Carsick or Lovesick???

[JennyB]

I feel stupid even asking, but can you tell the difference when a bird gets carsick vs. lovesick? She has never regurgitated for me before, will be a year old this month, so I'm not sure what just happened... And I don't know if she is a she, just guessing based on her normal behavior.

Anyway, I left the house late today to pick up son #2, so I took a shortcut through the canyon, which includes a narrow, twisty turny road, with a gain of about 4500 ft. in elevation... She has travelled a lot in the car in the past, but as soon as we left the house she was doing a high-pitched growly/gravelly "song" I haven't heard her do before. Otherwise, things were going normally until we started up the canyon.

Shortly into the canyon she started doing an odd head bobbing, & then flinging stinky "puke." This happened about 3 times, she then fluffed up against my neck, & napped off & on until we got to the top of the mountain. Needless to say I took the long way home to avoid going back down the canyon road, & we made it home without further incident.

Right now, she's back in her cage, snuggled up on her favorite perch, taking a nap, & acting like nothing ever happened. So, is there a way to tell the difference, or do I just wait & see if it ever happens again? :11:

 

[MonicaMc]

Females can regurgitate, too.

When a bird regurgitates, it's definitely voluntarily done. They may re-eat the food, may put it down on something *then* eat it, and sometimes fling it, too. They usually head bob quickly.

When they puke, the act looks involuntary and they usually allow the food to come out and possibly fling it, too. Head bobbing, if any, is usually slow.



If it is car-sickness, then you can give her ginger tea up to two hours before the trip as well as ginger pieces fed to her before the trip as well as during the trip.

 

[JennyB]

Thanks Monica, that's what I was afraid of. Because of the driving conditions I couldn't see/could only feel the head bobbing (she was on my shoulder), so I'm not sure, but I'm leaning toward carsick. We have a long trip coming up, but thankfully no mountain roads! I'll try the ginger just to be on the safe side, though. Thank you!

 

[Mudkips]

Birdy gets car sick too.
He is fine on larger vehicles such as trains, trams and buses, even cars are fine for him most of the time. However, during stop-start driving (even at slow speeds) he gets very sick, exactly as you described it.
It's not pretty and I avoid this kind of travel whenever possible.