On Wednesday I am going to Italy for a week and this is the first time my little Quaker baby will be away from me even for a night. I have had pets in the past, I had a dog and cat my whole life. I was never nervous to leave my previous pets but my Sammy is so different from any other pet and I am freaking out quite a bit. My mother and my sister will be watching Sammy, I am bringing over her regular cage and all of her food and pages of instructions. I am nervous that Sammy will be under stress while I am gone and I don't know what to do to suppress that. I am going to set up phone calls and my mother will put me on speaker so I can talk to my little girl so that she will know we didn't abandon her. I guess I am nervous because parrots come with so many house hold restrictions which they all know but I am just worried. Any suggestions on what I can do that will lessen the stress on my little Sammy?

Being able to be in her regular cage will help. Ive read that keeping the back half of thier cage covered at all times helps them feel more secure. Maybe trying that will help? Others will come along with better advice then I can give sorry :/
Im sure Sammy will hold a little grudge against you when you return but she will get over it quickly im sure

I assume she knows your Mom & sister? That will help but also having her stuff will be a great comfort. I am sure she will be just fine!

She knows them and has met them each about 5-10 times. I've only had Sammy for 3 months so any time they came over they played with her. My sister spent a whole day with Sammy when I had to make a day trip and she seemed to love her. She didn't leave her side. I am going to have them keep her schedule the same - well the most they can keep it the same. My grandmother lives there as well and will be home all day but I do not trust her to have Sammy out of the cage. She is 80 years old and a little forgetful and does not have any experience with birds.




I am def going to have to them keep the back half of the cage covered. Thanks for the suggestion.

Make sure to take over all of her food and favorite toys. And it may not hurt to write down anything that your mom may need to know- what time Sammy goes to bed, what time she eats, what foods she eats, etc. Also- include the vets name and phone number.
You may even want to include some treats for her that your mom can feed her.
We are sure that you have probably already thought of all of these things- just a reminder in case you have missed anything.

The bird will be fine- we will pray for YOU to not be stressed out!

Have a safe trip and enjoy yourself. And make sure that you bring home a neat souvenir for Sammy!!!!
God bless you,
Eddie and Gail

Thanks I've already started typing out her whole schedule...they might think I am crazy. I am sending so many food products over with Sammy. I anm also sending over a bunch of pans since my moms favorite pan is non stick.

I think I might be more stressed out then Sammy lol!!!!!

Sammy's gonna be fine. He's spending some time with family. He'll get new toys, lots-o-play time, etc. It'll be like summer camp.

He'll even get plenty of quiet time, while they're reading through all those directions.

I'm worried about you! Relax, enjoy Italy.

Sounds like you have a good plan, but make sure that your family understands the importance of keeping Sammy on a schedule! As much as keeping her food and cage situation the same, maintaining the schedule you have developed with her is just as important. Changing things or letting Sammy do what she wants sends the message that it's ok for things to go Sammy's way from now on. The fact that you will be gone for a week will only allow reinforcement.

I speak from experience. I have worked for a year and a half with my quaker on nest/cage aggression. I leave her and her sister (a mild-mannered sun conure) out during the day and they will share each other's cages but are (were) for the most part certain of each other's boundaries. At night she goes into her night cage in a separate room - a bare bones cage without food, which she knows is a temporary spot to feel safe at night. All was going well until I had my brother sit for them while I went out of the country for a week. As soon as dusk hit, the quaker would go curl up in the blanket folded on top of the conure's cage. Since she seemed happy there, my brother let her spend her nights that way. Since the set up is fairly open, there are lots of "points of defense", meaning that a) quaker doesn't get rest because she is defending nest and is cranky, and b) defending the nest makes her more certain that it is hers. That was at the beginning of October. I am still fighting the quaker every day to keep her from terrorizing her sister into the corner of her own cage! She now thinks BOTH cages belong to her, and because she was allowed to spend her nights on them, she feels certain that both cages are part of her extended quaker nest! I have to keep them locked in most of the time now, and it's going to be a long way back to even getting her to the point to start recognizing boundaries again.

Make sure that your family understands how much quakers are like children - quickly and easily moldable, petulant, and always in need of parental guidance, but unlike children, it is not ok to spoil them even a little bit!

He I know how you feel. I went through the same thing two years ago with my girls. I was in MA for 6 days and left the girls with my mother whom they know very well becuase we live in the same house.

I went through the trouble of making the girls an interactive listening CD with our voices on it so they could listen and feel like I was still there.

Well, I was surprised. Every time I called from MA, the girls were happily chirping in the background. My mother had been spoiling them with food handouts an dlots of television. I don't think they knew that I was gone. My mother said that they were enjoying themselves.

So the whole theing was more difficult for me than for them. I called my mother everyday from MA to check in the girls were living it up with their grandma.

Thanks that is a great piece of advice. I am actually going to copy and paste this into my instruction manual (lol) for them so they understand and realize that it's not just me saying these things.

I brought Sammy to my mom's today and we spent the day, she did very well. She even took a bath while we were there which really surprised me...so I guess that meant she was comfortable. I decided I am going to use skype while I am in Italy so that way Sammy will be able to see me and her dad so she won't think we abandoned her. Hopefully all goes well.

I freaked out the first time I left Frost, but she was fine. I always bring guests up to meet Frost and hold her, so new people don't bother her at all. She did much better than I expected and I'm sure yours will, too.

....and "Summer Camp Begins!!!!"

I do agree though, schedules should be maintained.

I think your baby's gonna enjoy your vacation, more than you are, TRY TO HAVE FUN!!!!