traveling with cockatiel

[hcs94]

Our cockatiel, Charlie, has been with us for about a month now and things are going great! Next weekend we have to travel to my parents house, which is 3 hours away, and I am unsure what the best thing to do with her is. I see my options are to leave her alone for the night, take her with us, or take her to a boarding place. I would love to take her with us, but will that trip stress her out too much? Or boarding her is also a new environment and a car ride, so is that the same amount of stress as taking her with us?
I am looking for some help and guidance as the best thing for her!
Thank you

 

[noodles123]

Boarding can expose a bird to LOTS of diseases in seemingly healthy birds, so while I have done it, if you can ensure a safer environment where you are going, I would try to take the bird. Even vets do not require tests for some of the deadlier viruses like ABV/PDD and PBFD, but they can be spread through the air by "healthy" birds...so not saying you can't every leave your bird, but aside from the environmental change, there is a risk and it's not necessarily something you can test for right away....a bird can carry certain things for many years without a positive test...could carry it for a lifetime..could also get it and get sick 2 weeks to 10 years later---these diseases are very tricky and a shared air-space TECHNICALLY puts your bird at risk.

You will need to make sure that wherever you are staying is safe in terms of Teflon/ptfe/pfoa/pfcs...and you don't want them spraying chemical cleaners or scented products (or using plug-ins/candles etc) unless avian safe.

Have you taken your bird in the car before?

I took Noodles to my parents (6 hours away) about 3 months after I got her and she was fine but she did freak out a little at first (less than I thought, but acted scared and shaky and flapped a bit). I found that she didn't like the windows--I taped them with paper towels and that stopped her from flapping. She actually LOVES their house, but I have to hide the bleach, windex etc when we go and bring my own cleaner. I also bought them new cookware to replace the questionable stuff and begged them not to use candles or oil burners a few days in advance. I also ended up getting an identical cage for their house so that she didn't have to sleep in her travel cage, but that isn't as necessary (maybe) with a smaller bird...mine is well over a pound (umbrella cockatoo). I go there enough and for long enough that the extra cage was well worth it--she takes to it like it is her own...