Home Alone

[uberduke]

Hi all,

I really enjoy reading all your stories, thank you.

 

I gather from most of the regular posters, that you all have more than one bird.

 

My Grey is alone for about 6 hours a day,I was wondering if it is better to have more than one or are they not bothered. Is it cruel to keep a solitary bird.

 

I really do not want another grey, but maybe a smaller bird just for company.

 

What do you think?

[judygram]

I have 2 birds, the grey and a sun conure. I don't know if they are company for each other but if you have some toys in the cage with the grey and rotate them on a regular basis then your grey should be ok. I leave mine for at least 9 hours a day during the work week, but she is fine with it, I leave the radio on for company but some here leave the TV on or a bird dvd running while they are gone. They are adaptable to our being gone for periods of time.

But yes most of us suffer from MBS, we love having more than one.

[Tari]

Mine dont really interact. If your worried just leave the TV on or a radio. Not blaring but on so they feel like someone is there. I have heard that some birds love cartoons. Mine have shown no interest in TV but I do leave the radio on if Im going to be gone longer then a couple hours. Not anything wierd like rap or heavy metal dont want to make them crazy. lol Mostly country or easy leasoning for my birds.

[judygram]

Also leaving the radio or TV on covers up other sounds that they might hear and frighten them during the day.

[Guest]

Yes, leaving the tv or radio on is the best you can do - I think - nodding my head in agreement with Judy and Tari

[Guest Lidia]

Joshua can sometimes be at home alone for about eight hours and, very occasionally, longer.

The thing is, these birds actually sleep a lot. Once you establish a routine the bird will be fine with it and will spend part of the time alone amusing itself and part of the time eating and drinking and a lot of the time sleeping.

Joshua is fine with being caged while I'm out so long as I get home when he expects me to. Once your bird recognises that it is not being abandoned by your leaving the house, it will be fine.

I leave the radio on for Joshua, but I don't think this really makes any difference to him at all. I live on quite a busy street, so he can hear quite a lot of street noise, which seems to amuse him more than the radio.

The first thing I do when I get home is let Joshua out of his cage. He greets me with "Want to come out", which he obviously understands. Once he is out, he says, "Want to go to the loo", and then does.

Regularity and consistency is the most important thing here. The second thing is to make sure they have plenty of things to entertain themselves with whilst you're away. Along with all his regular cage toys, Joshua got a thick paperback thesaurus this morning to destroy. I expect to be vacuuming paper shreds for hours.

I have a routine that lets Joshua know I am going to go out, and when I go through this routine, he is very obliging and cooperative. If I miss a step, things can get a bit hairy.

With Joshua on my shoulder, I tidy the flat, clean his cage, sort his food out, get everything ready for breakfast, have a shower (he sits on the shower rail), blow dry my hair while the toast is toasting. When the toast is done, I butter it, give him his piece (he holds his foot out to be picked up so he and his toast can be lifted onto his favourite perch in the cage), sit down and start to eat mine, ask him is his good (he nods "yes"). I put my make up on, get dressed and as soon as I put my shoes on he starts to say "Bye bye, darling". We say this to one another while I leave.<br><br>Post edited by: Lidia, at: 2007/07/05 14:13

[CeasarsDad]

uberduke wrote:

My Grey is alone for about 6 hours a day,I was wondering if it is better to have more than one or are they not bothered. Is it cruel to keep a solitary bird.

 

You got some great info so far from our other family members.. I would just add that I have found that Ceasar really isn't all upset when we go out and he has to stay in his cage.. I don't get that feeling at all.. I use to get all upset when we were gonna go somewhere and had to leave him locked up for like 10 hours.. Now it doesn't bother me at all.. and what a relief that is..

 

Regarding the TV and Radio.. The thing about this is that it MASKS those tiny little noises that make Greys or any birds nervous.. They are much more nervous with those radom "house noises" then they are about a constant steady noise... So that would be another reason to leave a TV or Radio on.. Just my 2 cents..

 

CD