5 hour drive with Coco...help...

[Skidood]

I have to do a 4-5 hour drive with my GCC...she has been on the road with me 6 times with no problems but that was a 2 hour drive and she was in a small cage for the trip....and she could see out.

Now on this 4-5 hour business trip, I was thinking to get a bigger travel cage since
A. the existing one is only about 12 inches on all 3 sides
B. she will be in my hotel room for 36 hours and in the cage while I am at work daily

But I'm thinking I might be OK with her out of the cage during the drive.

Has anyone done this? I am expecting her to sit on my shoulder for a good portion of the trip and probably explore the vehicle as well.

 

[Flboy]

Many folks do, but I would be totally against having your bud free while you drive! Zero wiggle room!

 

[Skidood]

Many folks do, but I would be totally against having your bud free while you drive! Zero wiggle room!

Yes I'm not a big fan of the idea...so I got her a much bigger travel cage which will also be great for the hotel room....but I think I will be hanging the Do Not Disturb sign on the door and will leave the cage door open while I am out. She will probably spend some of that time napping in her furry hut anyway....

 

[wrench13]

I wouldn't leave her i the hotel room when your not there. Unsupervised parrots can get into trouble!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Amy loves the car and going places.

When He and I went to visit Al and Salty a couple years ago,it was only a 2.5 hour ride. I had him in his "to the vet" carrier,facing me,and his beak was just pulling at the door grate...couldn't see out the windows

Fifteen minutes into the ride,I HAD to pull into a service plaza to let him out.
Amy HAD to look out the windows! His birdonality changed completely,eyes open wide,face fluffed a little and chatty as all get out.
People beeped and waved as they went by us and he got even more animated.
When I stopped to pay a bridge toll..the gate keeper saw Amy on my shoulder,and said " oh what a pretty bird!"
As I was about to pull away...Amy yells out "HELLOO!"
I could see the gate keeper,looking as we pulled away,with his mouth open wide lmao.
I had ZERO problems with him..for 28 years he has gone riding with me on errands or to just go out,at times would ask me "outside? In the car??"

The day with Salty and Al and his family was a busy/fun day. Amy was tired so I put him in his carrier where he promptly fell a sleep.

I think your little guy will have no problems..and will probably ENJOY the time.


Jim

 

[clark_conure]

I've never driven more than say 30 minutes with clark but we go with the windows rolled up and him sitting on my shoulder. I don't know about the hotel situation, if your bird isn't quiet they be a little miffed.

 

[LordTriggs]

to go along with the hotel stuff, not to be a downer on the world but well... the staff have keys to the rooms for cleaning ETC. So if a staff member saw your lovely colorful parrot and thought "I want that" there would be literally nothing stopping them from walking off with your fid. Something not nice to think of but in the modern day we need to have suspicion of people

 

[Kentuckienne]

We used to take our BFA on multi day car trips. He sat on his hooman’s shoulder all the time. Went back on the cage to poop, and in it for rest stops. We never left him in the car alone for more than a few minutes at a rest area, got drive up food, etc.

That said, people have had birds get spooked in the car and fly to the floor and get down by the gas pedal. Could be dangerous. And our bird once bit his guy on the lip, badly enough to nearly detach a triangle of lip, while I was driving. He had been getting agitated, maybe he needed to poop or something scared him? But if you are alone, that could be a problem. I’ve seen cars with enclosures in the back seat with perches so the birds can be out but not able to get in trouble.

I would NOT leave the cage door open when out of the room. Housekeeper might accidentally open the door by mistake. And hotel managers sometimes get suspicious of customers who decline housekeeping and check the room in case you’re making meth or something. You might even consider putting a padlock on the cage door, with a security cable to keep someone from walking out with the cage.

On checking into any hotel, the first thing to do is put your luggage in the bathtub, then check the room carefully for bed bugs. Once you’re satisfied the room is good, then find a good place for the cage. Maybe not in front of a mirror, some birds get really excited about that bird next door. And good luck!

 

[Kiwibird]

I personally wouldn't ever let Kiwi be "loose" while driving. I think it is so dangerous to have animals loose in a car. Beyond the potential distraction, what if you hit the brakes really hard? What if they get spooked and get under your feet or near the shifter? Or worse case, you get in an accident? I don't think people realize just how forceful airbags are and they deploy instantaneously. While I am sure my injuries without them would have been far worse, I was in a relatively low speed head-on collision years ago and the airbags caused injuries to my much bigger and sturdier human frame. If your bird happened to be hurtled in front of an airbag at the point of impact/deployment, they'd be killed instantly. I was also a backseat passenger in a high speed collision where we were t-boned by a drunk driver. The huge SUV we were in spun like a top, slammed into a pole then tipped into a ditch. Again, the force of a collision like that on a loose bird? No chance of survival. A bird would have a much better chance in a carrier or cage.

I don't just have Kiwi in his backpack (and prior to the backpack, a small cage), I also buckle his backpack in as well (did the same when he had a small cage). In town, he rides in the front seat, but if we have to get on the freeway, he goes in the backseat away from the airbags. Having been in 2 very serious crashes in my life (once as the driver, once as a passenger), I guess I'm just very aware of how dangerous cars can be in an accident. A small and fragile bird has a much better chance if contained.

 

[Skidood]

Here is how it went....and yes I have thought about airbags and what would happen in a crash.

Coco enjoyed the drive there... soon after departing, I noticed she was clinging to the side of her new travel cage, where the bars/wires are vertical not horizontal, so she was kinda having a hard time staying where she wanted...so i pulled over and placed her furry hut in the cage, and she was much happier. She spent most of the time in her hut looking out.
On the way back home today, she clung to the horizontal bars on the side of her cage and seemed content. In the hotel room, she was in her cage if I was out for more than a couple hours. The Do Not Disturb sign was on the door while I was out. This is a small 3-1/2 star pet-friendly hotel in a practically zero-crime tiny city, I was not in the least worried about someone coming in and stealing her. If someone is going to steal, they will look for purses, money, laptops, phones....not little birds...I would think....
I did not inform the front desk that I had a bird with me. But I found out today when re-booking for next week that my customer profile in their computer now mentions I have a bird....lol...the housekeeping lady must have said something after I checked out, what with numerous feathers on the floor and a little" residue" of bird poop on one of the sheets. Overall she was EXTREMELY clingy when I was in the room with her...and getting her to crawl into her hut and go to sleep at night was not easy. Next week I have to do the same trip but this time its for 3 or 4 nights...ugh...