Car Travelling with a Macaw

[Mommajack]

Hi guys. I looked and didn't see a thread about traveling by car, if there is one please direct me!

This Christmas I will be traveling with Rudy to visit my family. I am bringing him (a Ruby) with me and am setting up his cage in the laundry room/pantry. The laundry room is adjacent to the kitchen, with an open doorway between them, and we spend a huge amount of time in the kitchen when we visit. Also, one can see the den from the laundry room as well, so Rudy can see us when we are watching TV. So I'm not too worried about Rudy being isolated in the laundry room (which, by the way, is as large as a small bedroom, so plenty of room).

My question is this: since the trip itself takes 7-8 hours (I'm driving, not flying), does anyone have any tips on how to make Rudy more comfortable? My intention is to keep him in a medium sized dog kennel (for about a 40 - 50 pound dog) for the trip up there.

If it matters, his wings are not presently clipped but I plan on doing that. My mom has tons of antiques and family heirlooms in her house, and would freak if Rudy broke something. Her home looks like setups you see in magazines, with lots of pretties set out on shelves and tables. I've been debating about clipping his wings anyway because he's broken several things in my own house. So I could take him out of his cage at rest stops if so advised (but I need to get a harness first).

What if he gets car sick? He's been in a car before, but no longer than 10 - 15 minutes at a time. I've heard I could give him ginger root in such cases, but don't know how much, or if that means slices of raw root or prepared in some way, like what you get served at Japanese restaurants.

I am bringing him with me because I cannot afford to board him, and there is no one I trust to take care of him. We will be gone about 1 1/2 - 2 weeks.

I expect him to be a total butt-head about the whole thing, because he's going through a total butt-head phase now anyway (an "I am my own bird and will have my own way" kind of thing)

Any tips?

 

[Captsteve]

I wouldn't stress about the trip. My Too just spent 3 weeks in a med/large dog crate in our RV. I had it set up so he could see out the window and had lots of toys. He loved it ( I never could get him to say "watch out for the Po-Po!" )

While on the road he was quite and loved watching things go by.

Take him for a ride or two as long as you can stand and see how he does, then plan accordingly!

 

[Mommajack]

HAHAHA

Oh, I need to try to teach Rudy to say "Watch out for the Po-Po!" That's hysterical.

What about if he gets car sick, should I give him ginger?

 

[Captsteve]

I'm not sure about the car sickness, I have never dealt with it. I would think it to be rare due to the fact that birds are designed to deal with the motion of tree branches in the wind. However, that is why I suggested a few car rides maybe for an hour or so to see.

 

[mdmarley]

I don't think car sickness with birds is rare at all.....in fact it seems to be quite common. When I purchased my Macaw back in June, I had to bring him back from New York to Maryland...about a 6 hour trip. My Macaw got car sick pretty much the whole ride.

 

[Bundiibird]

We don't have a macaw but we do travel with our Alex all the time. Quite often it is a 7-8hr drive to my parents house. We find that she only gets car sick if we travel early in the morning before her breakfast has had time to settle. If we leave a little later in the day, she is fine. We are going to try to limit her food next time because at the moment, we leave a food dish in the cage the whole time and she loves to sit munching the whole way and watch the scenery. This is why I think she gets sick. So we will try on the next trip.

We usually stop every 2hours or so for her to have a proper drink and some time not being bounced around in a car. Our roads are not the best up here.

Anyways, I hope this helped. Our Alex is no trouble to road trip with and half the time she just puts her head behind her wing and sleeps.

 

[tab_xo]

Well Fargo has had a 3 hour car trip, one way, then had 2 hours out, then it was 3 hours home again!


You are taking him in a crate? Does he like to play with toys while in there?

I just had Fargo on a harness for the trips, he will either sit on my knee and look out the window, or sit on my shoulder and look out the window haha

He has never gotten bored, and he always sits there very quietly looking around!

BUT he gets car sick everyyyy singleeee timeeeeee!

He has been on probably 15 car trips, and each time he gets very motion sick.

Which is weird, because you would think a bird would be used to fast motion

He brings up his food a few times.. Poor boy hahaha But we stop every 30 minutes so he can have a potty break


I am sure Rudy will be fine even if he does get car sick, just take a break and give him some fresh air!
Although i think being in the crate wont make him as car sick as just being out on a harness!

 

[Chesphoto]

When I first brought Skittles home from the shelter, she puked and pooped the entire trip. They suggested that I keep taking her on car rides a few times a week and go to fun places. Each trip, she did a little better . Now, she never throws up and rarely poops and doesn't even seem to mind being in the crate.

So my advice would do some practice rides before your trip.

 

[horsesculpter]

Sunny has logged probably 15,000 miles in 8 states the last three years and she loves it! "Go in truck" is her favorite thing. She doesn't get sick and I don't think she ever did so that probably helps. She rides between us on her perch and watches the traffic go by. She loves stopping at truck stops for fuel and hellos and by bys the truckers.

 

[Mike17]

We crossed much of Oz with 16 birds in the car last Feb! That's like Florida to LA....

Before that we took our first eccy (RIP) to Tasmania, by car which meant he went on the ferry. Didn't get carsick or seasick He was clipped, and travelled mostly sitting on top of his travel cage, which was on seat behind me, watching the world go by. Whenever he saw cows (of which there are lot, in Tasmania) he'd go "come here" He could walk across the centre console and climb up to my wife's shoulder, and rarely came to mine (needless to say, I didn't want him on my shoulder while driving).

Our present eccy doesn't eat much while we're on the road, and as he's unclipped he doesn't come out of his cage. He does tend to go high up, usually clutching the cage wire. Some breeders I've spoken to suggest taking perches out, as they can be hurt in sudden braking situations, but we've found that a perch set very low is good (almost on the cage floor) but if they're unhappy perching they can hang off cage wire anyway. Water dishes need to be only 1/3 full otherwise they slop out (or they can be filled with wet cotton wool, but that needs to be changed every day or so).

With a large load of birds on a long trip, it goes without saying that the car needs a good cleanout at the end, even when spare sheets are spread everywhere in the back.

 

[csperkins3]

I take my AG and B&G on road trips a lot as I frequently take a 3 hour trip. My African Grey loves to travel and talks, whistles and plays the entire time. He frequently asks to go for rides and even if its 5 minutes he's a happy guy. My Blue and Gold on the other hand gets car sick every single time. She brings up food and also is jerking her head up and down a lot on the trip. She clings to the side of the cage (dog kennel) almost the entire trip. She will not sit on a perch. She hates traveling and I don't blame her but I am hoping she learns to cope because I don't have anywhere I can board her when I travel. I am trying to find a solution. I have heard that ginger tea helps. I am going to try it on my trip next weekend and see if it helps. What I have been told is to use either organic ginger tea or to boil some raw ginger in water. Cool it down so it doesn't burn the crop and take away her water a few hours before traveling and replace it with the ginger tea. I am really hoping this helps. The bad thing is you do not know if they are prone to motion sickness until after they have traveled. I really worry and stress about the stress my bird goes through when I travel and I don't know if it is worth putting her through this so much but I do not know what else to do beside keep searching for a solution.

 

[Mommajack]

Do you know how long the tea is supposed to last? My trip will be 7-8 hours, so I'm guessing I'd have to give him some more part way through.

Perhaps I should give him raw ginger to chew on while he's in the car. Do you know if he can eat too much ginger?

 

[triordan]

be sure to bring a towel in case he gets too noisy and you need to cover him up, nothing worse then a screaming macaw when you're driving! You can also attach a perch and food/water dishes to the crate. Good luck!

 

[Chesphoto]

be sure to bring a towel in case he gets too noisy and you need to cover him up, nothing worse then a screaming macaw when you're driving! You can also attach a perch and food/water dishes to the crate. Good luck!

Grapes and oranges are great to add in to the crate in case the water bowl gets spilled.

 

[Birdman666]

I moved from California to Texas, 1850 miles cross country by car with my greenwing on one shoulder, m my red lored amazon perched on a hand and/or the other shoulder, my CAG in a birdie car seat, my Red Fronted macaw in a birdie car seat, and my Lilac Crowned amazon sitting on top of my daughter's headrest...

My birds are "out and about" trained, and simply LOVE riding in the car...

 

[MenomaMinx]

For Canary to macaws size birds: I've used bird carriers, cat carriers, and have now upgraded to a dog carrier for Kumiko – Who just dangles from her door bars by her beak!
The entire ride!

 

[Mommajack]

Thanks guys, I will keep all this in mind when traveling this December.

 

[nyspy]

I take Pretty Birdy (my BG) all over the place with me. He normally just perches on the headrest above me. On longer trips, I keep a cage for him, but rarely use it. He's used to being cageless and has free roam of the house. I stop every 2 hours or so to spend 15 min. outside, feeding him, watering him, etc..