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We won't go anywhere because I can't handle leaving them alone for too long. If I've been gone all day I start to feel antsy that I have to get back to them.

Timbersmom wrote: This came up recently with another member. Have you checked with your avian vet? Sometimes they have names of bird sitters or might know of someone. I have checked with general vets and the one local avian vet office: no luck. I got referred to the Bird Shop [which does a nice job of stocking bird supplies and even sells a limited number of parrots] but I just can't put Corey in with 10+ other birds. I have also contacted the local Parrot Rescue organization for bird sitter suggestions. Maybe I'm being too paranoid here but the idea of leaving Corey in a cage for 2 weeks while we are gone with only periodic visits just doesn't sound good to me. Corey hates being locked in her cage. She will generally not leave her cage when we are home [her cage door is open/unless we have to close it for safety reasons] and Corey asks to be taken from her cage to other places she can safely be in our house. When my husband and I had to leave everyday for work [for the typical 9-10 hours we had to be gone] she developed a [somewhat minor] feather mutilation habit. It took us a long time to get her out of that [with the help of an avian vet]. We are not retired and I just don't want to risk that again. I am totally laying out my worst concerns now because most all of you know what I am writing about here and probably won't think I'm too crazy. This isn't an easy problem to solve.

Cardboard strips tucked into the cage bars as well as stringing them onto a stainless steel chain entertain my birdies for hours!

Alfie loves boxes and will spend hours shredding them. He pays absolutely no attention to me if he has a good box to shred. Some people advise against giving boxes in case it promotes nesting behaviours but thankfully I've never had this issue with Alfie. You can mix it up as well, add some shredded paper or foot toys or trees to the box so she finds them as she shreds the box. Or like timersmom says, a box within a box within a box. The best box Alfie had was from a friend who had ordered some beers for his brother online. He donated the box they came in for Alfie to shred and it had cardboard partitions in to stop the beer bottles from clashing together during transit. Alfie thought all his Christmases and birthdays had come at once with that one. Decent crunchy cardboard with 12 small sections to get through- it kept him going for weeks! 🤣