I have a pet parrot (Pico), he is my best friend but wow he is an inconvenience.
We have successfully use THS for house sitters (one couple have come back 5 times now) but we need to find a new person as they have moved away.
We have also had a disastrous THS sitter who abandoned our pet after less than half an hour (case opened and reported etc etc).
Since that traumatic experience, we have requested on the sit that we MUST meet the sitter before the sit. Of course now we have had no applcantsā¦
Any advice on what I should do to encourage applications?
Birds are not like cats and dogs, they are not domesticated and can be a handful so need bird experienced sitters. Before I specified to meet people first, I often got applications from people with no experience of birds or from people who were travelling and wanted to use our sit as a stopover (which would be fine if they had experience of birds!).
I know I am being so fussy but I feel it is necessary to keep our parrot safe while we are away, and to let sitters know what to expect. Iād be willing to train up someone, but we dont have a spare bedroom for them to stay with us before we go away, so then its awkward if they arent local.
Due to the parrot, we wait until we have a housesitter booked before we book any travel. We are based in the UK
I really like what a great bird parent you are, waiting to find the right person before you book your sit. I donāt find wanting to meet the person first is unreasonable. It is not the norm here but after your experience I understand it. That does limit your applicants to those who live close enough to do a meet and greet. Maybe you can also say, if you were a previous pet parent to a large bird breed, we can do a FaceTime if you live too far for a meet and greet. I canāt think of anything else to suggest to get you a larger pool of applicants. Good luck and hope you find the right person.
Whereabouts in the country do you live? As I can imagine this will also have an impact on the number of applications if wanting to meet first. I canāt imagine it being a problem in a big city or touristy place.
Iād have no problem meeting someone beforehand, but they would have to be pretty close for me to do so.
I was going to suggest you offer reasonable transport costs, but that opens up a whole can of worms so probably best not.
Would a video call suffice if someone had experience with birds?
Iāve only raised chicks to become chickens so wouldnāt feel confident to take over care of a parrot.. arenāt there good u tube videos on their care ? Surely someone keen to broaden their experience (and parrots are quite popular)has to start somewhere . If you can enlist someone who looks promising as a repeat sitter it might be worth getting them to arrive early. Couldnāt they learn in one day?
Are there courses one can do to get a certificate in bird care? Perhaps THS could research and sponsor such courses . Itās in
Everyoneās interest that the birds get great
expert care.
My cousin has a Macaw and rescued a buzzard chick that subsequently soared above as she jogged below!
He became a character in a book having high self esteem although he fed on rubbish lol. He was called Gromit.
I deliberately sat some rabbits after having had my own as a child. I read up all about it and proved adept in no time at all!
I would be happy with a video call with the right applicant, but sadly the person who abandoned Pico seemed like a great person over video call (we video called, they even saw on the call Pico bite me, they [said] had grown up with cockatoos and budgies and were comfortable with parrots). I guess we just had a terrible experience.
I always feel bad when I get an application and my first response is āthanks but do you have experience with birdsā, but Iām glad you can all see the reason for this - and I have tried to explain this in my listing but possibly people are not reading it in full.
I would definitely offer some compensation if the right person did come to visit beforehand, but I also donāt really want to say this in the advert in case I get timewasters.
We live near Reading, UK so it is accessible. It would just be great to find someone local enough to train up. I have reached out to various sitters who say they have experience with birds, but none have ever applied.
As a paying member of THS I sit to travel. I am usually not that interested in local sits, then I just stay at home with my own pet. Ofc it could be various reasons for why someone would be interested in a local sit, depending on location one could get applicants and good matches.
One way to meet an applicant pre-sit could be if they are on another sit in the area (I met up once with a host to do the tour as I was on another sit there a couple of weeks ahead) or one could host a sitter to come a day (or two) before. If that is because of the needs of the host it is reasonable that the host make accommodation available. If one doesnāt have a guestroom then the host could pay for a room, or the host could spend the night at a friends home and make the master available for the sitter.
I donāt find it reasonable that a sitter should use time and money out of pocket for a separate pre-sit in a case like this.
Just some ideas. Maybe also a local paid sitter could be a better option.
@Sauropod8
I have had a look at listings in England with birds , there is one ( Iām not sure that itās yours ? ) that states that the sitter is expected to spend at least half the day with the bird -
( quite a big responsibility for an unpaid sitter )
This listing also says that during the day the bird is be expected to be in the same room as the sitter at all times including when the sitter is in the bathroom and when they take a shower and that you must eat with them ( or they wonāt eat ) Also that will be free range all day and poop over you and all the furniture. He will nibble laptops and cry at night .
Since THS is about mutual exchange , all of this will be off putting to most THS sitters . Plus the request that they must come and meet the host first at their own time and expense .
If this is your listing then I think realistically, this sit is more suited to a local paid sitter who can give your parrot the time, care and attention that he needs .
If this is not your listing , then I think you may have your listing set to private dates and itās not visible , which is why you are not receiving any applications.
Oh dear that my posting comes across this way! I will have to write it againā¦
The way we live with Pico out all the time isnāt what we expect of a sitter! We just want someone to have him out of the cage some of the day, as thatās what he is used to. Definitely not eating with him out! Thanks for this feedback though because that is surely putting people off.
Iād say that for ābird peopleā though, they would know to expect some of these things.
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it!
I appreciate this feedback, thankyou!
Yes definitely that would be an option. Perhaps even have someone sit overnight as a trial before committing to a longer stay. We would happily make the house available for them to do so.
I guess its that initial contact from someone with experience in birds that I am struggling to get. Once someone messages me I am very open about the sit and what is and isnāt expected! I would happily reimburse for travel costs, its just that initial contact that (as below) I am obviously putting people off applying.
This may be an unusual suggestion, but would you consider making a video about living with and caring for Pico that you could post on YouTube in private mode (only accessible to people with the link)? That way you can show people what heās like out of the cage and how he interacts with you and other people (have a friend over, for example). A compromise between video call and having someone travel to meet you. You can mention in the intro of the listing that sitters who are interested but unsure can apply and ask to see the video youāve made.
This may be an unusual suggestion, but would you consider making a video about living with and caring for Pico that you could post on YouTube in private mode (only accessible to people with the link)? That way you can show people what heās like out of the cage and how he interacts with you and other people (have a friend over, for example). A compromise between video call and having someone travel to meet you. You can mention in the intro of the listing that sitters who are interested but unsure can apply and ask to see the video youāve made.
Thanks for the suggestion! Yes thatās something Iād happily do, a good idea. I already have a publicly visible IG account with Picoās life
Also I should maybe say that we are very lucky that we have a local paid pop-in pet sitter who has spent time with Pico and can do pop in visits but sadly she doesnāt do overnight housesits, and she has many other commitments so we can only really use her for a day or two away (hence the need for THS).
Maybe you could get the paid sitter to spend some time with the housesitter on the 1st morning to show him or her the ropes and give them support. Reading is a great place and Iām sure lots of sitters would like the sit. I would not let one bad experience put you off all sitters.
Thanks for the suggestion. Iām just so afraid of booking someone in for a week or more without them meeting Pico with us there, and then it goes wrong again. Especially if anyone has travelled internationally! I appreciate not many sitters want to do local though, as mentioned above they would stay at their own home!
I think I need to delete my listing and re-word it all so that it doesnāt put people off immediately.
Should I mention in the listing that Iād reimburse travel for a visit if necessary? A video call or two might be enough if I could be confident in the sitterās bird capabilities.
I am wondering if Pico behaves the same with you present as he would with your paid sitter (or a THS sitter) alone?
From my very limited experience with birds, I think they can be very possessive of their main-squeeze?
Just something I am wondering about (having almost had my ear taken off by a big bird who [I think] was jealous of my presence in my younger years).
Iām wondering if his dad had not been present, would he have acted that way?
Obviously, I would never apply, but I have family members and friends who adore their big birds and would be happy to love your Pico.
Even dogs and cats can act very differently with, or without, their āregularā person, so just raising ideas about the hand-over
I certainly think some video calls or zoom time would be in order to get to know the potential sitter ā after that, perhaps the one-night ātrialā with a kind gift (or transportation) but I think there are people out there! I would not mention it in your listing. Only in a face-to-face.
Unfortunately for you, so many of us use this site āfor travelā not just home and pet-sitting, which make a trial more difficult..
There are definitely people who do local sits. About half the sits I do are local as I like a change of scenery. But I would not like to spend half the day doing unpaid pet training.
Just say in your listing that you require someone local to come and meet the parrot in advance. That saves other unsuitable people wasting time applying. For example, I have applied to sits that want sitters who are āwomen onlyā or āmatureā or āsoloā. I like that the homeowners are specific and those sits work out very well.
If I see a sit requesting a couple or say, a requesting a sitter who needs to mow the lawn, I donāt apply. Be very specific - say that you want a local person with either experience with birds, or willing to meet you in advance. Iām sure you will find someone.
Hi, yes Pico does behave differently with other people. Thatās whatās so hard with birds! He generally doesnāt like new people and takes a while of just being around them to then be okay. If they ignore him, itās fine. If they try too fast to interact with him, he bites. But bird people generally understand this! But then once he is comfortable with people, he is great and behaves as normal (sometimes better behaved for them than he is for me!).
Its just getting my ad right to attract the right applicants (or any applicants at all!), as @hellocat says as well. I thought I had specified and explained in my ad that I need someone with bird experience or willing to learn, but I still got several applicants for my last sit who had no experience ā¦
Yes, he bites and it is a case of knowing and reading his body language. Often our friends want to stroke him and he bites them before I can tell them not to.
But also birds use their beak to explore the world, so sometimes he doesnāt bite but will use his beak to move about.
The sitter who abandoned him didnāt follow any of our instructions upon arrival, when I had said do not get him out the cage until the following morning. They arrived, let him out the cage, freaked out at him flying around the room, tried to get him back in the cage by trying to catch him and then left the house with him still loose (and they took the money we had left, and the gift of some vegan chocolate bought specially for them, and made our neighbour drive them to the train station). All this while I was literally on a plane, it was a nightmare. They said he was aggressive, which me saying on here now sounds bad but the circumstances were that they had said they were experienced with birds, know birds bite and know how to react with birds, even saw Pico nibble me on our video call, and then they ignored all our instructions and freaked out at him being a bird. And left without telling us or waiting for any of our emergency contacts to assist. Anyway, this wasnt meant to be a rant.
In short, yes Pico bites, has bitten and will bite. Itās normal for conure parrots to be nippy but thats why we need someone who knows about birds and knows how to interact (or not interact) with them.
