Going on vacation... what should the petsitter do?

[sparrowsong98]

Ok, so I am leaving for 2 weeks, and my cousin is pet sitting. I want to make it easy for them though. Then there are the things they could mess up, like the vitamins in the water. So here are a few questions. If I chop vegetables, will they still be fit to feed to a bird for 2 weeks? And if I clean their cage really well, will they survive the 2 weeks? I DO NOT want my cousin opening the big doors because we have really high ceilings and I do not want my birds to get out. And food. I don`t know how often I change the bird food, I just look in and say: Hmm... looks like a lot of hulls and when I mix the food around I see mostly hulls, and I get them more. But my cousin wont know to do that. And, my picky birds dont eat vegetables, and I do not want him to stick them in the water.

[Sheather]

Have him feed dry seed for two weeks, blowing the hulls daily, birds will be fine.

[lovezebs]

sparrowsong98

Vacation??? What's that???

[wildbird]

I use tube seed feeders for my Javas. Only put one type of seed in it, plain canary grass seed. This way they don't empty it looking for a certain type seed and they toss the hulls out with their beak. You can get vacation seed feeders where the hulls fall into a separate area. Never used one, but have seen them for sale. I also use water tubes with the small opening at the bottom for their beak to drink from. Helps keep the water clean. Most cages have a pull out tray for cleaning, so you don't have to go into the cage. These are just suggestions. I never left my birds for vacations or anything yet.

[Icearstorm]

sparrowsong98
My birds are being watched after for three weeks at this time as well. Plain seed with no vitamins is fine for non-breeding, non-moulting birds for several weeks to a month. This is similar to "austerity diets" gouldians are kept on for winter, and therefore fine for short periods.
Breeding or moulting birds should be fed dry eggfood in addition; this can be put in a tube feeder or in a dish. Keep cuttlebone or some mineral mix on hand for calcium; it will be used slowly, so the pet sitter should not have to replace it.
If your birds have no experience with hopper feeders or tube feeders, don't suddenly change, as they could starve. If you have a few days before you leave, try to transition them to the new feeders, as they are easier to deal with.
Keep two sources of water in case they use more than you expect or clog one of the water dispensers. Tube feeders are best for water, as they can't be bathed in easily. Once again, make sure your birds can use them.

[sparrowsong98]

Icearstorm I was worried about vitamins because I have a pecker and I am trying to figure out why she is pecking. I think it is because of vitamins since she doesnt eat her veggies.

[Icearstorm]

sparrowsong98

You could try getting a dish full of dry eggfood and mixing a bit of vitamin powder and mineral grit in it. All of my birds eat Quiko eggfood, Higgins Sunburst Mineral Grit, and Rep-Cal Herptivite and Cacium with Vitamin D3 multivitamin powder without issue. Little vitamin powder is needed; I think the instructions said one tablespoon per pound of food.

Most frozen vegetables will store well, and can be provided while still frozen, though your birds may need to wait for them to thaw. Mine enjoy broccoli, lettuce, and spinich. Unfortunately my society finches will take the spinich into their nest to rot, so I don't provide it when they are breeding. Some people provide dehydrated vegetables since dry goods stay fresh for longer. Crumbling the dry vegetables until they are unrecognizable and mixing them into the other food may make them more palatable to your birds.

[sparrowsong98]

Icearstorm I started putting vitamins in their water. I also added in some alfalfa for them to play with, and since most things they play with do end up in their mouth, I was hoping they would try it.

[Sally]

sparrowsong98 As others have said, I'd keep it as simple as possible. When you have a pet sitter that is not familiar with birds, that is what you need to do.

I use the vacation seed hoppers, so my birds are used to those already. I also use tube waterers, so my birds are already drinking from them.

One of the most common problems you find with pet sitters that aren't used to the birds is they look at the seed dish, see that it appears full, and so they do nothing to it, thinking all is OK. They don't realize that the top layer is now just empty seed hulls, and some birds will starve rather than dig through all the empty hulls.

The simplest way to deal with this is to ask your pet sitter to dump all the seed out of the dish each day and fill it with fresh seed. You can have him dump the seed into a container so that you can then sort out hulls from seed after you get home if you want. The important thing is that the birds have fresh seed each day.

Water is even more important, birds will die quicker from lack of water than lack of food (just like us). Have your pet sitter dump the water out of whatever you use (tube or dish) and put in fresh each day. Two sources of water in each cage is best, in case the pet sitter forgets.

I wouldn't bother with vitamins or cage cleaning while you are gone, they will be fine without. Unless your birds are breeding, they don't need egg food or even veggies while you are gone. I always give mine lots of spray millet in the cage, that keeps them happy too.