>>>> What do you do with a parrot if you have to be gone for a month? I'd love to take a rescue parrot once we are in the new house and once I have educated myself about their needs, but the absence question must be answered first.
That's a big issue, Anneliese. There are several options, and you have to be careful with any of them. In many cases, you can take them with you when you travel. We've packed up four birds for a week at the beach about 10-12 times over the years. Hoover LOVES to ride on Cary's shoulder in the car - we just have small cages that we can quickly put them in handy for when we need a bathroom break or whatever. It's not the easiest thing to do, but you can do it. Obviously, that won't work at all for out of the country travel, since you have to consider quarantine issues. There are places that board birds, but not so many, and you have to be very careful that they are good with isolating your birds from others - parrots can be very sick before they show any signs, so exposure is a concern. The few times we've had to board ours, we've left them with the avian vet. Emily used to work for him, so she knows how picky he is on such issues. The most realistic option for most people is to have a live-in house-sitter while you're gone, or have a pet sitter come in to care for them, but they need to be fed at least daily, if not more often. And, if you have only one bird, you have to worry about the lack of companionship while you're gone. Since we have four parrots, that's not the biggest concern for us, but it can be devastating for a single bird, or for a bird that is seriously bonded to a single person. Seriously, if you know you will be away for more than 7-14 days at a time, several weeks a year - well, that might mean that a parrot isn't the best pet for you. Unless you want to buy an RV, so they can always be with you in a climate-controlled environment! (Seriously, Cary thinks we'll do that someday...but an RV that will pull a 24-horse-trailer...? I think we'll need our own private rail-line!) Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED] No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.0/1135 - Release Date: 11/16/2007 10:58 PM IceHorses Community for Photos and Videos: http://kickapps.com/icehorses "The greatest enemy of the truth very often is not the lie- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." ~ Arthur Schopenhauer [] Lee Ziegler http://leeziegler.com [] Liz Graves http://lizgraves.com [] Lee's Book Easy Gaited Horses http://tinyurl.com/7vyjo [] IceHorses Map http://www.frappr.com/IceHorses Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
