Vacations and birds.

So I just got my baby bird a black capped conure. I love him so much already it's only been 5 days since I got him. We have breakfast together every morning we cuddle every night. And play during the day when we can.

Summer is here my kid is out of school. I have a vacation in July my husband will watch the bird then. But what about when we go on family trips. What do with your bird when you go places?

There is a bird sitter in town. We often take out dogs and I would love to take myour bird places. He is very brave and loves new places so it could be good for him.

Yes why not, I have taken Plum on short breaks. Just take the time to acclimatise to being in the car/travel cage/holiday cage etc a little before so not so scary. The first thing you do when getting in a car (UK) is put your seat belt on, how would you secure his travel cage? BTW we also have a back pack to take him out with us which is easier than a travel cage for walking about etc.

I try to take birds out of the house every week. Lots of bird friendly places and restaurants with outdoor seating.

If you have a good carrier or travel cage then there is no rule against taking your friend with you. My conure spends a lot of time on my shoulder, so I would need to just take something the bird can sleep in, (and snack on) and I'm all set.

There are lots of bird friendly hotels. Just call and ask.

I would also recommend trimming flight feathers if the bird is going to be out of your house. (Although I know I get lots of disagreement on that)

For my conure I love being able to grab the bird, hop in my car and go.

CD

We bring Dexter on trips with us. Most hotels we've stayed in have not had any problem with him being in the room as long as I assure them he will be kept in his cage (a big, fat lie). Be sure to check though, the hotel we're staying at next week told me that their policy is to issue a large fine to anyone caught with a pet in an unauthorized room (this hotel is pet-friendly, but only in certain rooms).

As far as travel, we have a smaller cage that he travels and stays in during the trip. It's about 1/2 the size of his normal cage, but we're usually only traveling for 3 or 4 days and he gets frequent cage-free time. The cage fits into my SUV and can be securely attached to the 3rd-row rear seat. We use a carrier for shorter trips (vet, etc.) which fits perfectly in the front passenger seat footwell with no room to move or slide around.

We just bought a pocket avian hotel for our pionus and look forward to starting to haul her around with us but we used to take our conure with us on shorter trips all the time. We'd bring him to my parent's for suppers most weeks so that he got used to travelling and being elsewhere. He had a sleep cage that we used for travel that was fine for a few days or an extended weekend. If we were flying somewhere and couldn't take him, we would leave him with my parents or a friend who used to own a bird. There is a local bird sitter here (that I haven't used) who is supposed to be excellent.

Well I am flying out in 4 days. I am going to miss this little bird so much. I will miss him more than my dogs SHHH don't tell them. I wish I could take him on the plan but it is not so easy. Has anyone taken a bird on the plane?

I have a friend that has a green Cheek she is crazy about her bird. She said she would be happy to watch my baby. I think this would be good for socializing him too. Sprinkles is a very confident bird. Nothing seems to spook him or bother him so I don't think he would mind.

I have only had him a month. He is going on 5 months old. The other option is to leave Sprinkles home with my husband. BUT I know he will not make the time to really work with him or take him out. I think my friend will do more with him. SO what to do what to do.

First consideration is your friends bird's health history, who and what has it (sorry) been in contact with. You don't want to risk the transfer of any diseases. Then look at her home to risk assess it. Is everything OK to you? Does Sprinkles like her and OK around her bird? Will she work with him in the way you want? Feed how you want? Not to scare you but as a holiday mum to two of my friends birds there is a few things to think about before choosing this option. If you can tick all your boxes and have a good feeling then should be OK. My friend with a young RB2 happily leaves him with me now, she is so relaxed about him I have to text her with an update on how he is etc. Are you going to reciprocate looking after each others birds or will there be a payment involved. it would be a shame to sour a friendship just because some homework was not done before. Hope it works out and good luck.

snowflake311 said:

Well I am flying out in 4 days. I am going to miss this little bird so much. I will miss him more than my dogs SHHH don't tell them. I wish I could take him on the plan but it is not so easy. Has anyone taken a bird on the plane?

Click to expand...

Birds are welcome on commercial airliners in a variety of ways. First and best option is travel in a carrier that can fit under the seat in front of you. Many airlines have a surcharge for this, and limit the number of pets in carriers per flight. Digging around an airline's website will give you the maximum dimensions on each aircraft - though some will publish a single size that fits all equipment. Your other option, and my least favorite is to ship the bird as cargo in the belly of the aircraft. Sprinkles should have no problem fitting in a carrier that fits below the seat!!

All good points.

I will be flying with my bird but not this time I need to look into it more and see how much it will be. I also need to find a good carrier.

As for leaving Sprinkles with my friend She is much more of a bird person than my husband. He bird does not go to many place and they only have the one green cheek. My baby has his Vac and so does her bird. I feel like Sprinkles will get much more attention with them than here. My husband will be working and we have 2 dogs he will have to care for too.

As for paying her I think taking her out for sushi would make her happy. I am not too worried about that.