Taking fids to work?

[OwnedbyMacaws]

Ok, I need to ask those of you who take their fids to work how complicated or hard it is. I work from home but recently, business has picked up enough for me that I could open a shop in town and probably do well with it. This isn't really a problem for most of my animals. The dogs usually just lay around till the kids get home anyway, and use the doggie door. The cats take their attention when they want it, which means 5 or 10 minutes in a lap when it strikes their fancy, and they can get that just as easily in the evenings as during the day. The fish have no attention needs other than feed them and occasionally clean their tank. The girls are a problem though.

They stay out about 75% of the time. I cage them at night, when I go out of the house, and sometimes when I'm just really too busy to even keep a half an eye on them. Otherwise they're out on their playgyms and perches, or otherwise causing trouble.

I already know I can't just cage them all day and expect that to be alright. I was thinking that I'd take them to work with me. There is perfect nook in the space I'm looking at behind the counter that could accomodate a couple of cages and cage top play sets could be put on top of them. That way they'd be out of reach of strange hands, but in the middle of the 'action'. There are also two back rooms in the space that could be used for them as well, but I don't think they'd care to be all alone for most of the day, and they'd have to be since I'd be out front.

I'm worried about health though. Is it dangerous to expose the girls to that many different people everyday, even if they don't touch them? And is this going to be difficult for them mentally? We moved about 8 years ago. I didn't have Lola and Bonnie then but I had Sunny and Hannah and they didn't seem to mind it at all but this is a bit different.

I just need to know the pros and cons of taking your birds to work with you from those who do it. Please.

Thanks!
Dana

[Rue]

...I haven't done it...but I certainly would, esp. with Ever...she's happy just to sit there and watch...probably could sit on a t-stand all day...Pekoe's the energizer bunny...I'd have to have him caged or he'd eat everything...

...my birds are locked up during the day whether I'm working from home or not...they sleep most of the day just like the dogs and the cats...if I'm home, I extend their morning 'out' and let them out earlier in the evening...and we follow this on the weekends as well...I do this deliberately to keep to what I call an irregular routine...

...germs: If people can't handle them, they can't get direct contact germs, and shouldn't be able to catch airbourne germs that can hurt them...(unless the person coming in is coated with feces from sick birds, and that's unlikely)...

...were you planning on taking all 6 macaws in at once? If so, and you had some say in the design of your new office, I'd seriously consider renovating a room behind your desk for them...maybe with sliding 'windows' that you could close if needed...that way you'd be sitting in front of them, and they could see you, but would still be enclosed if necessary (i.e. from cold temps in the winter, from noise, from people scared of birds, etc.)...

Does this make sense at all? I can see it in my mind, but it's harder to verbalize...

If you plan such a room that it could be used as office space should you move (down the road) you wouldn't have to worry about it's presence affecting future renters of your space...

[OwnedbyMacaws]

Originally Posted by Rue

...were you planning on taking all 6 macaws in at once?

I haven't gotten that far in my thinking yet. This is just a maybe sort of thing right now. And see, Mickey and Mallory present a whole nother situation completely. I'm expecting their socialization is going to be a long long process, so I'm not sure what exposure to that many strange people would do to them at this stage. It seems like it would be a bit much to take all six at once. The only time I've ever taken all four girls anywhere is when we go up to my family's or Hubby's family vacation houses for a week or so. I've been out with two at a time before and Sunny, Hannah, and Bonnie. I tend not to take Lola out unless it's alone because she can be a handful by herself.