Traveling with Newly Adopted Cockatoo

We will be picking up our newly adopted Cockatoo in a few weeks, but it is a 5 hour car ride.

The current owner has had her in a cat carrier for veterinary appointments, but we also have a carry cage with a perch. I worry about taking a bird who is being rehomed on a 5 hour car ride.

Has anyone traveled with a new bird for that long and how did you help to keep the trip as low stress as possible?

Would it be better to use a quiet dark environment like a cat/dog carrier or something like a cage that they can have a perch and look outside?

Any advice would be appreciated.

I was so worried when we went to see/buy our BFA from his previous owner because they were about 3 hours drive and the night before it snowed making it a 4+ hour drive. Despite my concern about his comfort on the ride home, he was unconcerned and in fact appeared to enjoy being in the car. We played the radio and talked to him during the trip. To respect his space and keep all our fingers attached to our bodies (he wasn’t exactly friendly when new to us), we put him in the back seat instead of in my lap. He turned out to be huge on going out with us and loves riding in the car. Not sure if that was something a different prior owner did with him or he was just so happy to be out of his prior home he made a positive association but I got super worried about nothing.

We brought him home in a small cage he could see it of. Unless the bird has a history of motion sickness or being extremely fearful of car rides, I strongly suggest a cage to a carrier so they can see what’s happening. Best of luck.

P.S. We also drove over 1100 miles with him in a Uhaul once, after about 5 years of owning him. He was THRILLED to spend 3 days in the car with us and that time we did set his cage in our laps.

Our Amazon is a rider! Loves to ride and is happy to ride hours after hours. That said, he has a strong dislike for trips to the Avian Vets Client. Everything is wonderful right up to the slow-down and turn into their driveway!

Rider or hider? If the current owners have only been back and forth to the Avian Vet and the Cockatoo makes those trips without the need to be covered, you likely have a rider and will be happy being able to see what is happening around s/he. If they need to cover the carrier, it is possible you have a hider and will need to start-out with the carrier covered. If you have a hider, take great care to assure that your Parrot has excellent air flow around the carrier and the Sun does not beat down on your parrot causing s/he to become over-heated.
NOTE: It is always worth checking to see what you have regardless of what you have been told!

NEVER use a carrier or other cage to only take your Parrot to the Avian Vet. They will associate the carrier or cage with a Vet visit and you will likely be faced with a Parrot that refuses to get into it!!!
ALWAYS, car ride your Parrot to reduce the stress of only going to the Vet!

Sadly, our Amazon is a bad example as he was a mechanic in his past life and if placed in a cage or carrier will disassemble it within minutes. So, as a bad example, he is not only a rider, he is a watcher. And, yes shame on me, but at some point stopping and putting everything back together just slows down and extends the travel time.


NOTE: As stated above, never start with the Parrot out of the cage!!!

We got our Quaker, Jade, from someone three hours away. She was only our second bird and we didn't know what the heck we were doing, and brought her home in a cat-carrier type of thing. She was not pleased, but it got dark on the way and she went to sleep so she missed some of the ride. She woke right up when we got home and assembled her cage (which the people sent home with us) and she was rarin' to go again, so I guess she forgave us. If you have something so the bird can look out the window, I think it's better.

Thank you everyone. I appreciate the advice.

We do have a carry cage big enough for her to be in and move around tad bit and be able to see during the trip, but being she will be mostly unfamiliar with us I wanted to see what other's thought.

I appreciate all the responses.

Keep the bird in whatever it is used to travelling in. Put fruit in the cage if you can--- apples, pears, carrots etc have lots of water in them (find out what fruit/veg the bird eats). Keep bird away from draft of AC etc. I wouldn't let the bird out in the car because it is going to be very stressed as it is and that could just make it worse--- plus, they aren't very stable without a perch.

You will want to put the bird in the back seat next to a person (if possible---just because airbags are dangerous and someone needs to be able to watch the bird). Ideally, you should try to think of a way to strap in the carrier if you can. Maybe bring something like bungees but make sure she can't chew them from in there.

I usually bring a cheap thermometer so that I can make sure the temperature in the car isn't too hot or cold...It is sometimes hard to tell when the vents are blowing on you but not the bird. Also, make sure you have a blanket to cover the bird with when transferring from house to car and car to house (a large box works in very cold weather). Abrupt temp changes are another stress on their systems because they can't adjust as quickly as mammals when things change too quickly. As a rule, 10 degree+ shifts in temperature should be avoided.

I travel with my cockatoo a lot (9 hours= longest trip) and it is stressful at times---you might want to bring along some qwik stop (can be dangerous if ingested), corn starch or silver nitrate swabs (to stop bleeding) ...maybe a pliers and a towel etc JUSSSST in case she breaks a blood feather from flapping-- in case of emergency--if that were to happen and you could stop the bleeding, I would have a vet pull it BUT, just in case you couldn't, you might need to pull it... (mine hasn't ever broken one in the carrier, but she did flap in there sometimes when she was new to travel, so it will just depend on the stress). If you can get a cage that is big enough for flapping, that would be great because then hopefully her wings wouldn't hit the sides (but if she has traveled in the carrier she has then it's a tough call because any change (including new people/car etc) is going to be stressful. See how she reacts to music if you want-- ask the current owner if the bird prefers a certain genre (you could try playing that and see if she seems to calm down or escalate).

Take turns peeing if you have to stop (one of you wait in the car with the bird while the other goes inside etc). Do not bring the bird inside of places where they use Teflon/PTFE/PFOA...like any restaurant or gas-station...I would try to disrupt things as little as possible.

Mine uses the same travel cage for everything, but it is smart to have 2. I tell mine honestly where we are going each time and she has learned (doctor vs. grandma's vs. home)..

Mine doesn't like looking out the windows and she gets stressed when she does.

ALSO--- I would plan the trip so that you aren't driving in the dark. I LEARNED THAT THE HARD WAY....Mornings and afternoons...dusk and dark are bad (screaming etc).

NO AIR FRESHENERS IN THE CAR AND NO PERFUME/scented stuff! My vet literally told me to return a rental car that had been professionally "freshened" before a long trip w/Noodles because it wouldn't have been safe. She said to exchange it for a car that had sat on the lot (uncleaned lol).

Final thought- ask the current owner what time she goes to bed and what time she wakes up. Find out what this looks like and if she shows any signs that she is ready for bed. I would try to keep that routine as consistent as possible, remembering that cockatoos specifically need 12-14 hours of quiet, dark sleep each night. Cozzzy Covers makes a great cover for cockatoo-sized cages (if you want a cover for when you get her home). http://www.cozzzybird.com/ --I got mine on Amazon.

Have you traveled with a bird before?

Lots of good advice above.

I would also give the bird a course of avian probiotics after you get home. I use Benebac Plus. It can help with the stress.

Thinking back on it now,all of my birdies were/are riders! Amy LOVES the car. I started out taking him places when he was very young (about four months old)
He rode in my Big Rig a few times and now with weather permitting,he goes where I go,and he DEMANDS to sit on my shoulder while we go about our business
When I take him to see his doc,I do put him in one of those blue plastic kitty carriers with the bars/door. I think Amy thinks he's in prison and chews the bars to get out.
Jonesy (Goffin 'too) rode a few times in the carrier during his time with me and he seemed to enjoy going for rides in it.
BB has only been in it a few times.The first time he was NOT happybut has since calmed down.
The longest ride (besides in the big truck) that Amy took was the 2.5hr ride to and back,from Al's (Wrench13) and Amy was in the carrier for all of ten minutes lol. I really don't think you'll have an issue with your new 'too!


Jim

AmyMyBlueFront said:

Thinking back on it now,all of my birdies were/are riders! Amy LOVES the car. I started out taking him places when he was very young (about four months old)
He rode in my Big Rig a few times and now with weather permitting,he goes where I go,and he DEMANDS to sit on my shoulder while we go about our business
When I take him to see his doc,I do put him in one of those blue plastic kitty carriers with the bars/door. I think Amy thinks he's in prison and chews the bars to get out.
Jonesy (Goffin 'too) rode a few times in the carrier during his time with me and he seemed to enjoy going for rides in it.
BB has only been in it a few times.The first time he was NOT happybut has since calmed down.
The longest ride (besides in the big truck) that Amy took was the 2.5hr ride to and back,from Al's (Wrench13) and Amy was in the carrier for all of ten minutes lol. I really don't think you'll have an issue with your new 'too!


Jim

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Keep in mind, OP is adopting an adolescent bird who doesn't know him/her (4 years= young, but not really a baby). I am guessing Amy and you had bonded some before you started acclimating her (very early on in her life) to trips. Baby birds are more relaxed about new things and people in general. I wouldn't assume that this will be a low-stress event for a 4-year old Too. I am also not saying it will be terrible (but they should have a plan for all possible reactions, be it --full-on freak-out or totally chill bird)....... When I went to get mine as an adult re-home, it was definitely scary for her. She recovered (and we have a great relationship now), but she was very frazzled and terrified of everything at first---it was just a lot of unfamiliar stuff happening all at once. Again, we made it and she was fine, but she did get an infection shortly afterwards due to the stress of the trip , transition, new home etc...and the adjustment period took many months. She travels in the car and steps up (now,easily), but she isn't super fond of trips to this day....She trusts me a TON....so, don't get me wrong things in the car are 100% better than the first few trips we took, but initially, travel still makes her a little nervous at times (and we have done many 5 hour trips--max:9).

Bianca has been on countless 6 hour long road trips and has always liked to look outside through her dog crate travel carrier.

I was able to ease her into travelling by making shorter trips to the park in the beginning, which isn’t going to be an option for you but you should be fine giving your new bird a roomy travel carry with water, food and chew toys.

She might freak out in the beginning but after a while she will maybe bathe, play, preen herself, nibble on food and generally entertain herself.

One thing I can suggest is to install a rope perch in her dog crate travel carrier instead of a wooden one. When the car is in motion it is harder for a bird to keep the balance on a slippery wooden perch, and I found that installing a rope perch made Bianca a lot happier. She didn’t have to hang on to the metal bars in order to feel stable anymore.

I hope the trip runs smoothly!


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Another suggestion would be to let your bird stretch their legs and poop sometime during the trip, but if she’s fully flighted that might be a problem.
Bianca can’t fly and won’t poop in the travel carrier so we either let her out in the trunk and she poops outside the car, or we let her climb on top of her cage, where there’s a second wooden perch installed, so that she can poop from up there.


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This is the carrier that we use. Rope perch installed inside and wooden perch on the top. Plus water/food bowls, hanging yucca chew toys and a towel on the bottom surface for extra stability. Bianca has grown to love this carrier. We keep it in her aviary because she’s attached to it and will go in there to nap sometimes.

https://www.petsmart.com/dog/crates...p-paw-double-door-wire-dog-crate-5153977.html


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This bird is TOTALLY new to the OP.
I wouldn't suggest letting her out at all during he trip. I know that you guys all have birds who travel well (so do I), but imagine travelling with your bird on day one (before he/she trusted you at all)...If the bird is scared and they let her out, that could be very stressful for all parties.
If your bird has a perch in the cage and isn't pooping, you can try parking the car for a minute or so and turning off the engine to see if that works, but otherwise, I would say that you need to keep driving...

I know it has been a while since I responded, we have had a ton going on here the last few weeks, but I wanted to thank everyone for their replies.

We made it home safely with our new family member "baby". She has only been here 2 days but she is the most quiet and friendly cockatoo I have ever been around.

Thank you everyone for the advice for the trip it was quite helpful. For the future I will get one of the ones in the link posted above.

When I took Callum home, he wanted to sit on my finger and look out the window. I got a lot of funny looks from people passing by because I had this little GCC on my finger, watching everything.
Callum was also immediately a cuddler and just wanted out and to see the world.

Jolene7136 said:

Thank you everyone. I appreciate the advice.

We do have a carry cage big enough for her to be in and move around tad bit and be able to see during the trip, but being she will be mostly unfamiliar with us I wanted to see what other's thought.

I appreciate all the responses.

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Jolene, I had a chat with my breeder the other day in reference to shipping Baby Zoey to me via Delta. and still I'm not sure if I will let her ship, or fly up and carry her back (Comfort Pet lol)

She told me this story, and it relates to you, so I'll relay the story. The story goes, She was rehoming an adult Moluccan Cockatoo. She had the Cockatoo in a pet approved airline cat/dog carrier. On the way to the airport, paying attention to traffic, and not the bird, just before arriving at the airport, the Moluccan was perched in her lap LMBO!! The adult Moluccan chewed it's way through the plastic container in a matter of minutes, not hours. Needless to say, The Moluccan missed it's flight. The breeder said (She was speaking from experience) babies are more concerned with curiosity, new sounds etc.... The adults want to see what's going on. The breeder said she had to place the Moluccan in a metal box, which it couldn't chew out of. She assured me that the baby cockatoo would be fine, but an adult is a different story. I thought I'd share that with you, as I took it as a person with a lot of experience shipping birds, from Macaws, to parakeets. Hopefully this will help you make an informed decision. Hope this helps....