I know there are some bird keepers who never take vacations, and if you have a large flock of birds, it will be very difficult to find a bird sitter. If you only have one bird, up to a few birds, you should be able to find someone who can look after them for you. How do you find such a person?
If you are like many birdkeepers, you friends just do not understand your attachment to your bird(s) and show no interest in getting to know them. Even though one of your friends might be willing to look after your bird, if they show no interest in the bird when visiting your home, I would not leave my bird with them. If one friend does show an interest, but does not have a bird, this person might be a good one to teach what has to be done to look after your bird the way you look after him. If there is a responsible teenager in your neighbourhood who loves animals, you might ask him or her to meet your bird and see if this person could be a possible bird sitter. I was lucky enough that my child's babysitter was also my vacation pet sitter.
If none of your friends or neighbours show any interest in your bird, you will be forced to look somewhere else to find a bird sitter. A good place to start would be a local bird club – you may have a parrot club a canary club or a finch club in your city. Often, people who keep one type of bird either enjoys all types or has more than one type of bird, so it does not really matter which club you contact. Be sure to contact them long before you plan on leaving for your vacation, so you can talk to anyone interested and see how they interact with your bird. If possible, you should go to this person's house to see how his or her birds are kept as well.
If there isn't a bird club on your town or city, there may be one in a neighbouring city (with members in your city), so don't be afraid to expand your search area. If you can not find anyone in a bird club to be your bird sitter, another place to look is a pet supply store in your area. You can ask the owner of the pet store if he or she knows someone who could look after your bird and if not, you may be allowed to put up a poster asking for someone. Remember not to give too much information on your poster that could identify you or your home location.
It is best to have someone come into your home so that your bird's routine is not distrupted too much, so hopefully you will find someone who lives near you. As a last resort, you may find someone who will take your bird into their own home and will have a separate area of the house away from their birds.
No matter who you choose for this position, make sure you spend time with them and let them know exactly how you care for your bird, make sure there is plenty of food available for them to feed your bird and/or money to buy any fresh food that you want fed to your bird. You might want to take a mini vacation for a couple of days to see how things go before leaving on an extended stay away from home.
Do you have a bird sitter or do you never leave for a vacation? Drop by the forum with your suggestions on finding a bird sitter.
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