Effects of moving?

[getwozzy]

I just realized that in 4-7 months we could be moving in to our new house (YAY!), but can moving have detrimental effects on birds? Specifically a galah? Chili seems to take things in stride and doesn't seem bothered by anything- he did really well when he got home from the airport and has transitioned into our home extremely well and fast. Our new house will have 3x the inside space as well as a back deck that could be screened in, and eventually an outdoor flight aviary (hubby does construction...mwa hahaha!!) any tips or moving stories appreciated

 

[Birdman666]

I moved from one house to another house with 11 birds. More space for them. They were fine.

I moved from Northern California to San Antonio, driving cross country with ZERO cages. Macaw on one shoulder, amazon on the other shoulder, African Grey in a birdie car seat in the front seat, another macaw in the birdie car seat on the back seat, the other amazon rode on top of my daughter's car seat headrest...

1,850 miles like that!!!

They slept on travel perches in the motel at night. The only problem? I had to put My greenwing's playstand on the nights table right next to me, or she would climb into bed with me!

Unless you have a super, super, super neurotic plucker who doesn't accept change of any kind, it is unlikely to do anything to majorly upset them. It may take a day or two to settle in, but no harm...

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I think you'll do fine, just make sure chili continues to be socialized, and try peirodicly moving the furniture around in the room he's in, or even moving his cage to other rooms so he gets used to change as you get closer to the moving date.

 

[getwozzy]

I moved from one house to another house with 11 birds. More space for them. They were fine.

I moved from Northern California to San Antonio, driving cross country with ZERO cages. Macaw on one shoulder, amazon on the other shoulder, African Grey in a birdie car seat in the front seat, another macaw in the birdie car seat on the back seat, the other amazon rode on top of my daughter's car seat headrest...

1,850 miles like that!!!

They slept on travel perches in the motel at night. The only problem? I had to put My greenwing's playstand on the nights table right next to me, or she would climb into bed with me!

Unless you have a super, super, super neurotic plucker who doesn't accept change of any kind, it is unlikely to do anything to majorly upset them. It may take a day or two to settle in, but no harm...

Ohmygoodness I would have loved to have seen that car load!!! Lol

Chili is not a plucker, 5+ months old, and doesn't seem to have any phobias...he's settled in really well so far from coming home so I think changing houses won't be to bad- hopefully.

 

[getwozzy]

I think you'll do fine, just make sure chili continues to be socialized, and try peirodicly moving the furniture around in the room he's in, or even moving his cage to other rooms so he gets used to change as you get closer to the moving date.

Oh good idea!

 

[Birdman666]

Bottom line, in the wild, for these birds, change is the norm. They fly all over the place, have to deal with predators, bad weather, etc.

They become neurotic in captivity precisely BECAUSE they aren't exposed to enough change... and, therefore, any change at all becomes frightening.

The more you expose them too, the less it will spook them, which is the entire premise behind "startle training."

My out-and-about trained red lored amazon went to CARNAVAL in San Francisco. about 300,000 people, loud music, giant floats, strangers coming up to her, etc. NEVER ONCE did she fly off or freak out!!!

My greenwing goes everywhere with me. Same deal. Not only is she startle trained, she's also stay put trained...

She loves going to the laudrymat with me. I take her playstand, and she sits outside. (By herself when I am changing loads over, or folding.)

And this is why we startle train... I couldn't do that if stuff spooked them, and they flew off!

 

[Birdman666]

Ohmygoodness I would have loved to have seen that car load!!! Lol

Chili is not a plucker, 5+ months old, and doesn't seem to have any phobias...he's settled in really well so far from coming home so I think changing houses won't be to bad- hopefully.

Oddly enough, most folks didn't notice while we were driving. When we stopped for lunch or dinner, and I sat outside and ate, with two on my lap, and three on my shoulder, it was a big deal... and we had to sneak them into a couple of the motels... (They were thinking parakeet not big old friggin Greenwing!

 

[getwozzy]

Wow- that's so amazing! How cool- you can literally take them anywhere! That's one of my goals with Chili, is to be able to take him wherever we go.

 

[getwozzy]

So how much of your meal did you end up sharing with all those birds on you?! Lol

 

[Mayden]

Merlin loves travelling, loves moving houses, etc. We take him to visit parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles (cross country) and he loves it.

We've moved 3 times with Merlin and he's not been phased, but he's been continously socialised from the word go.

Not sure how Charlie will take it, but when he moved in with us - he transitioned very quickly.

 

[MonicaMc]

I got Casey nearly 12 years ago. She went from the breeders to a mutual friend of the family's home (for one evening - they were expecting me there, but I was home busy doing school stuff) and then to me. I don't know who this breeder is or was, but she traveled over 30 miles before she was mine.

A few months after her, I got my bourke parakeet. She was 5-7 years old at the time and had one owner prior to me. She went over 30 miles to get to my home as well.



Ten years ago this January, I moved about 15 miles from where I lived then. (moving back in the direction they came from!) I had both of them as well as some other birds.



Pistachio came to me in 2005. In 1998, he was picked up from an animal shelter in California. I've only kept birds for 13 years, and had known Pistachio before I got my own bird. (not the reason I got into birds!) A family had recently moved into my neighborhood and had him and some other birds, so he had already been moved at least twice. The family actually ended up moving again, before I moved myself. About a year after I moved (say 2004 maybe?) they asked me if I wanted their birds. I said yes (several times, as they asked me several times), but they never brought them over, so I didn't actually expect them.... until one morning they were in my driveway and I didn't even know the family was bringing the birds over!

Early 2006 I took in another cockatiel, Tomi Girl. She was a bit of a rescue, considering she was nearly starved to death. I had known about her for several months, maybe a year, but she wasn't in trouble until the day I saw that she was nearly starved to death. All I know about her is that the people who had her before me found her and decided to keep her without looking for her previous home. (IMO, these people should not exist...)

Late 2006 I ended up adopting Charlie and had to travel 200 miles one way to get him. He was 12 years old at the time, was probably born around the San Francisco/Santa Rosa area, had one owner for 10 years, then lived in a pet store for a year then in a foster home for a year.

Late 2007, I was paid for a "service" with a cockatiel, Faye. She was supposed to be given to me but the owners decided to keep her... About a year later, I house sat for them, and she was my payment. As far as I know, I am her 4th owner. Her first gave her away at a garage sale (assuming that was her first home). I don't know how long the second people had her for, but they gave her to third home as a bit of a "house warming" gift (they didn't move far... nor did Faye between 2nd and 3rd home - and then to me - just up and down a street) and they had two other tiels at the time.



2011 came around and I had to move yet again... about 17 miles and closer to where Casey and the bourke came from.



Nearly 4 months ago, I welcomed Jayde into my home. She had one home for less than 3 years before going back to her breeders home, then into a foster home for 6 months. She then flew from Ohio to Nevada. That was a somewhat stressful event! Found out she didn't leave the last airport she was at until *AFTER* she was supposed to have arrived...




From my experience, as long as your birds are ok with some amount of change, moving is not that big of a deal. Yes, it can be upsetting to them as they get accustomed to a new place and different cage arrangement, but they'll settle in! Jayde has been having a bit of a hard time fully settling in because she's such an insecure bird, although she's doing far better now than she did previously. She was very scared and couldn't be handled at first. Charlie wanted nothing to do with me in his foster home but as soon as I got him home he was instantly clinging to me! More so I'm sure because of being in a new and scary environment rather than wanting to be with me... he just needed to be close to someone to know that everything was ok.


I've taken Charlie and Casey places. Casey handled it well back in the day, but now she has a flock she doesn't like being separated from. Charlie is rather loud at first when we go places but settles down once we get there and isn't so bad on the way back. I've only taken Jayde out once, but that should change soon enough!

 

[faeryphoebe1]

Birdman, I'm in San Antonio, too, lol. With all the rain today, our electricity was out for several hours. I had to leave for work and left my kids armed with some flashlights and put them in charge of the fids.

I was worried that the parrots would get spooked in the dark but they did well. My kids just texted me that the lights are back on now and that the birds are watching "Glee".

What's startle training?

 

[getwozzy]

Monica- Ohmygoodness you've done a lot of traveling and rescuing over the years! It's maddening when people find pets and think "hey this is cool! I'm gonna keep it!" thinking they're doing some great thing... And then end up almost starving her?! Ugh!!

The good news is that we won't be doing any actual traveling when we move- the new house is being built where our current yard is. So it's just a matter of hauling everything and everyone next door. Lol

 

[ShellyBorg]

Monica- Ohmygoodness you've done a lot of traveling and rescuing over the years! It's maddening when people find pets and think "hey this is cool! I'm gonna keep it!" thinking they're doing some great thing... And then end up almost starving her?! Ugh!!

The good news is that we won't be doing any actual traveling when we move- the new house is being built where our current yard is. So it's just a matter of hauling everything and everyone next door. Lol

In that case, walk around the house as it is being built and talk about how cool the move will be!

 

[getwozzy]

That's a REALLY good idea Shelly! I'll just take him over and give him tours regularly that way he'll get used to being there. He'll be able to actually see it being built from the window where his cage is right now lol.

 

[ShellyBorg]

It is amazing how much these guys get. I have found that talking to the birds about what is going to happen has helped a lot before we go into something that may be scary.

 

[MonicaMc]

Monica- Ohmygoodness you've done a lot of traveling and rescuing over the years! It's maddening when people find pets and think "hey this is cool! I'm gonna keep it!" thinking they're doing some great thing... And then end up almost starving her?! Ugh!!

The good news is that we won't be doing any actual traveling when we move- the new house is being built where our current yard is. So it's just a matter of hauling everything and everyone next door. Lol

Guess you are lucky then that it's not really a big move! Must be exciting to be able to design/build your own home!

I really haven't traveled all that much and most of my birds would be considered rehomes, even though many came from not so great places. I guess it seems like I have moved around quite a bit but I really haven't!

And yes, that family that had Tomi Girl... they could be considered hoarders as they at one time had an unaccountable amount of cats that were indoor/outdoor. The cats were breeding like rabbits, many kittens had sinus infections... they never took any of the animals in to be treated. Everyone inside the home were chain smokers, not to mention pot and drugs. So much smoke inside the home that you could see it move around in the air... ceiling was stained yellow. It was just horrible. I've since stopped contact with these people as I couldn't stand what they did to their animals. I also don't know if any local authorities ever intervened.

Saddest part? A mutual friend (at the time) said that they helped her to get healthy again and look a lot better than when they found her... but all they fed her was seed.... and they later told me that they simply "forgot" to feed her... well, when you cover her cage 24/7 because she's "too noisy", of course they'd forget to feed her! They didn't even "see" her! As she became a chronic egg layer while there, laying abnormal shaped eggs due to an improper diet and cage setup. Cockatiels are supposed to weigh around 90+ grams... she was 50 some grams when I took her in. I think the first recorded weight I had on her was 56 grams, and that was after she had eaten.


Sorry for the little rant, but as you can imagine I was pretty pissed about the situation!


Shelly does have a great idea! My only caution is to be careful about new carpet, flooring, insulation, etc. Anything that has to be glued down, too! These may pose a danger to your birds so it would probably be best to keep them away when those things are going in and allow the house to air out well before taking them back over there.



Can we safely assume we're getting pictures as your new place is being built?

 

[Birdman666]

What's startle training?

Startle training is exactly that, exposing the bird to increasing amount of "startle stimuli" until you could fire a cannon off right next to them and they wouldn't flinch...

I've done this with some of my out and about recall trained birds. We've had dogs jump up on us, people (especially kids) come running up, or riding their bikes up to us... My red lored amazon, who, when I got her was so phobic and bitey they were considering putting her down... has GONE TO THE CARNAVAL PARADE IN SAN FRANCISCO WITH ME... Think about that one. Dancers, drums, floats, a few hundred thousand strangers...

NO HARNESS OR LEASH, AND ZERO PROBLEMS WITH HER FLYING OFF... AND THAT IS WHY YOU STARTLE/STAY PUT TRAIN.

This one does not happen overnight. This is a progressive type of training that takes months with some birds, and years with others. Some don't take to it at all. (If your bird is a plucker - one word - DON'T!!!)

Anyway...

 

[getwozzy]

Monica- yes- it's been very exciting around here! The water well is currently being drilled, the septic systems are being plotted, and we're just waiting on the building permit to be approved- then they can start site prep and excavation for the foundation.

Drilling!

What comes out!

Poor Tomi Girl! People like that don't deserve to have any kind of animal!! It just infuriates me! They think they're doing someone a favor by "rescuing" them or giving them a "home", but it ends up the opposite- a death sentence in some cases! Ughhhh!!!!

That's a good point- i'll keep everyone out of the house if there's fumes or dust n such in there! I'm REALLY sensitive to smells- I can hardly stand going to the mall because of all the cologne and perfume people wear...it's an INSTANT migraine for me. Same with smoke- I can't stand it. On the way home yesterday I encountered smoke in one of the towns, and I had a raging headache by the time I got home.

 

[MonicaMc]

What fun indeed!!!! I'm going to be on edge waiting to see your house be built!


Hopefully there's not too much dust or smelly stuff around when they build the house!


And yes, you are right about 'those' people. I hate how some people have such a disregard for life.