Coming home...

[mnsalani]

I will soon be venturing to pick up my female ekkie Scarlet on the 11th. It will be about a 4 and half hour ride to our new home, so my question is, what is the best way to travel with a new bird? Should I bring a travel cage, a towel & just wrap her in my lap (will not be driving) or try to find a carrier from a pet store? Also, is there anything I can bring that will help to calm her--favorite food (doritos), play favorite music (Brad Paisley) or a several toys to distract her?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I want to make the transition as smooth and stress-free for my little sweetie as possible.

 

[merlinsmom13]

I use a travel cage when we are in the car. We don't travel alot & I'm afraid merlin would be terrified if he could see out the car window. You can buy a cardboard travel box (merlin had a cosmic pet taxi), or if you plan to travel alot spring for a more permanent solution. One trip to the vet, Merlin chewed up his pet taxi, so I sanitized the small cat carrier for him. I play his favorite flute music in the car, he is very calm when he listens to it. Will depend on your bird what she likes. Congrats on Scarlet, hope for the best for you.

 

[andrea.faerie]

I included a nifty article about bringing home birds and travel options in my lil' magazine thingie. but basically I suggest a kitty carrier with a soft blanket inside, maybe a foot toy, and a blanket overtop of the carrier if there's a cold draft from your AC I have to transport my lil' parrot a bit of a ways too when it's ready to come home. Congrats!

here's the link for my parrot magazine: 2shared - download vol1.pdf

 

[kitt]

In my case....my caique gets car sick.We have to travel two hours to the avian vet....
So for me, I stop letting him eat about an hour before we travel but I make sure he always has water.
Then, I use a big enough pet carrier that I can clip a water dish to the door and a perch...he feels safest on the perch. I lay paper towel in the bottom of the cage for any accidents. He stays on the perch the whole way.
I was concerned about him not having food for such a long period of time and the vet told me that he would be fine, as long as I provided water and fed him as soon as I got home. Hope this helps...I'm so excited for you.

 

[Sabbath]

No terry loops though as your bird could get caught on the loops and hurt him/herself.

How I'm doing it is cleaning out a mid size dog carrier, lining it with a towel and maybe a Teddy bear to for comfort!

 

[mnsalani]

Now when you say cat carrier are you talking about the plastic ones? Also, what size would be appropriate for an eclectus? Should she have room to stand up fully?

 

[kitt]

I have a pet carrier and I just made sure that it was tall enough that when the birds sit on the perch, they have a little head room.

 

[andrea.faerie]

ummm. Well my bird is a conure so a kitty carrier works fine, an ekkie is bigger so i'd say go with a small dog carrier? I'm using an old hard carrier I have from when I had ferrets and just cleaning it out really good You could use a soft case i presume! I'd imagine if you'd like to be upright, your bird would be too I'd prefer a hard case because it'll be great for travel to and from my folks' house from my college until I'm comfortable with the bird sitting in the seat next to me (or behind me) on a car perch

 

[mnsalani]

Great! I'll have to stalk all the pet stores around here today then Thanks everyone!

 

[andrea.faerie]

Look at thrift stores too! ours always has old dog crates and stuff that would be wonderful

 

[mnsalani]

Great idea! I do need to save some money somewhere Just signed up for online classes for this fall too--that way she can help me with my homework!

 

[andrea.faerie]

indeed! Thrift stores are great I'm going thrifiting this weekend and hopefully i'll find some things in the toys section that i can use for my conure (after disinfecting that is!) to decorate it's cage comfortably and have something for it to play with outside the cage

 

[mnsalani]

Now I just have to find some thrift stores down here!

When are you picking up your conure?

 

[andrea.faerie]

It all depends on the conure haha. Still in the process of being weaned, hopefully sometime before july ^^

 

[mnsalani]

That's really exciting!!! Do you have any pictures?

 

[andrea.faerie]

I do acutally! haha here's the thread i started with my conure in it lol

http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/10229-my-day-has-come-3-a.html

ooh, and i also make a nifty magazine kinda thing on basic conure care and stuff, it's got some god info in it if you want a copy

 

[MikeyTN]

I used pet carrier when I brought my birds home. It works just fine! They will most likely not want to drink during the trip. Just make sure it doesn't get too hot in the car ride, she should be fine. I did a 3 hr drive with the ekkies and 2 hr drive with my too, and 1.5hr drive for the tiels.

 

[Lilly Pie]

when I got Lilly and had to go pick her up half way (1 hour) she actually had a bird carrier, the name brand is Iris. looks like this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41PWm-vCq4L._SL160_.jpg

She traveled with me on the passenger seat, with a blanket over the carrier.
But now that I know her better, when we go to the pet store or anywhere for visits (she is very popular among my friends and co workers, lol), she sits on the back part
of the front passenger seat. I dont really like this idea unless your bird knows to stay there and will not try to go to you while youre driving. that could be dangerous.

good luck

 

[mnsalani]

Oh Andrea.Faerie those pictures just make your heart melt they're so cute!! Congrats again!!!!

And I'll be looking for a pet carrier here within the next week. I'm going to go to all the pet stores first and size them up first then decide. The Iris looks pretty neat! It's really tall I just want my baby to be as cozy as possible & plastic just looks slippery with their little nails.

 

[Lilly Pie]

Lilly loves her carrier. All I have to do is open it next to her and she climbs in. I put a small blanket on the bottom. There's a little round door on top for giving treats or for them to be comforted by the owner. I wish hers was pink but she has the blue one lol