Hey everybody, I need your help with some ideas. I answered an ad on Craigslist the other day from someone who was looking for someone with large bird experience to bird sit for her during the day while she was at work. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity, I mean who here would not want to go and make a little money and take care of some birds right? 
Unfortunately I do not think that I can be much help to her, and this is why:
She has three cockatoos and her husband has a medical condition that has him at home. She has tried many things, but if she is gone from the house to work her birds scream, even if he is there (she has a goffins, an M2, and a U2!!!!!!) . She was looking for someone to do a more of a birdie day care in their home.
I explained to her that while taking her birds to someone's home may seem like a great idea that I would probably not recommend that due to disease issues. I explained that in order to be super safe for her birds she would have to be sure that all of her birds have been tested for all pscittacine diseases, and all of the other person's birds as well. (I know that some bird stores do this, but I gently explained that the best avenue would be somene to visit her home. I expalined that you can control for the spread of diseases like PDD and PBFD better that way, and told her that in that instance would be the only way savvy bird owners would be of assistance, since they could come home, shower, and change before interacting with their own flock.)
She is wanting more of a day care setting, but for birds. While I think that would be a fabulous idea in theory, it would be very hard to pull of for birds, since you could not quarantine, etc. So while I did not get the job, I told her I do have to commend her for not putting up her birds for sale as soon as she started having issues.
This is what I recommended her to try:
1. Foraging toys while she is gone
2. Have the radio on so that it might muffle the everyday sounds that her husband makes while she is at work
3. Bathe them before she leaves
Can anyone else think of anything that I should mention to her? I also gave her my vet contact info and told her to visit some bird forums (ahem) for ideas. I want to see these birds stay in their home, but from the sound of it her husband and her may not have a choice if they can't help the 'toos from screaming.
She said that there is a woman who has large bird experience that does not currently have any birds that has offered to help, but this woman cannot drive and she would have to buy cages for the 'toos to stay at her house during the day.
Help me brainstorm, everyone!
Unfortunately I do not think that I can be much help to her, and this is why:
She has three cockatoos and her husband has a medical condition that has him at home. She has tried many things, but if she is gone from the house to work her birds scream, even if he is there (she has a goffins, an M2, and a U2!!!!!!) . She was looking for someone to do a more of a birdie day care in their home.
I explained to her that while taking her birds to someone's home may seem like a great idea that I would probably not recommend that due to disease issues. I explained that in order to be super safe for her birds she would have to be sure that all of her birds have been tested for all pscittacine diseases, and all of the other person's birds as well. (I know that some bird stores do this, but I gently explained that the best avenue would be somene to visit her home. I expalined that you can control for the spread of diseases like PDD and PBFD better that way, and told her that in that instance would be the only way savvy bird owners would be of assistance, since they could come home, shower, and change before interacting with their own flock.)
She is wanting more of a day care setting, but for birds. While I think that would be a fabulous idea in theory, it would be very hard to pull of for birds, since you could not quarantine, etc. So while I did not get the job, I told her I do have to commend her for not putting up her birds for sale as soon as she started having issues.
This is what I recommended her to try:
1. Foraging toys while she is gone
2. Have the radio on so that it might muffle the everyday sounds that her husband makes while she is at work
3. Bathe them before she leaves
Can anyone else think of anything that I should mention to her? I also gave her my vet contact info and told her to visit some bird forums (ahem) for ideas. I want to see these birds stay in their home, but from the sound of it her husband and her may not have a choice if they can't help the 'toos from screaming.
She said that there is a woman who has large bird experience that does not currently have any birds that has offered to help, but this woman cannot drive and she would have to buy cages for the 'toos to stay at her house during the day.
Help me brainstorm, everyone!
This is such a typical cockatoo scenario. I have several large too clients and I can say from my own personal experience they are generally are not as noisy with a visitor/petsitter as they are with their owners. So having a person come during the day will work. I have clients who complain about their too's disruptiveness, but when they are not home and I show up, I usually don't encounter this. It's either this, or re-condition the birds gradually to get used to the idea that the woman of the house whom they have bonded with will no longer engage them as much: ie: do not come to them each time they scream and spend less time with them so they can develop more of an independence from her. These strategies work, but they take alot of patience and steadfastness. It's so tempting to want to give into that incessant screaming to shut up them up, but in this case it's the worst thing you can do. If it helps, tell her and her husband to wear earplugs until the screaming frequency tempers down to an acceptable 