upset because he’s missing one of us and keeps calling out for the other person (even with errands on days off).

We have him in a MASSIVE cage (3’x4’x7’) filled with toys due to our long days at work so he can keep busy. We keep the tv on a channel we usually watch when we’re home so it’s familiar. When we get home it’s always a celebration, he always says “oh wow! Hello!” (It makes your heart melt every time). Our routine is pretty set at that point. And we have a camera on him for to check up when we’re gone (granted we don’t speak into it, our thought it that would just upset him to hear us but not see us).

Because the days we work can change every week we’ve thought about options to help him understand what to expect. We’ve considered creating some type of visual calendar out of colored blocks so he would know what to expect the next day, just haven’t built it yet. I’ve read that works for some birds.

Again. Thanks for the input. We really just want what’s best for him and the last few months have been so much better than it was before we found this community.


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[SailBoat]

Once upon a time, I travel extensively, sometimes gone for up to two weeks. We used the trophy golfball display to show our Amazon the time (days) I would be gone. She quickly picked-up on what it was all about, to a point that one day, she flew to the display and removed several balls!

So, yes, a visual calendar will help and work. IMHO, I would limit it to one week and not more than two weeks. If the day blocks are removable, that would be helpful.

Enjoy!

 

[plumsmum2005]

My friend always uses the term 'going to work' for all excursions out of the house now. Her Galah now anticaptes this now by shouting "bye bye Daddy".



Do please follow up with how the 'visual calendar' goes in terms of it's construction and it's use and understanding.

 

[Ekkietiel]

Sailboat, did you use 2 colors for home and away? Wondering how complex it can be. Our thought was 2 colors, one for “early wake up/all day work” and one for “sleep in/no work”.


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[SailBoat]

For us, we kept it simple and specific to a single trip as my dear wife would say, he is either here or he's gone! So, the trophy box would come out just before I would leave on a trip and come down afterwards with a ball removed for as each day that passed. And, that likely explains why our Amazon choose to remove a ball -- make dad come home sooner...

With a daily work schedule, home days and work days has merit and different color for work or home makes good sense. Removing the work and home block each day could really lock it in.

Yes, we are all interested in how this variation works...