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My new job...and I really need some advice from those who work in an office

Kassiani

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I started a brand new job on Monday. It's a great job...practically my dream job! But I'm so scared that I will have to re-home the boys that I'm in tears.

I have to work 8 hour days with a mandatory 30 minutes for lunch (8.5 hours in the office). It takes me 25 minutes to commute (so round that to 30 minutes for the sake of argument or one-hour round trip). So, out of a 24 hour day, I'm working or commuting 9.5 hours. That leaves 14.5 hours at home. Given how hormonal they have been, the 12 hours of sleep time (minimum) leaves only 2.5 hours of out-of-cage time. If I have to up that to 14 hours at night, then I would basically be walking in the door, cleaning cages, feeding, and putting them to roost without spending any time with them other than that.

Points to note:
I may be able to telework about 2 days a week. I don't know yet.
I still plan on purchasing the 2 walk-in aviaries which will give them much more room for when I am not at home. I'm still working on that.

Which is more important, in your experience, the sleep or the engagement? I could minimize their dark time to 11 hours so that they would have more flying and engaged time with me, but I'm worried that their physical health will be impacted--especially due to the experience I've had recently with Jujube. Outside of spring, I would feel more comfortable shortening their overnight hours to around 11, maybe even 10.5.

Please, please let me know what sort of arrangements you have made for those of you who work in an office. I would be most grateful!
 

April

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I've had an office job for all my 15 years of owning birds. I leave for work at 615 and get up at 5 am which has pretty much been my schedule as long as I've worked there so it's an early wake up and weight,feed and then spend about 15 mins with whomever I had at the time and then I can get home anywhere from 1 pm to 7pm it varies day to day. So I would make sure to spend at least 2 hours or more minum before bedtime depending on what time I actually got home the later it is the harder it is of course but even when unfortunately someone would be woken up sometimes depending on what time I got home ie after dark they were always thrilled to get to come out and spend time with me so I figured it cancelled out the slight loss of sleep when I'd sometimes wake them up.

Nala and Zazu were fine with my work schedule and just rolled with the punches and knew I'd spend the time with them that I could. Tobias took it a lot hard but he was hardwired differently to always need someone to be around which Nala & Zazu didn't so its not quite the same.

And I'd also make it up to them on my days off as well. I'd spend the majority of my day with them at some point so they could have much longer out of cage time to make up for being stuck in there so much when I'd be working well over 40 hours a week.

I definitely think its doable for you with your new job/schedule and especially if you do get them the larger cages. Just think how much better off they will be with your love and care even if they do have to spend a bit more time in their cages :)
 
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Laurie

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Everything will be okay. I think that often a person's feelings of guilt make them feel so much worse than the birds are feeling. Maybe they could be out with you getting ready in the morning or having a short breakfast. If you get them in this routine then you will likely find that they will be cooperative and return to their cages after being out only a few minutes. Two of my caiques come out of their cage each morning and sit on top a door for 5-15 minutes just watching what I am doing and watching the other birds, then they happily fly back to eat their breakfast and have treat in their cage. Any other time of day and there is no way they would go back after 5 minutes but somehow because of the routine they are 95 % cooperative.

Have a little evening routine of active play and then maybe some quiet relaxing time together. They will go to bed when they are tired.

I had budgies growing up and they were always part of the family. I think interaction is more important than sleep. For some birds the 10-12 hours of dark uninterrupted sleep may be important but it absolutely is not essential for many birds. Many will happily make up any difference by napping during the day while you are at work.

As for rehoming do not forget that your birds do not have a preconceived idea of how much time they should spend in their cage or out, what food they should get, how much dark and how much companionship. They just take it one minute at a time. A home is more that the hours that a person is in the house, you are their person, your other birds are their neighbors and possibly friends, your house is their world and their cages are their safe place. If you give them food, safety, love and care then that is more then they might get elsewhere. You are enough.

People have been working full time for years and still keeping birds and making it work. Just let them be part of the family. :)
 

Shannan

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My Walter has also done well when we were gone 14 plus hours with 8 hour day, one hour commute (X2), plus as a teacher we were constantly pulled for extracurricular, plays, musical performances, music lessons, play practice, dance performances, etc. He would quite often sleep more during the day which meant that he was very active in the evenings until around 10:00 pm (which is very late for a teacher to play with a parrot, I might add). He has done well (and he doesn't have, or does he want a friend). He does have music, and toys, and a fish tank (which he can no longer see because he is nearly blind). He is also situated so that his cage is in the center of the house so he gets constant attention even when we are doing homework, fixing dinner, dishes, etc). They will adapt. Walter loves puzzles and shredding. Like others have said, Birds have been dealing with our work schedules forever. Yours will adapt and in the long run they will be better able to adapt to changes. Don't be hard on yourself. Give them a great toy, a yummy treat, some music and enjoy your dream job!
 

Shezbug

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Burt has spent the better part of 4 years coming and going from his cage and interacting as much as he wanted- there’s honestly only been a day here or there that he’s had to be home alone for more than an hour but lately he’s been having to spend much less time out of cage, much more time with me away and much much more time home completely alone…. He’s honestly absolutely fine!
I stressed horribly about the food, interaction and freedom changes he would have to go through with all that is happening in my life right now, he could care less though lol. I just leave him a few extra capsicums, cucumbers, pumpkin chunks or carrots on top of his cage to chew up (he loves grabbing stuff through the bars to chew up) and a couple of extra full size blocks for him to cart around inside the cage and chew and he’s honestly as happy as anything.
You will most likely feel worse about the changes than your birds will as humans are terrible at guilting themselves out for things that no guilt should be attached to.
 

SumitaSinh

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@Kassiani , this is typically a working mom's guilt.please don't feel bad, you need your job. I work 8hrs daily, evening is usually spent by preparation for next day's lesson or lecture... So I spend time with my birds in evening, talk with them while working. Inca is happy with that(thank god, amazons are independent) and budgie boys can't care less about my presence. But their presence act as a stress buster for me and my hubby (he's more busy and more attached to birds than me)... So, have faith, you can mange it. Please do not think about rehoming Opie, he can't get a better mom than you :heart: :heart:
 

sunnysmom

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It will be fine. :) Since the pandemic, I have for the first time ever worked from home. Until then, I was gone usually from 8 am until 6-7. I sometimes think quality time is as important as quantity. It was hard for me emotionally to not have my birds out more. My first tiel Sunny lived cage free during the day. When Howie could no longer let Elvis out without me being there it greatly reduced the amount of out of cage time Elvis had and I did go through a period where I wondered if rehoming him would be the best thing for Elvis. But then I thought about all the times Elvis had already been rehomed. And the fact that he is really attached to me. So, I decided I would make it work. So when Elvis is out, he gets ALL of my attention. (Which probably makes him spoiled.) But we play and play. I know he really looks forward to his play time as he starts getting really excited about half an hour before it's time to get out. I wish he could be out all day every day. It's not possible but he's happy. So that's what's really important I think. I know your birds have hormonal issues and that sleep time is important but I would try shortening their sleep time. My tiels do get about 11 hours of sleep but part of that is because I put them to bed before I let Elvis out. I know everyone reading this will probably shake their heads, but Elvis probably only gets about 9 hours. It's just the way it works out and he gets up at the same time every day regardless of what time he goes to bed. He does just fine with it. And usually just takes a nap around 10:30 a.m.
 

Clueless

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I work and it works!

Like others said, birds adapt.

Secret doesn't get that much sleep at night, maybe 8ish hours? She sleeps during the day too @sunnysmom

We can't be perfect but we can love them perfectly..... if we rehomed, we would never be sure of that.
 

rocky'smom

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When I was volunteering my then 2 were pretty well adjusted to that schedule. I would have be there at 8:45am and becuz I rode in with somebody that had to be there at 8 am. I planned on leaving no later 7:15 am. Traffic was biggest snarl in whole day. Some days it was easy breezy 20 minutes other days bumper to bumper on Saturday/ Sunday mornings.
I always fed a warm breakfast in morning to the birds. So those days they got breakfast for dinner. I would set everything up the night before their seeds/pellets in their dishes. Water dishes ready to be switched out as soon as they were uncovered.
As soon as I got home their breakfast was warmed up and served. I would shower and eat dinner with them. Afterwards it was playtime until bedtime.
It's never the quantity of time you spend with them IT'S QUALITY of time.
Best suggestion is set up something like schedule this weekend that you can try it and see how it works for you and for them. You can adjust it as needed then.
 

Kassiani

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Thank you for sharing your experiences! This has really helped. It has been a headlong plunge into a vastly different routine. I just was not prepared.

I like the idea of a routine, and I've tried to do that a bit this week. Get myself ready somewhat the night before so that I'm not struggling to find things or set up dishes in the morning. I used to let the budgies and Opie have separate out times, but to maximize the time we have, I started letting them all out at the same time. I am with them constantly to ward off any reaction to an overly curious budgie. If I have to go to another room or upstairs, I close budgies or Opie in their cage

I'm exhausted. The days have been long, but interesting and fun!
 

Greylady1966

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Congratulations on your new job :cngrt5: everything will work out. They adjust easier than we think.
 

WikiWaz

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Given how hormonal they have been, the 12 hours of sleep time (minimum) leaves only 2.5 hours of out-of-cage time.
@Kassiani - how is work/parrot/life balance going?

For what it's worth, Pamela Clark told me in consultation yesterday that 12 hours sleep is a myth. She told me the exact person who started it; they wrote this 12 hour sleep idea in a parrot publication based on their own parrot's preference to sleep 12 hours. There was no scientific research, and social media has perpetrated this 12 hour sleep requirement myth which is why it's so prevalent in parrot keeping discussions.
 

Shezbug

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@Kassiani - how is work/parrot/life balance going?

For what it's worth, Pamela Clark told me in consultation yesterday that 12 hours sleep is a myth. She told me the exact person who started it; they wrote this 12 hour sleep idea in a parrot publication based on their own parrot's preference to sleep 12 hours. There was no scientific research, and social media has perpetrated this 12 hour sleep requirement myth which is why it's so prevalent in parrot keeping discussions.
Wild birds don’t get undisturbed 12 hours of quiet and dark.

I honestly find many of things we’re strongly recommended to follow to be questionable when compared to how things are in nature.
 

WikiWaz

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Wild birds don’t get undisturbed 12 hours of quiet and dark.

I honestly find many of things we’re strongly recommended to follow to be questionable when compared to how things are in nature.
@Shezbug - she said the exact thing you said, that birds do not get 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep in the wild! She calls many of these recommended parrot guidelines Illusionary Truth Effect.
 

FeatheredM

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I am probably not suited to post on here:o: but maybe you could find someone young you trust to spend some time with your birds for a bit while you are at work, like assign the person to spend a specific time with your birds.
 

Tyrion

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I work 4 days per week from 930 to 3 pm ..My birds adapted ..even though my mom is home all day she doesnt really interact with them except to make sure they aren't hurting themselves .. I find having the nights with them and weekends are good ..they have learned to entertain themselves and I have put allot of toys in their cages so they have things to do all day ... They seem to be fine ..no screaming or plucking (fingers crossed) ..I have been working like this for as long as I have had them .. they get extra time when I have the extra time and this works well for them... Hopefully this helps :D
 
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