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Leaving birds alone for the weekend. Safe?

JornsBergenson

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The entire family plans to take a 2-day trip in a couple of weeks. We are thinking about leaving the two birds in their respective cages during those 2-days with two bowls of pellets and two bird butler style water dispensers. The eclectus and nanday conure live in separate cages in separate rooms.

Is this safe for them physically and emotionality?

I'm thinking of setting up a nanny-cam so we can check in on them at least visually.

Any suggestions?
 

Zara

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You need a neighbour/friend/family member to go into your home to change the water, top up seeds/pellets/veggies(use freeze dried to avoid spoiling) .

There´s no way you can leave your birds for more than a day without pshyically checking in on them.

As for emotionally, if they have a decent size cage, they will be fine.

Nanny cam is a good idea. Then if you spot something looks wring, you can send the designated person round to take a look.
 

Sunni Tiel

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Don't leave them alone for that long. Like Zara said, they need their water changed and cleaned, and if they tip their food bowl they'd go hungry. They could get injured, caught in a toy or cage bars. You'll need someone to check on them.
 

Destiny

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It is always safer to have a designated caretaker, just in case. If something goes wrong and one of your birds is injured or dies while you are gone, it would be terrible.

A nanny cam is good for peace of mind, but it is easy to miss problems on camera that would be obvious in-person.

It is best to have someone to physically check on your animals at least once a day while you are away to ensure that they are in good health and have full access to clean water and food.
 

Sparkles!

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Whilst I have left aviary birds, finches primarily, alone for a weekend with their numerous food dishes full and they had their fountains for water, I would not recommend it for any bird larger.
 

Mizzely

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I've left mine 24 hours and that's all I'm comfortable doing. Basically 3pm to 3pm is what I've done. I do have a webcam I monitor on and my parents have my key if needed.
 

sunnysmom

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I wouldn't do it. Too much can go wrong. Can you have a neighbor or someone come over and check on them?
 

Clueless

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I'm with the consensus. When I'm gone, someone checked on the parrots daily. I do have cameras also.

Family jokes about it but it makes me comfortable. Secret now gets medications twice a day so it's 2 times a day now.

Secret is calmer at home rather than going to a vet for boarding.
 

JornsBergenson

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Thanks for all of the input thus far.

All of the relatives that live in the area will be out of town, so I'll have to scout around the street here for someone who I trust to be in our house and is willing to help with the birds.

BTW, each bird has two of these water bottles in their cages so I feel okay with them having enough water. Even if something goes wrong with one of the bottles, each bird has a backup supply. I'll figure out a way for a helper to add food to the bowl without accidently letting the bird out.

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Mizzely

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Inquire with your vet office; they may know of pet sitters etc in the area that can help you out, or have a service they offer themselves!
 

triciakoontz

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I’d look for a reputable pet sitter. A two day trip is a good test. That way you can plan for longer trips in the future knowing that you’ve found a good safe way for your birds to remain at home where they are happiest. There are pet sitters with experience caring for birds and excellent references. You can also train a sitter with good references but no bird experience. That’s what I did way back when I was fostering a red fronted macaw. Who was still on hand feeding!

I love using a pet sitter because my house is watched over (a water leak or freezer failure can be a disaster if it goes on for days!), my fish tank is monitored, my chickens are well kept, and my dog is loved on and happy. Now I’ll be adding a parrotlet to the care routine but my sitter does it all for $40/day. In the summer I pay her extra for watering my gardens. She spends the night so AM and PM attention + 2 pop-by visits during the day. Waaaaay cheaper than parceling everything out to different care situations. I leave her lots of homemade goodies to eat because she is so amazing.

I have a simple routine for securing valuables while I’m gone. Then I have a notebook I leave with details on everything about the house, WiFi, neighbor contacts, emergency vet, etc.; you make it once and it’s ready each time with only a few changes.

Wishing you good luck finding a great person!
 

JornsBergenson

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Here's a follow-up after our extended weekend away...
First, we recruited a 19yo friend of my daughter to come by twice a day to feed the dogs and check on the birds.
Second, I set up two security cameras for the birds so we could check up on them. Here are the cameras I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CW4ASS0. I was so impressed by these inexpensive cameras that I'll be setting up a security system with them.

As expected, my son's Nanday conure had no issues being by himself during the time. He went through his normal routine eating, playing with toys, napping just as he does every day.
Toby, my wife's high-strung Eclectus, survived the ordeal, but I could tell he was pretty stressed out when I checked the cameras throughout the weekend. He was pacing quite a bit and his eyes weren't closed much during the night.

He was pretty freaked out when the 5 of us came home, but after an hour or so he started conversing as normal and trading whistle calls with me. The bird and I had dinner together and then he had a nap. The stress from being away seemed to melt away... for both of us :) All seems to be fine.
 
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