Dilemma....

[NickyBeth]

Okay, I have this dilemma which has been pestering me for the past week or so.

In May, I need to go to Pennsylvania for a wedding. That means Cherry will need to be taken care of for 6 days.

I have 3 potential bird sitters. Each of which comes with some sort of stipulation.

My first is my in-laws. They live 10 minutes from my house, but would be willing to bring Cherry to their house. They want to put Cherry outside, in their large screened-in lanai, but they are right on the biggest part of the lake and I am worried about alligators and possums late at night trying to get my birdie. They already told me Cherry could go there, but with the stipulation that he would stay outside as Cherry is very messy and they already have a bug problem....

My second is my neighbor, Mary-Anne. I can ask her to check in on Cherry 3 times a day, but Cherry won't get any socialization because he will be all alone in the house.

My third is my co-worker, Cira. Cira has owned lovebirds in the past, but she has 3 kids that can be unruly and two dogs. I am more scared of the dogs (one is a Shar-Pei and the other is a Mini-Australian Sheepdog) eating Cherry while she is at work during the day.

I can't afford to board Cherry right now. Finances are really tight and these plane tickets for 4 people have already cost me an arm and a leg.

Which, in your opinion, offers the best scenario?

[Pips mom]

Hmmmm, that's a tough one! When I went on vacation back in Aug, I always leave my smaller birds with family, my parents and sister....which is kinda a long ride, as they are over an hour away, but my tiels and Pip don't usually mind the car rides much. Then there is Ivy.....she is terrified of strangers and very bonded to me. I thought.....what am I going to do with her?? Then I thought of the next door neighbors.....they have two birds, a cockatoo and a senegal, and neither would have any contact with Ivy, but it's still another feathered friend nearby, and Ivy generally enjoys having other birds around. So the neighbors said they wanted her and were happy to have her, which was great because we could lug her big, heavy cage over there and she could have her familiar home as security. THEN I found out that they have CATS! EEk!!! She mentioned in a conversation AFTER we made the plan for Ivy to go there! Now, I've never seen any cats over there, even still to this day! I don't know if they stay in another room or what, but we did leave Ivy there and all was well! They also have a dog, but I have seen the dog with her birds and that dog is great with the birds and I had no worries with that.
I definitely would not leave any of birds alone in the house with no one around for them. They are used to attention and things going on around them.......plus two of my four birds NEED time out of cage.....my tiels stay happy in or out.....they don't care much, plus they have each other. I might be willing to leave them here alone for maybe two days with someone checking on them, not longer than that though.
I think I would keep looking for other options! May is still a ways away. You have time......where are you located?

[LauraO]

Finding petsitters is so diffficult! While I normally believe having birdies stay with folks is the best, it sounds like Cherry might be the safest at home with your neighbor checking on him. Having Cherry outside is dangerous on so many levels as is having him in a chaotic home with children and dogs. Is there any way your neighbor will agree to spend a little time with Cherry on one of their visits?

Good Luck

[NickyBeth]

I am in Southern Florida, so I agree that it is dangerous to leave Cherry outside.

My neighbor is great, but I'm not sure how keen she would be on letting him out and then chasing him down to put him away. Granted, his wings are clipped and he lets myself an my husband put him away at any time.....but when a stranger is in the picture.....we all know how lovies can be. I really do think leaving him at home is best....and I could always bring down the small TV from out of the bedroom and put it on a timer so that Cherry has some socialization while we are gone.

I am just really not at ease with any of my bird sitters. It's almost like....I know I am not going to make a good decision with any of the 3 that I pick....because there is that stigma that comes with each one of them.

I had one other option....but she has cats. So that is a no-no indeed!

[newloviemom]

I would go with the neighbor as well. Being outside all night long is just too dangerous, and the friend with the rowdy kids and dogs and chaos is just too stressful, especially when Cherry doesn't know what is going on...why she is in a strange place, why is her flock that she knows gone, are they coming back...etc. I think staying in her home sounds like the best situation..it is what I would choose for my little Zoe.

[luluxoxo83]

I as well would leave cherry at home and just have your neighbor visit. Now.. you said your inlaws live 10 minutes away; can one of them come by once a day for a little while to give cherry out of cage time?

[NickyBeth]

My in-laws aren't exactly.....pet people. So the answer to that one would be no.

I just want my birdie to be happy while we are gone. I'm starting to agree with you all in thinking that my neighbor is the best choice!

[Jally]

www.care.com has pet-sitters listed. Maybe you can find someone else locally that would be willing to trade petcare. Is taking him along not an option? I'm in PA. I'd be willing to have him here, but I have no clue where in PA you're going... :o/ and I have cats and dogs but the birds have their own room which is off limits to other animals and small children.

[NickyBeth]

www.care.com has pet-sitters listed. Maybe you can find someone else locally that would be willing to trade petcare. Is taking him along not an option? I'm in PA. I'd be willing to have him here, but I have no clue where in PA you're going... :o/ and I have cats and dogs but the birds have their own room which is off limits to other animals and small children.

Taking him with isn't an option, because I am in a wedding and have a bunch of rehearsals and things to set up while I am there. I don't even know which family member is putting us up as of yet!

Travelling is now expensive, and luggage is going to cost me about $100 in fees for 4 people for the 6 days because I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. So if I took Cherry's cage on the plane, that would be another 25 bucks for his extra luggage. I just can't swing it. I planned on bringing my neighbor some coffee that I get every week from Starbucks as a thank-you for watching the birdie for me. I am going to Philadelphia for this wedding on Memorial Day weekend....and the fees to travel then were just crazy!

I can't afford a pet-sitter. At the end of every month, I basically break even with my bills and we have no savings account. Basically, the bird is really the only pet we can afford, but I want my kids to have one because I didn't have a pet when I was little.

I sometimes really want to cry. Everyone buys their birds nice things on here, I can barely afford to go to Wal-Mart and buy the bird a few toys every 3 months with the little bit of tip money I save up for him. I feel that he is neglected because I can't take care of him the way I used to.

[LauraO]

I sometimes really want to cry. Everyone buys their birds nice things on here, I can barely afford to go to Wal-Mart and buy the bird a few toys every 3 months with the little bit of tip money I save up for him.

Not everyone on the board can go out and buy expensive things for their fids. The important thing is Cherry is an important and integral part of your family who gets love, attention, and out of cage time. I also know my fids often enjoy cheap things to play with like plastic cups, beads, wooden chopsticks, playing fetch with rolled up socks, boxes, etc. You just have to work with what you got.

:):)

[NickyBeth]

Not everyone on the board can go out and buy expensive things for their fids. The important thing is Cherry is an important and integral part of your family who gets love, attention, and out of cage time. I also know my fids often enjoy cheap things to play with like plastic cups, beads, wooden chopsticks, playing fetch with rolled up socks, boxes, etc. You just have to work with what you got.

:):)

Thanks, Laura. That's pretty much I what I have been doing. Re-purposing household items for him to play with. It's amazing that they can have fun with a tissue box and some tissue paper...but I still feel pretty awful at times.

[HaleBoppPeachyluv]

just came across this thread.... hugs to you Nickybeth... last year when my folks and i traveled together, finding fidsitters was a chore.. normally we don't travel at the same time so i fidsit for my folks & they fidsit for me.... we were lucky in that we had trustworthy relatives willing to fidsit, but even then it was nerve-wracking.

I don't think either bird had any out of cage time for the 2 weeks we were gone, but i'm okay with that as it was the safety issue, and both lovies had each other for company(separate cages next to each other), and I know our relatives came in to change food/water and talk to them a bit.

and i agree with lauraO, the best toys aren't the fancy ones from the store... the best toy is being able to crawl all over the human toy! LOL

hope everything works out...something will come up i'm sure!

[Pips mom]

NickyBeth,
Not everyone can always afford to go buying tons of stuff for their pets! AND....I find that the people who have so much are the ones who have had birds for a long time and have accumulated all of this stuff over time......so please keep that in mind! I don't buy a ton of toys either, I buy one or two at a time and I find that over time it looks like you have so much, even though you can't always afford it. Sometimes I have the extra money, sometimes I don't! I'm SURE that Cherry has plenty and lots of love and that's what's really important. You should try to put some change in a bank or something and then have the kids roll it when it fills up.....I did this for a while I was single and you'd be surprised at how fast it fills up! One time I rolled it all and I had over 80 dollars! My boyfriend does this to pay his water bill! I would do this just to make sure you have the extra money for any unexpected vet bills.
I had thought of trying to find someone else nearby me who might want to trade off bird sitting when we go on vacation, but I would worry if it wasn't someone I knew.....with my family I know they will take good care of my birds. My mom takes my tiels, and my sister who has two quakers takes Pip.....my parents won't give out of cage time, and Pip needs that.
I think probably the neighbor idea is the best one.....then if maybe you can find another person around who can come by once a day and spend time with Cherry, that would be really good.

[michael]

Sounds like your neighbor is the safest option. Is there anyway you can fit some interaction time between your neighbor and cherry before leaving in May?

More often than not, once smaller birds are pre-trained to "step up" they'll do so for others too. The fact that Cherry is clipped is also a good advantage. You may even trim a little just before leaving just for added safety. Who knows, it might just be worth a few cups of coffee ahead of schedule just to see how things works out.

Best of luck!

[Jally]

I'm sorry Nickybeth. :( I didn't mean anything by what I said. I didn't know that it would cost extra to bring him along. I know nothing about flying and such...I very rarely leave my house.

It is hard everywhere :( I "borrow" condiment cups from McD's when we go get take out. Shhhh don't tell anyone :) My guys love those things!

[linda040899]

Hi NickyBeth,
I will agree that your neighbor sounds like the best option but I'll throw out one more. I know I live several hrs away from you but if you would like to meet me halfway and let me pet sit for Cherry, I would be willing to do it.

[bookworm0550]

yeah, i think your neighbor is the best bet too. your bird might not get out to play, but she'll be safe. and you'll be back home before you know it. perhaps you can have your neighbor at least talk to her or something while she's there.

[NickyBeth]

Thanks all for the support. I actually talked to my neighbor today..(I went over yesterday and she was out for the day) and she told me that watching Cherry would be no problem. She even offered to have Cherry stay with her, her husband and her 14-year old shiztu, Foffy. I joked with her that I would give her a year's worth of coffee for her troubles....(hey working at Starbucks does have some privledges) and she said it would be no problem at all. She will come over next Monday to interact with Cherry a little bit and see if Cherry will be better off over there, or here at my house with Mary-Anne interaction 3 times a day.

She even offered to do a daily dry run, and leave him over there for a few hours to see if the doggie freaks him out. I'll let you know how this all pans out. Thanks for relieving some of my stress, guys. Sometimes venting to people that understand how it is actually makes me feel better. People with birds just have NO IDEA!