Moving with parrots?

[Feu]

Next year my husband and I are going to be moving across the country, and we're looking into the best way to move our caique, Huginn. (We're moving to a cold climate so for Christmas he's getting a bird-safe cage warmer!) We've considered driving, but it would be several days in the car and though he's well behaved, he gets car sick. I've heard that caiques are generally well behaved if you take them on a plane as a carry on, and I've found a few airlines that take them, but we also have two cats to bring as well. Does anyone have firsthand experience moving long distance with their bird? I'd love to hear some suggestions!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I have never personally traveled long distances with my birdies, but several members have and it went well for them

 

[Birdman666]

I moved from California to Texas, and drove cross country three days with five large parrots (two big macs, to amazons, and a CAG) AND ZERO TRAVEL CAGES. The only incident I had was the Greenwing kept trying to hop into bed with me at the motel...

Mine are all out and about trained, and love riding in the car. I had birdie car seats for the CAG and one of the macaws. My super bonded amazon and greenwing mac rode on my shoulder the whole way, and the other zon made herself right at home on top of my daughter's headrest.

They slept on travel perches at the motel, and I put old blankets down to protect my seats, and the motel room...

None of them gets car sick.

 

[MikeyTN]

I drove from North Central Iowa down to Tullahoma, TN. That was a longggg drive....But I only had one bird with me. To prepare him for the trip during winter time when I was traveling, I heated the car good and I wrapped his cage in blanket and kept him covered through the trip and check on him during rest stop. He did just fine as he was quiet on the whole trip. He didn't really eat nor drink during the whole trip until we reached our destination. Then he ate and drank happily.

 

[KimKim]

We went from California to Virginia, and back a couple years later, with my grey. He was in a small wire dog crate in the backseat and I had the back half and one side covered. When we stopped to eat (the weather was nice, or left car running with ac on) I covered his cage completely so no one would be looking in at him. We stopped at night at motel 6 (also have 2 big dogs) and I brought everyone in with us. I opened his cage while we were awake and covered him back up when we slept. He did fine and it took us 4 days and3 nights I believe, maybe a day longer.

 

[leschornmom]

We took our cockatiel on the plane (post 9/11)... It was pretty uneventful though there was an extra fee and one of the security guards got confused and tried to make me get the bird out so he could search the carrier cage... I politely refused and asked to speak to someone in charge. Their manager quickly cleared things up and we were on our way. I found that the airline was VERY helpful in general!

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

Pritti rode in the car from New York to Colorado. Several years later, he rode from Colorado to Florida. Each trip was 3 or 4 days if I remember right. We got him a nice roomy cage. It worked out fine and was perfect for hotel stays along the way. He had tons of room to stretch. We let him out when we stopped along the way, but he was okay in there. At the hotel rooms, we let him out as much as he wanted.

One thing...if you go this route, beware of hanging toys in there. They become like swinging bulldozers with the motion of the car stopping and turning. So, I'd recommend toys attached firmly to the sides of the cage while in the car, and a snuggle hut or box with soft towel inside at bottom of cage, tied down.

Water and food at all times.
Shade screens on windows if the sun will be strongly beaming in on him.

We have flown several times too with him in the cabin. He's close in size to a caique. No problem in the planes or airports. But....you may run into restrictions on the total number of critters allowed on any one plane if you are bringing your cats too.

 

[thekarens]

I would think the cats could ride in the cargo with no problem. I grew up in a military home moving every few years. I was 7 when we got my childhood cat and she flew all over the place with the luggage, including California to Germany, with no problems.

 

[TessieB]

I drove from Florida to South Carolina with a slew of parakeets, cockatiels, Lilac Crowned Amazon, a pet chicken and a large dog. I also had a horse trailer loaded with one nervous horse and supplies. All the birds traveled fine in cages. And since I didn't want the dog to snack on the birds, everyone who had feathers remained in a cage for the duration of the trip-14 hours. I made sure I had plenty of food, water and extra covers for the cages.

The only complication was the stop I had to make at the agricultural station at the FLA state line-required to examine the papers for the horse. I was pulled aside to have my bales of hay inspected for illegal substances. For some reason Saleigh, the Lilac decided to cry like a human baby. Let me tell you uniformed officers get excited when hearing a crying baby from within a cage. Then everybody had to be unloaded in their cages for inspection. The chicken cackled indignantly and laid an egg during the wait.

Aside from that the only thing I could complain about was the noise. I learned to wear ear plugs when traveling with the larger avians.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

I moved from California to Texas, and drove cross country three days with five large parrots (two big macs, to amazons, and a CAG) AND ZERO TRAVEL CAGES. The only incident I had was the Greenwing kept trying to hop into bed with me at the motel...

Mine are all out and about trained, and love riding in the car. I had birdie car seats for the CAG and one of the macaws. My super bonded amazon and greenwing mac rode on my shoulder the whole way, and the other zon made herself right at home on top of my daughter's headrest.

They slept on travel perches at the motel, and I put old blankets down to protect my seats, and the motel room...

None of them gets car sick.

Ha Ha your a crazy guy

 

[JadeC]

I'm fixing to move to California from Washington state.. I think Meiko will do ok in the car. He wears his harness, so when I stop for breaks, he can stretch his wings if he wants!! He doesn't really fly too much, but he's ok. I flew my Quaker with me from Texas to Florida as carry on and he did fine too. Heh good luck!