Road Trip from Breeder's Place to Our Home

So, our breeder is based out of Miami, FL, and my wife and I reside in Orlando. It's about a 3-hour + drive that we chose to make rather than having our bird shipped.

This is where I confess my ignorance: What the neck should we bring him/her home in?

I've seen bird carriers in stores, but they're asinine sorts of expensive. I've seen other pictures of small dog carriers with pillows in the bottom and a makeshift perch inserted. Would that be ok?

Or should the bird not even be in a carrier? Should we just hold him/her the whole time?

I want to make the trip home as painless as a 3 hour drive can be. Any advice for a new fid owner?

We have made several road trips to pick up birds...

The longest was a 5 hour each way to VA, we did that down and back in same day. We took along a regular small dog / cat carrier, knowing that we would let him out if he wanted. He spent most of the 5 hour drive nestled in Victoria's hair or sleeping in her hoodie. With being a baby, we did not take a bird travel type cage with a perch, with the logic, he'd be more stable in a moving vehicle if flat on his feet if he needed to be in a carrier.

We drove probably 3 hours or so to pick up Monkey as well and she did the same. Soon as we were in the car (husband's work vehicle, Toyota Sienna minivan at the time), Monkey came out and hung out with Victoria the entire drive home.

I have photos of Monster's trip home... Victoria asleep on the backseat and Monster perched on her butt.

On the other hand, Ivory came home in a soft sided bird carrier and she was flipping out the entire trip, by the time we made the hour or so drive home, she had shredded part of the inside of the brand new carrier, so I'd skip a soft carrier, just my opinion.

Folger came home in a bird carrier with a perch... but come on people, like I was gonna let that face eating demon loose in the car when I was driving.... but he would probably be fine if he was driving with just Victoria. We joked I'd run off the road and have to explain to police that the bird was trying to eat me...

But, what you do depends entirely on how your bird reacts to you. Some birds happily make a trip and enjoy the car ride, others may be too terrified to come out.

I'd still consider going with a plastic / hard sided type animal carrier. Just think the standing on their feet is more stable for a baby in a moving vehicle.

This is the carrier we use when we take our birds to and from the vet. We got it for the drive home from the breeders, but Fiji spent the whole 3 hour trip riding on our shoulders, looking out the window. Sundance was still too little, and spent the whole trip with his head under his wing, snuggled up in a towel in the carrier.
Petco Small Bird Carrier at PETCO

I use a dog carrier that we installed a perch in. We drove in a blizzard to get Ekko and the trip ended up being something like 14 hours. He was fine in there for that time

We just made a 2 1/2 hour drive home with our baby a little over a week ago. We happened to have a small cage that had previously been used for a budgie. I placed a towel in the bottom of it because I was worried that she would fall, but she didn't. She stayed perched the entire time and seemed perfectly content. We also made sure the cage was buckled in.

I would not personally go with a dog/cat carrier, even if it was cheaper. It's a one time investment, and you will be able to use it for any subsequent emergencies, moves or traveling for the rest of the birds life. In a carrier, the poor bird has to be crouched in an unnatural position for hours, and most have no where for the bird to hold on if you hit the breaks or make a sharp turn. Plus, I think its a lot more frightening for them when they cannot see whats going on around them. Kind of like if you got to ride in the trunk of a car- uncomfortable and frightening with no security to hold on. I am much more in preference of a travel cage. That way, they can stand upright, see what's happening, and if they need, they can grab the bars with their foot or beak to stabilize themselves.

For a conure, you can probably just get one of those $20/30 budgie cages, add a bigger perch and be good to go. So long as the bird can stand and not have the top of it's head or tail hit the bars, it's big enough as a travel cage. It's not as though the bird will live in there. We got Kiwi's travel cage at a thrift shop for $5 and I scrubbed it up really good and we've used it ever since. His is 14x14x20, so *just* large enough to fit a zon comfortably. You wouldn't even need that big for a conure. Kiwi made his initial 4 hour ride home in that cage, as well as a subsequent cross country move that was 3 12hour days of straight driving, and it served its purpose well. Not to mention it's fine for short trips too. Something like this, with a bigger perch (like a rope perch) would be suitable for a conure size bird as a travel cage and is no more expensive than a dog crate- New SuperPet Bird Cage Treat Play Learn Cage Parakeet Love Bird 045125801293 | eBay

Skip the uncomfortable pet carrier, invest in a travelling cage. You will need it sooner or later. If your conure is too young to perch in a moving vehicle, remove the perch, and put in a towel at the bottom. This how my Lily travel/camping with us:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Hendryx-Portable-Foldable-Storage/dp/B00J9SL7RY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1396306887&sr=8-5&keywords=foldable+bird+cage"]Amazon.com: Prevue Hendryx White Travel Portable Foldable Easy Storage Bird Cage: Pet Supplies[/ame]


I think I paid $40 shipped for mine not too long ago. We have a sedan. The cage fit nicely in the back seat between my 2 toddlers carseat/booster.

I got my travel cage at Petco for $29. Works great !

http://m.petco.com/product/115330/Petco-Small-Bird-Carrier.aspx