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Weekend Get AWAY ? what do you suggest I do with my grey?


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Hello Everyone, What are some suggestions on what to you do with your Greys on a long weekend? I plan on taking my daughter camping (we have a travel trailer) for her 13th birthday and was wondering what I should do with Maggie? Can I take her..carry cage?? or leave her home??My son will be home but he is not really comfortable around birds..he will feed her change water clean bottom of cage but not sure if he will be able to take her in and out of cage. Should I board her?---rather not? Thank you in advance. Lori

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I can give you an opinion Lori. Many of our members take their birds with them on trips like this. If you would be able to keep the temperature regulated (i.e. A/C, heat, whatever is required) Maggie would probably be fine. If you leave her home, my experience is that Timber prefers to stay in his home environment even if he doesn't get his usual out of cage time. He is very resistant to change, and would freak out in a boarding situation I think. I left him home for a week while I was gone on business. My daughter-in-law fed and cleaned, but was not able to let him out much because she can't handle him. She would sit by his cage and talk and whistle with him while she was here. If your son is going to be around and Maggie is used to him, she would probably prefer to be home with him than being boarded and at least you would know what kind of care she was getting and that she wasn't being exposed to disease. Others with more experience may have other responses! Good luck :)

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Timbersmom-Thank you for your thoughts. Yes, we can regulate the heat/AC as our trailer is more like "Glamping" instead of camping...LOL Flat screens, Kitchen, cable, separate bedrooms...etc. so I think she will be more than comfy. I am very much opposed to the boarding as well. The campground we are going to is actually only a 15-20 minutes from our house so if she didn't like it, I could drive her home but I would like to get her used to it. Next summer I would like to take her along as much as possible.

 

I am glad to hear that if we had to leave her she would be ok for the weekend with my son cleaning and feeding daily. She is our first bird..(shhh..not the last..LOL) so I wanted to assure my husband that our "social lives" are NOT over completely. Thanks again.

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I've had to leave Alfie behind on several occasions throughout his life (holidays, training courses etc). Fortunately these days, I have a housemate who will look after Alfie (and the cats) for me whilst I'm away. He wouldn't ever let Alfie out of the cage for me (and I wouldn't want him too, as Alfie can be a handful for those that aren't used to parrots... or Alfie!!), but is happy to change food and water etc.

 

Previously, when I lived with my parents (and usually went away with them) I had nobody who could come and look after Alfie for me at the house. So he had to go away on his own little birdy holiday. I used to take him back to the pet shop where I got him from. It was a family run place and the woman who originally owned/ran it was lovely. He would have to stay in a smaller cage (until they allowed me to bring his cage with him) and he used to recognise her and the shop. Unfortunately one year, I turned up and she was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a youngish man in charge (probably late teens, thinking about it). I was a bit skeptical but had no choice at that point but to leave him there. However, when I came back, Alfie had food and water in his bowls, but they had put nothing in the bottom of his cage for the duration I was away, so all his food and droppings had fallen to the bottom and been left there. The boy was very rude and obviously didn't care about anything- let alone how to run the business, so I shoved the money in his hand, took Alfie home and never went back.

 

My mum looked after him once (when I didn't have a housemate). He stayed at my parents house for two weeks (so was still in a familiar environment) and seemed to have a good time. Again, he wasn't let out for the duration but he was in his own cage in a familiar environment so was fine.

 

I'd always recommend getting someone to "parrot sit" for you if you can- instead of sending them to a different environment. At least that way, everything is familiar to them. It's also less stress for you, in my opinion. I always worried when I had to drop him off somewhere. I now don't have to worry about it because I know my housemate is looking after him in his own cage and home and Alfie will be ok with that.

 

However, if you can take your parrot with you- that's probably even better, as they get to experience the trip away too! :)

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Neoow~ thank you for your opinion and your story. I really appreciate it as I am so afraid of making the wrong decisions. This forum has given me such insight into the life of a grey and every time I need an answer I get plenty. I thank all of you for that.

 

Sterlingsl~ I think since it is so close I will take her with us. If she is really stressing I can always bring her home but I will try to have her " rough it" like the rest of the family. :)

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I agree, if you can take him with you. My only thoughts were, when you say travel cage, how small are we talking? If it is a really small one, you might want to invest in a medium size cage just for the camper. That is assuming Maggie will love it!!

 

I actually do not have one at the moment so any size suggestions would be greatly appreciated. What size is a medium travel cage? I plan on getting one in the next week or so. Thanks

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We have this one (large). I really like it. Cheap and simple. The best thing I like about it is the tray on the bottom. That thing is so easy to clean. Poop will not stick to it and just a simple bit of water and it wipes clean as new. The only thing I recommend with this one is to find a way to secure the door if you have the bird outside in it. I don't trust the mechanism to keep it closed. We opted for this one over a Kings cage as I didn't want to spend close to $900 for three cages and these have worked very well.

 

We use them as feeding cages so the mess is contained in dining room.

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Lori, when you think through the safety factors of any given trip, AC/heat, whether her being with you creates a hardship for your vacation time, you will take her sometimes and leave her home others. What she loves on this trip may stress her out a year from now. I have traveled extensively with Miss Gilbert for three years because she was a multiply rehomed older bird with trust issues. First she needed to be with me and would stress and pluck if she was left behind. After 3 years, now she is more trusting that I leave and return. She doesn't seem distressed to be cage bound at home with our dogs, other parrot and a neighbor spending time with them. I have the same cage as Sterling and I do use quick links to lock the spring clips. One thought on camping/RV is that in close quarters, candles, Teflon fumes etc will quickly concentrate to lethal levels so check any heat appliances / pans, oven etc for extra measure. Go and have fun!

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We have this one (large). I really like it. Cheap and simple. The best thing I like about it is the tray on the bottom. That thing is so easy to clean. Poop will not stick to it and just a simple bit of water and it wipes clean as new. The only thing I recommend with this one is to find a way to secure the door if you have the bird outside in it. I don't trust the mechanism to keep it closed. We opted for this one over a Kings cage as I didn't want to spend close to $900 for three cages and these have worked very well.

 

We use them as feeding cages so the mess is contained in dining room.

 

This looks good to me. Done deal! When you say using as a feeding cage..what does that mean? Aren't they supposed to have food(pellets) in their cage at all times?

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Katana600 sounds like great advice to me. Thank you. I usually do not do much cooking in the camper or on vacation for that matter...lol Usually, prepare everything before we go. No candles at all so we should be ok. Fires at night is that ok? ... I will make sure she is not close by.

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My guess as to a feeding cage is when they feed the"other" food, lol. The fresh dinners of messy spaghetti (like my guys had last night) It is a wonderful idea to have that because all of my cages are a mess today and it will take hours to clean them now, but who can deny them of it?! Have fun camping, enjoy the time!

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Murf's right. We only let them have pellets and dry stuff in the bird room. I got sick and tired of cleaning dried sticky crap off the walls, floors, cages etc. Since our birds are out most of the time we have three of these cages in the living room area that they can go to and get their 'other' stuff. Helps limit the mess to a smaller more manageable area. Plus these cages are so dang easy to clean it's ridiculous. I can clean these three cages in about 5-10 minutes whereas their bigger cages is a half day ordeal.

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Genius! Love this idea! My wheels are turning! Maybe a high chair made for the bird for kitchen area just to eat then back to stands and big cage for play!

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