Our 1200 mile trip, incl. Going Through Security With a Bird.

A few weeks ago I was writing asking for advice about whether to take Pritti or board him.

He did great in the airport, security, one the plane and car rides. Jet Blue was amazing, and the airport staff was very accommodating.

Security was interesting, when I got to the first security person that looks at the IDs at the beginning of the line, she saw there was a bird in the carrier and volunteered that she didn't know how they needed to screen us at the checkpoint. When I got there, one TAS person called the next and so on. There were 4 of them having a little conference and deciding how to do it. The 5th one had me walk through the metal detector with the carrier twice, then they took the carrier from me and had me walk through it 3 more times while the man held Pritti in carrier. Then I got my things together and went in the little room where they investigate further, and they brought him in, asked me if I could control him and what would happen if I took him out. I opened it -- boy was Pritti happy to jump out of there -- he was up my arm and on my shoulder in about 3 seconds. They took the carrier to xray it or whatever. When he returned we went on our merry way. Pritti left them a not-so-pretty green & white present on the table, oops (I cleaned it).

On the plane, I had a window seat and he was soooo good. I kept the carrier on my lap or the little snack tray that drops down nearly the whole ride. He only squawked four times (high pitched arrrrrh - arrrrrh), but they were mostly drowned out by the hum of the plane. I had my hand inside the trap wire door on top nearly the whole flight - fed him apple bits, a couple of shelled raw almonds, and - my saving grace - all natural popcorn. It was snack heaven for him, but I felt like it kept him busy and calm. He didn't want anything to do with his toys or snuggly in there. He was happy with my hand too and we had lots of eye contact. He stood on the little mini manzanita perch I had cut to fit and attach. I covered most of the top opening from time to time with a small towel I brought so that he would have some dark resting time (late night flight). He was just amazing.

We've been here 10 days now and he hasn't quite adjusted I think. My family here picked up a vacation cage for him that is way smaller than he's used to, but I let him stay out up top all the time except when I'm totally away from house - so he's mostly out. The top has two doors that open on this 18" x 18" by 32" high cage, so I put a 6 inch perch on one side of the open door and the other I leave closed and keep his big braided ropey stringy toy, a mirror and another toy from home that spins. Inside he has far less space than home, but I put in fewer perches and some neat toys and 3 mirrors and bells.

Here's the thing - the food dishes are way smaller and look completely different and he just doesn't seem to like them. I have yet to see him go to the water dish - I show it to him but he won't acknolwedge it in front of me. I have another water dish on bottom of cage and I keep picking it up and brining it to him and about 1 out of 3 times, he'll take betwee 3 and six sips. So I know he is drinking, but can't figure out why he won't go to it. I rotate wet foods in a treat dish on the bottom (apples, celery, carrot, pieces of grapes, berry, etc.). His doesn't seem to have an active appetite like he does at home, which worries me.

For 9 days he didn't bathe - yipes. The weather goes from quite chilly at night to pretty hot during day. Yesterday was warm and I finally took him in the bathroom and he let me shower him and seems way more comfortable since.

I've been bringing him places around the house where he can roam and forage a bit - clean tile kitchen floor, outdoor covered front porch with a short trellis thing to climb. He seems pretty content after that. But he's still not himself and I've been worried that maybe he is sick.

Anyone know how long it takes for them to adjust? I make sure to spend many hours with him each day and many more in close enough proximity - his cage is in my room here.

So far, that's the update on our first flight and long vacation away together.

Thanks for sharing. The plane ride was very interesting. It's great that he was well-behaved. Its nice to know someone did this succesfully, both in planning and keeping the bird calm during the flight. In case I find myself needing to take Boomer on a plane or on a trip, I'll have something to look back to.

How long are you staying for your vacation? I'm sure Priti does not know this is only temporary so the new environment must be very disorienting for him. I'm sure it will get easier for him by the day, the more positive experiences he has in this new place.

Thanks for this post. In about a year I'm going to be moving from Hawaii to Texas. When I take Carla to the Vet, or our friend who watches her when we're away, she rides on my shoulder with the AC on. She HATES her travel carrier. I guess I'm going to have to find a type of carrier that looks more like a regular cage that will fit under the seat in front.

Wifey made several airline trips as long as four hours with one or two 'tiels. There was never a problem. They rode in a small cat box with grille top that fit under the seat.

There's a link and photo of the carrier I chose. It worked out great for a cherry-head because it is flatter and wider than the regular dog/cat carriers, so he had lots of open area at the top through the bars, and the place to put a perch was a big plus, as he stood on it quite a lot. The link and photo for it is in another thread if anyone wants to see it, here http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/21521-flying-airplane-bird.html#post175399