Familiarity with travel cage question

I have a blue Crown Conure and as I type this Pampa is alone in my spare bedroom in a sleep cage for the 1st time. I miss her being in her big cage beside me as I quietly read before starting the day.

So this is what I am thinking about. I have this okay sized cage that could be used as a travel cage so I want to familiarze Pampa to it by using it as a sleep cage. Is this necessary or even a good idea?

The real issue I am trying to address is what to do with Pampa when I leave town. Home alone with someone coming in twice a day, or taking her to a home in this smaller cage where she will get more stimulation. I personally think taking her to a friends house will be less stressful for me but what about Pampa? I am curious what others think and what your experience has been.

And then how necessary is it to have her familiar with the travel cage in advance? If familiarizing her how to do it? I am talking myself out of the sleep cage idea because it messes up what has been a perfectly functional routine that works well for both bird and human. Maybe a day a week in the other cage with fabulous toys and treats.

Thanks for your input. what to do when you leave town is one of the most difficult things about having a parrot.

When you say you miss her being beside you, do you mean in her covered cage?
Birds need 10-14 hours of dark and uninterrupted sleep.
Also, sleeping with a bird in your room is not the best idea for health reasons.


I think I am misunderstanding the nuances of this question.
How many cages does she currently use as a part of her daily routine?

Noodles this is the first post I have made for many many months because I always feel criticized.
You did not address one of my questions, you just made assumptions that I am uninformed and stupid.
So before I leave this forum I will address your lofty concerns.
I never said my bird was in the room I sleep in. In fact I specifically said she was in a spare bedroom
My bird has a large cage in my living room. I am one human quietly watching tv until around 9 - 9:30 at night. My conure goes to her cage around 7-7:30 and is coveredby 8 pm and uncovered around 7 am.
This is basically the only cage. I do have a reasonable good sized cage outside for sunny warm days. In dappled sunlight in case that worries you too. She has one of those backpacks for walks with me and the dogs. She has two play areas. One of those foraging trees and a smaller one that can be wheeled room to room. Shall I go on. Do you want to check up on her diet? Shall I take a photograph of her cage so you all can tell me what is wrong with that? I know you will say you are just being helpful while not addressing what the original post was about and assuming I am stupid. And maybe you are right because I can figure this out myself, it’s a minor issue and for the big issues I will get advice from articles written by professionals.
Sincerely thank you to all of the great and helpful people on the forum. Sadly you are out numbered by the critics.
Good bye

Pampa said:

Noodles this is the first post I have made for many many months because I always feel criticized. You did not address one one of my questions just made assumptions that I am uninformed and stupid. So before again leaving the forum I will address your lofty concerns. I never said my bird was in the room I sleep in. I also have bird safe air purifiers in my living room. My bird has a large cage in my living room. I am one human quietly watching tv until around 9 - 9:30 at night. My conure goes to her cage around 7-7:30 and is coveredby 8 pm and uncovered around 7 am.
This is basically the only cage. I do have a reasonable good sized cage outside for sunny warm days. In dappled sunlight in case that worries you too. She has one of those backpacks for walks with me and the dogs. She has two play areas. One of those foraging tres and a smaller one that can be wheeled room to room. Shall I go on. Do you want to check up on her diet? Shall I take a photograph of her cage so you all can tell me what is wrong with that too?
Good bye
Good bye forum. The

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I have no idea how my questions made you feel stupid (that was not even remotely my intention)...I even said that I thought I was misunderstanding the question. I am sorry that I made you feel that way, but I think you are adding intonation and intention to my post when there was none there (aside from my desire to give you a proper response). I don't think you are stupid, nor was I expecting this response.

Here's what I have gathered: I know that you want to familiarize her with the travel cage, and I think that is smart.

What confuses me is the fact that you mentioned missing her being beside you and if she is sleeping, it will be harder for her to do this if you are watching TV etc (are you wanting to change her sleeping location from wherever she is currently sleeping? Are you just wanting to use a smaller cage in the same location?---I legitimately don't think I understand your intentions because I don't have enough background information). I can't give you an informed answer if I don't have a better understanding of how things are currently and what it is that you want to change, which is why I asked the questions...

In hindsight I used too many words. I think I was working it out as I typed. The real question is:
When going on vacation leaving parrot home with someone coming in twice a day to feed and clean
or
Take parrot in a smaller table top cage to live at someone’s house.

The question was never cover or not cover the cage? Is it healthy to sleep with bird in room or how many hours sleep at night.

Hi, don't give up on us. We never know the knowledge level of posters, or if we have all the information needed to answer a question. It's always harder as posts than a conversation where body language and tone help guide us.

I think it's always a good idea to familiarize a bird with a travel cage. And to do that periodically so when you need to use it for an emergency, the bird is less stressed.

As far as in home, or at a friend's house for pet sitting, that's a hard call. Both have benefits. At your home you know everything is pet safe, no air freshener, no Teflon being used, and the burd is in it's in environment. At someone else's home, if the above are addressed, they do have company. My past GCC Burt the Bird, would not eat alone. My first trip away for a week she lost a lot of weight! So I hired an in home friend to pet sit her at my house. It cost me more money but I ft it was the best for me. I hope that helps.

I also have used a pretty small cage when taking my birds with me on travels to family's home. They did fine.

I also don't use a sleep cage, just personal choice on that one. I cover the cages, dim the lights and listen to tv at a low volume. Seems to work for me.

I was confused about your question because I thought you had 2 main cages; 3 total (one for sleep in the spare room and one main cage elsewhere, plus a 3rd travel cage).

I didn't know if you were wanting to get rid of the sleep cage and use the travel cage instead or something else related to moving one cage into the room with you or into your bedroom at night (again, I was confused).

If the place you are going to travel is safe for birds, then there is no reason not to bring them as long as it doesn't cause them a lot of stress. Keep in mind that it can be awkward to tell someone that you are visiting what cleaners they can/can't use, and that they cannot use any Teflon/PTFE/PFOA... I only ever bring my bird to my parents' house, as I am comfortable making these requests of them. If it were a friend or relative (besides them), I would be scared to bring my birds because it would feel like an imposition to make a bunch of demands as a guest (even if it is for my bird's safety). In a hotel or something, it is almost impossible to know what they are using to clean etc, so I haven't done that. You have to consider the risks vs the benefits and decide if it is worth it. Leaving your bird with a sitter will also cause some stress due to separation from you. If you can get a sitter that your birds know/like to come to your house, that would be safer than taking them in many cases, but again, then they are without you. Boarding birds comes with a whole host of risks, so I always avoid it. If you end up bringing your bird to a friend's house, then you will still have to have the awkward PTFE/PFOA/Teflon chat (along with all of the other "no-nos" while sharing space with a bird).

My bird seems to enjoy traveling overall now that she is used to her cage (it still stresses me out though, because she doesn't travel light lol). I can't use mine as a sleep cage, as my bird is too large for that. I have to have a 2nd cage at the location to which I am traveling because she can't stay in her travel cage or sleep in it.

To get mine used to her cage, I set it next to her main cage and allowed her to see it for a few weeks. Then I put some treats on it etc in hopes that she would investigate. I never got to take this full-circle though because I ended up having to take her to the vet in an emergency situation, which meant forcing her into the cage. Either way, she has gotten WAY better about going in willingly. It used to be a giant ordeal with her flying around and risking injury.
Now that she has had some positive experiences with it, she is much more willing (although still tends to cling to her perch before transfer when she sees it out).

If you can warm your bird up to it slowly and then take some short trips to places (coupled with lots of treats etc), that should work. Just make sure you don't have any air fresheners in your car and that you plan for weather appropriately. You also might want to look into figuring out how you want to strap the cage into the back seat, as birds may try to chew on belts unless positioned in such a way that they cannot.

I am not sure what I think about using it as a sleep cage because I haven't ever had that option---it could possibly confuse the bird, but I honestly don't know.

pampa- sorry you feel critised al lot, but maybe you have what we call overhere "long toes" (= reacting overly sensitive, you feel like people step on your toes when they are still a good way away from it).

We are not here to piss you (or anyone else) off but your first post was extremely vague (and since I am the master of 'what the ### is she talking about', that is almost a compliment )

I see you are struggling with the decission to take the bird with you or leave it in your home.
That is obvious and we all understand how difficult that is.

A sleepcage and a travel cage can be the same thing.
So there is no problem.

The real question is: what about the destination?
Will you bird be able to be as free and safe in that house as she/he is in yours?

This time it really is about the destination, not the journey.
(I cannot take my parrots with me when I visit my mother because she does not want them loose in the house - for various reasons- but for me only one thing matters: they would have to remain in the carrier all the time if I did decide to bring them... not good! They would be in there for at least 9 hours straight, if I kept the visit very short. So they stay at home with the TV, radio and birdsitters. )

Pampa, thanks for posting this question. I also wanted to let you know that at times I sort of don't appreciate the replies but I tell myself that these people are not getting paid. I always try to tell myself that their hearts are in the right place.

I will also tell you that we can get contradictory advice. In one of my previous posts on a very similar topic in the cockatiel forum this is what they wrote. "Always cover the sleep cage so they know it’s bed time. And with the travel cage do not use the same cage or else they’ll get confused." I think we sort of weigh the various replies and go with our guts. I am thinking that a sleep cage and a travel cage can be the same thing.

I am still working out how to use this forum. I don't know how to use the quote feature and have not figured out how to upload photos.

I have toubles useing some functions too
A very easy way to upload a picture is hit the go advanced button under the text box. Then hit the paperclip and upload from phone or computer. It will post as a small thumbnail but can be clicked to enlarge. You are only able to use this functions a few times though. Under your name you can also create an album. Then when pictures are in album you click the second little text line under the photos and hit copy, then go paste it in your post. Or you can use a photo hosting site ( I don't know how to do that);

I understood the first post immediately! I also had this dilemma because I had to work in in a city almost four hours drive from where I live. My golden conure was at that point five months old and I had purchased a fold up/down travel cage but had not used it and wasn't sure if I should take my bird to a strange house in a strange cage. I also wasn't sure if my friends, of whom I was staying with for three days would appreciate the fact that I was going to bring a bird into their home. The first thing I did was decide to call my friends and see if it was okay to bring the bird. They were the ones who encouraged me to bring the bird with me! So, I did it! I learned so much about traveling in a car with a bird! I learned that day driving with his cage strapped in with seat belts in the back seat was very comfortable. It made me less distracted and he was very comfortable with his food bowls and his water bowls and a few new toys. We made only one stop in four hours without any problems with the exception that night driving made him frightened. So, I learned to cover him for that. I never introduced him to his travel cage, I simply put him in and assumed he would just deal with it. My friends loved the fact that I brought him to their home. They have no pets. They loved his squawking and were so happy to have him hang from their clothes as we all talked and ate every night after work. I took him to my place of employment everyday and he was a delight to have with me while I was away from home. I was nervous about the whole idea but I thought I would just try it and for me and my bird it worked. I have also left him with my house keeper for the first time this past week! I was concerned when I got home that he would be upset or not fed properly or hate me when I walked in but he was just fine. I think that many times on this site and other sites about pets when people are doing all the right things but just want to have an opinion by ones experience about some self doubt they may have, others responding can without intention, be very cautious about giving advice. It can come across to the persons question to be pedantic or make one feel foolish for asking. I don't think that is the intention of anyone here but rather to take into account all the factors and to be as thorough as possible to answer the posted question. I have kept birds for over fifty years and I know that I have made many mistakes and I have done things my own way regardless of the advice because I trusted my instinct. Do what you think is best and use your instinct because it sounds like your bird is beautifully taken care of at home and I am sure if you decide to take it on the road you will be equally as wonderful as a bird owner and do the right thing. Hope I have helped to explain my experience. Good luck.

Pampa said:

I have a blue Crown Conure and as I type this Pampa is alone in my spare bedroom in a sleep cage for the 1st time. I miss her being in her big cage beside me as I quietly read before starting the day.

So this is what I am thinking about. I have this okay sized cage that could be used as a travel cage so I want to familiarze Pampa to it by using it as a sleep cage. Is this necessary or even a good idea?

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Actually this is a good idea as she get use to the sleep cage this way. Your on the right track.

Pampa said:

The real issue I am trying to address is what to do with Pampa when I leave town. Home alone with someone coming in twice a day, or taking her to a home in this smaller cage where she will get more stimulation. I personally think taking her to a friends house will be less stressful for me but what about Pampa? I am curious what others think and what your experience has been.

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It better to take the bird with you in the smaller cage where she will get more stimulation. So long cage is not to small and she can stretch, birds get bored easy. She get use to it and will be less stressful in time. I have my Umbrella go with me everywhere pretty much and at first she was stress out going for car rides, but now she rides on my shoulder in the summer time, during winter she goes in carrier and enjoys being out and even talk to other people and do take her out of town at times as well. I know another guy that his female cockatoo named Angel that pretty much has her own passport. That bird literally goes everywhere with him and she is pretty happy overall and no health issues.

Hello, I want to thank everyone for your replies. Your input has been helpful.
Boki great advice, thank you.

For clarity the potential travel cage and sleep cage were one and the same. I guess the confusion was that I was calling the cage to use when you get to your destination as the travel cage. Pampa has one of those back pack cage things that I use in the car. Sorry that I didn’t explain that correctly. Meanwhile I have decided not to have a separate sleep cage. Both Pampa and I hated it that one night, I am sure we would adjust, but leaving her in her regular cage covered works so why change it. What to do when I go out of town I guess I’ll figure out when the time comes.