Bird Boarding

[momo]

I have a small situation..
I am going away on holidays in Feb.. my mother and I.
I dont want to leave elmo at any of relatives because they just dont understand birds.. and will leave elmo outside all the time and won't play with him..

So I am looking at a few bird boarding places that say they do take good care and will interact with tame birds.. my only problem is I have emailed a few places and none of them say that you require a clean bill of health before putting your birds there.. I dont want elmo to catch anything from any of the other birds.. I couldnt bear it if something happen to my baby.

What do I do? Do I still board elmo at the bird board.. although he may catch something from the other birds..? I am so stuck..

[bookworm0550]

you know, i was gonna post up this same question too as far as to what other people do when they are out of town.

[cprcheetah]

Luckily I haven't had to go out of town with my 'huge' flock yet. In the past I took Kermit and Kira to the vets for boarding. They were the only birds besides the mascot, they both came back healthy and happy. As for now with 6 birds + 4 Babies + 2 new budgies coming on Friday....that would be nearly impossible to board them all so I think I'd have to have a Pet Sitter which worries me nearly to death finding someone that is trust worthy.

[bookworm0550]

that's how i feel too. I just don't know if anyone can take care of them they way I can you know. I'm sure there are people who can, but no one I know of!!!!!!

[Eliza]

The vet practice I use offers boarding for all sorts of animals. When I took Pickle in for his first exam, I was given a tour of the facility, which is seperate from ill or recuperating animals.

I'm also lucky in that there are 4 stores between 10-40 minutes away that offer boarding. Animals must have an up-to-date health profile and have been disease tested w/in the last 6-12 months (depending on the store).

Two of my co-workers are willing to help me (one has a parrot, the other does not) and my parents are willing to watch Pickle. They did this for me on my first (and only) trip since I've gotten the little guy; they rather enjoyed his presence, even if he bit the dickens out of my father one day (and then cuddled up to him afterwards).

It's tough... if you have a family member, friend, co-worker or pet sitter (check http://www.petsit.com/) that come into your home OR that you can leave your pet with, that's ideal. Otherwise, boarding is pretty much your only option.

Are their any bird clubs or societies in your area that you can contact? Maybe they can help you find someone to care for your birds. Or I can fly to Oz and do it myself ;)

-e-

[Pips mom]

I had a hard time this year also when we went on vacation. We have one more bird this past summer, and she's terrified of strangers and only wants me! My tiels are pretty much happy no matter what you do with them. I have another cage that is smaller.....theirs is huge! that I can transport and I leave them with my parents....they had a cockatiel for 14 years. I left Pip at my sisters, which went ok, but I could tell that Pip was not too happy about the ride there (one hour) and just all of the change. I had left Pip with his previous owner in the past, but he was too busy at work this time and he lives with his parents and they got a cat! :omg: It's too bad because I really liked having him take Pip for me because he was the previous owner and knew Pip and would give him time out of cage.
My blueheaded pionus Ivy was my problem to find a place for, but our next door neighbor has two birds, a cockatoo and a senegal, so I asked them if they wanted to take Ivy for us, and they glad to have her! It was nice because it's right next door and we could lug Ivy's big heavy cage over there and she did well there.
I know it's tough with birds.....people who don't have them usually don't have a clue about birds, and if you left him with someone like that, you run the risk of them spraying air freshener, or painting, or cleaning with some strong smelling cleaner, or even burning something in the kitchen with a teflon pan.....all of which can kill a bird!
Keep looking for someone to leave him with...... there has to be somebody who has birds at home that would watch him for you. I know it won't be the same for him without you there, but just do the best you can at finding the best place for him and I'm sure he'll do just fine while your gone!
Believe me, if Ivy can do it, Elmo can!

[momo]

Ultimately I would love elmo to have the same set up with me.. He only sleeps in his cage and has free range of my apartment to do what ever he wants through the day.. which is generally rolling his cat toy on the floor as I sit and laugh at him.. but I know this will never happen.

I am just hoping that I will find somewhere that will let him have out of cage time and time with humans. I found one place that SOUNDS good. I will need to check it out for myself.. but they do dog cats and birds.. but their website says that they breed birds and know how a bird needs to have human time for it to stay tame.. but I am yet to hear back about their health policy.. they have the clean bill of health for dogs. but I hope cats are the same too.

I will def look into vets.. I havent taken elmo to the vets.. because it's only him I didn't bother with the first exam because he's only ever gonna give himself what ever he's got lol. I will have to hunt down some bird societies.. and if all else fails.. you can come to Australia eliza.. it'll be summer ;).. and nice and hot.. we have lovely beaches! haahahahhaha.

My family arent really big animal people.. my last resort is to fly my bird to my boyfriends parents interstate.. but because Australia is so strict on what goes in and out of not only the country but also the state wide. I have to look into getting some special permit for him to go there.. *sigh*

[BarbieH]

I've boarded my birds at the vet's. They kept the cages in the lunchroom, a high-traffic human area that was safe from other animals going to the vet's. The one bird who's very socialized, Sammy, stayed with Mom and Dad. Dad is excellent at handling Samson, and he got almost all the attention that he's used to. He even ate breakfast with them. :rolleyes:

[Pips mom]

You know when you posted this, I thought of someone that is on another bird forum that I belong to. She is in Australia, but I am not sure how close you two are to each other. She is a very kind, caring, bird loving person! She has an outdoor aviary for her cockatiels and they had babies a couple of months ago. Anyway, I asked her if she'd be interested in taking little Elmo for you and how spoiled and loved he is and how you are looking for someone who can give him attention and out time and she said she'd happy to! Her name is Claudia and I will PM you her info. She is located in Northern suburbs of Perth.