Please tell me it will be ok.

[kathleen]

I have a quaker named Pumpkin. We've been together for over two years now and he's totally my baby. We've only been apart for one full day, if that. I rarely go on vacation and when I do, I'm sure to stay at a place that allows pets. We've had really great times.

This is what's happening. A friend of my mom's, he's 85, is going on a 10 day cruise in March. He had a long time companion that he would travel with but on their cruise in 2006, his companion died. My mom's friend prefers not to travel alone and asked if I would accompany him on this trip, all expenses paid. I mean this is a trip of a lifetime but I'm hesitant to leave Pumpkin. I have great neighbors who would be happy to birdsit and they have birds themselves so I know he would be in capable hands. They've sat for him before but like I said, it was only an overnight. Also, he would stay in his own cage in his own surroundings so I'm hoping it will be less stressful. Is this more stressful for me or for Pumpkin?

I read a post recently where the person went away and the bird was more snuggly toward her when she got back. Is this the more common experience? It's going to be ok, right?

Thanks for your understanding.

[huntress]

Sound like you have done everything right. I think your more stressed than he will be. If your comfortable leaving him with them then you need to go. relax and have a vacation. He will be there waiting for you when you get back. You can ask them to leave the TV on for him during the day and put a few lights on timers so the evening lighting will be more like normal?

[greencinacheeks]

I think he will be just fine...like huntess said...have hem leave the tv on or lights on, just keep im "company" a bit...he'll be here when you get bak....go have a great vacation!!!!

~Nate

[birdsnreps]

if at all possible, find a bird sitter that will let him come out of his cage for a little while each day, and possibly even let him/her handle the bird. try to get the bird and the sitter acquainted before you go on the trip. that way the bird wont have some stranger taking care of him, and he wont be stuck in the cage all day and night. if he is stuck in the cage day and night with no interaction, hes prob gonna be really sad, but at least if he somewhat knows the sitter and they are pretty comfy with each other, it should make the bird alot happier, and it might even be a little vacation for him too!!

[kathleen]

Originally Posted by birdsnreps

if at all possible, find a bird sitter that will let him come out of his cage for a little while each day, and possibly even let him/her handle the bird. try to get the bird and the sitter acquainted before you go on the trip. that way the bird wont have some stranger taking care of him, and he wont be stuck in the cage all day and night. if he is stuck in the cage day and night with no interaction, hes prob gonna be really sad, but at least if he somewhat knows the sitter and they are pretty comfy with each other, it should make the bird alot happier, and it might even be a little vacation for him too!!

Thanks for this because that's excactly what I was thinking. They've birdsat for him before and I was thinking to have them over for cake and coffe/tea so they could spend real time with him.

Thanks everyone for your support and understanding and great advice.

[jenseits]

When I went away for a week, I brought Stewie and both his cages (his regular cage and the travel cage) to the birdsitters' house. They ended up spoiling him rotten - he'd start to yell every time the left the room, so they got in the habit of putting him in his travel cage and bringing him with them everywhere they went (inside the house). I think he really enjoyed the adventure.

Even if your birdsitters aren't comfortable letting him out of his cage (although that would be ideal), it's also nice if they just wheel his cage around to wherever they are. That way he can feel involved and have company even if he's locked up.

Following the same routine as you usually do should also help.

In addition to being familiar with the birdsitter first, other comforts Stewie enjoyed were the familiarity of his regular cage, lots of treats and his birdie video.

[PowerBBS]

When we left for a week on vacation last year, I had one of the guys from work be our "bird sitter" so to speak. He was at first affraid to get them out of the cage, but we brought him by several times before we left to ge thim comfortable with the birds.

He came by every day for about 2 hours at least and got the birds out. He played a bit with them, changed their food and water and paper. We wished he would just live there for the week, but he had other responsibilities of his own (he owns horses). Our fids seemed to have adjusted to him quite readily.

I think us bringing him over to handle and "know" the fids ahead of time really, really helped. I think this was less stressful than him taking the birds to his home (plus the cages and such are way to large to ever be moved - except for the cleaning periods).