Parrot Backpack on Kickstarter

Just saw this pop up in my FB feed and thought it looked really cool. What do you guys think? I think it could work for a small or maybe medium parrot.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/avianflux/parrot-travel-pod-the-ultimate-parrot-carrier

- Fairly good idea as long as you are not in an area with a healthy population of Hawks or like birds. The large clear rear cover (180 degree viewing) could be like walking around with a Hawk Target on one's back.
- Some kind of covering should be available to provide the smaller Parrot a place to get out of the Sun!
- Clearly not for mid to large Parrots. Our DYH Amazon would clearly not fit, nor would any of the smaller Amazons.
- Cleaning without a full disassembly would be a project.
- Nice idea, but not a big fan of walking around with a Hawk Target on my back.

Erm, I'm not sure why this is a kickstarter because this is actually THE GO-TO backpack for parrot owners in Asia. Like, all through East and Southeast Asia. I'd honestly be surprised if they're designing/manufacturing this from scratch because this is so easily found online. I'd wager that Amazon already sells this type of backpack.

I'd say don't waste your money on a middleman, and just buy it direct yourself if you want it.


That being said, even locally, people worry about the breathability in the heat. It basically becomes a little cooker even with all the air vents. The plastic heats up quite quickly in the sun. It's ok for quick in-and-out situations, house to car, car to vet. But if you want to trek around with your bird, this is not recommended at all. You'll just cook your bird.



Edit:
Noticed you're in the US. Here's it for 37 USD on Amazon. Don't pay double for a kickstarter that's just a rip off.

Even if they made a larger size, I would pass and stick with my Pak-O-Bird bird backpack. First issue I see is with heat retention. Think of how fast a car heats up, even with a window slightly cracked, which is essentially the design of that with this tiny air holes and squares of mesh. Since parrots generally only come out in warmer weather anyways, makes it doubly dangerous. I like the mesh sided carriers that allow good airflow. No roll down shades on that either like POB.

Next thing I don’t like is there is no room for food or water dishes for longer trips. We often go on 8+ hour day trips with our bird and occasionally overnight. Food and water dish options are a must in a travel carrier for us. The toy hanger is useless, our backpack has one too and all a toy does in a moving confined space is hit your bird in the head. Also not sure if that carrier could be buckled into the seat of a car easily or even sit upright steadily in a seat on public transit or in your lap or in a shopping cart (all 3 my bird goes in).And maybe just a personal thing, but I think after a couple seasons of use, that plexiglass would be scratched up so badly the bird may not have a clear view out anymore. I’m not sure how much that would bother my bird, but it would definitely bother me!

Even though it is admittedly a lot more aesthetically pleasing than our backpack carrier, I don’t think it would be as safe or convenient and doesn’t have as many features. I’d suggest you look into Pak-O-Birds instead. This is our 5th year of using ours, it’s still in great shape and was extremely well thought out for people who want to take their bird places easily. Not as pretty as a clear one, but more functional for sure.

As charmedbyekkie said, it's an unsafe backpack. I went on Kickstarter and could not fine a way to contact the "Trust and Security" team but did contact the "Creator" (and I use that term loosely). Here is his response:

"While there are similar products, for ours we borrowed the design but use safer materials and different parts as well as some changes to the design."

I would stay far away from this.

SailBoat said:

- Fairly good idea as long as you are not in an area with a healthy population of Hawks or like birds. The large clear rear cover (180 degree viewing) could be like walking around with a Hawk Target on one's back.
- Some kind of covering should be available to provide the smaller Parrot a place to get out of the Sun!
- Clearly not for mid to large Parrots. Our DYH Amazon would clearly not fit, nor would any of the smaller Amazons.
- Cleaning without a full disassembly would be a project.
- Nice idea, but not a big fan of walking around with a Hawk Target on my back.

Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing as this would be for smaller parrots and hawk will swoop down and now you have to fight a hawk off. Plus seen this on Amazon before? Then heat would be a issue during summer time. Mesh would be better for airflow. Winter months you won't want to bring a smaller parrot outside as they can get sick to rapid change. Plus my cockatiels would destroy that depending on fabric used as they can chew through wood no problem.

Like others stated, they are likely just buying the cheaper one direct from china at a discount and selling at a higher price, I doubt they revised anything on the design and materials they used. Could be a scam as well? I would stay away from this one. More likely a easy way for them to pocket 10k and disappear, or almost double money.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pet-Parrot...hash=item3fc83e3c9b:m:mt67KFQSLRck1ao9FGx4Lmg

https://www.amazon.com/Hardli-Trans...bird+backpack&qid=1565147295&s=gateway&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/Yeahii-Trans...ird+backpack&qid=1565147328&s=gateway&sr=8-14

I didn't know wild hawks actually got close enough to people, outside of breeding season, for potential prey... Good to know.

Would a backpack like Pak-O-Bird or any of Amazon's cheaper Pak-O-Bird like options present the issue of a hawk seeing a pet bird and try to catch it as well? Does anyone have an explanation as to why this type of backpack presents more danger?

As for people who walk their birds on leashes and harness, do hawks and other birds of prey actually try to take pet birds straight from our shoulders and arms?

Sorry if these questions seem dumb or anything. I looked up "hawk attacks pet bird" and saw Animal Planet's Untamed and Uncut video f a zoo hawk divebombing a zoo cockatoo. Amazing how quick that lady reacted and protected the cockatoo.

CallumConure said:

I didn't know wild hawks actually got close enough to people, outside of breeding season, for potential prey... Good to know.

Would a backpack like Pak-O-Bird or any of Amazon's cheaper Pak-O-Bird like options present the issue of a hawk seeing a pet bird and try to catch it as well? Does anyone have an explanation as to why this type of backpack presents more danger?

As for people who walk their birds on leashes and harness, do hawks and other birds of prey actually try to take pet birds straight from our shoulders and arms?

Sorry if these questions seem dumb or anything. I looked up "hawk attacks pet bird" and saw Animal Planet's Untamed and Uncut video f a zoo hawk divebombing a zoo cockatoo. Amazing how quick that lady reacted and protected the cockatoo.

Click to expand...

It can sometimes depend on the area and whether or not the hawks there feel threatened by humans. I live at a lake where we can’t shoot the wildlife (it is not technically a residential area so LEGALLY you can shoot some species if you have a hunting license, but since there are so many people in the area, it is not safe to). The hawks, deer, raccoons, and cougars will walk right up to people because they are fed by those of us who didn’t grow up in the country and don’t realize that deer bring ticks and hawks, cougars, and raccoons will all happily kill your chihuahua. It is no fun to try and keep one off your pets. However, the risk will double if it looks like you’re not watching the pet bird since, despite the fact that they aren’t really scared of humans, hawks are at least wary of getting shot will a pellet gun. When it is on your back and not in your hand with you paying attention to it, it seems like better prey, just like when your small dog is away from you and not in your lap. At least that is how it is around here–I can’t vouch for anywhere but Texas!

ParrontMitch said:

It can sometimes depend on the area and whether or not the hawks there feel threatened by humans. I live at a lake where we can’t shoot the wildlife (it is not technically a residential area so LEGALLY you can shoot some species if you have a hunting license, but since there are so many people in the area, it is not safe to). The hawks, deer, raccoons, and cougars will walk right up to people because they are fed by those of us who didn’t grow up in the country and don’t realize that deer bring ticks and hawks, cougars, and raccoons will all happily kill your chihuahua. It is no fun to try and keep one off your pets. However, the risk will double if it looks like you’re not watching the pet bird since, despite the fact that they aren’t really scared of humans, hawks are at least wary of getting shot will a pellet gun. When it is on your back and not in your hand with you paying attention to it, it seems like better prey, just like when your small dog is away from you and not in your lap. At least that is how it is around here–I can’t vouch for anywhere but Texas!

Click to expand...

I live in Minnesota, so I can understand the thing with ticks, my goodness... I usually dislike people who feed wildlife anyways, since it can create an unhealthy relationship between people and wild animals. Very interesting to know about hawks, though! I knew cougars relied on whether or not we saw them, but I didn't think the same for hawks! Thanks!