Moving; Advice?

[KatherineI]

So, loooong story short, we're moving this Saturday. This will not be our last move, and we could very well end up moving again in just a few short weeks. I'm not concerned about anyone in the house.... except for Sugar.

She's so sensitive that I'm very concerned. If we didn't have to do this, we probably wouldn't, at least not so close to another potential move. However, it is a very local move, roughly 20 miles from our current location, so it's not like she'll be in her travel cage for longer than it takes to get her cage loaded, unloaded and ready in the new house (which will be a priority).

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this easier on her? One change we're making during/after this move is that she and Loki will be sharing a bedroom that will also be utilized as a school room (our daughter is enrolled in online school). Socialization isn't an issue, as she's rarely in her cage now. But she will now have a more set bedtime that we'll be able to be consistent with because we'll be able to put her to bed and close the door (she currently is in the living room as we only have 2 bedrooms here).

Thanks!

 

[Riio]

No advice, sorry. But wanted to say good luck.

 

[KatherineI]

Thanks Riio! I appreciate it. I'm sure it will all go fine, I'm just a big worrier, lol.

 

[Remy]

I'm sure it'll be fine. Just give her a lot of emotional support if she seems upset.

 

[MonicaMc]

Is she good at traveling in the car? If so, then just a small carrier/cage with maybe a small amount of food and just make the move!


Casey, my first tiel, has moved with me twice as well as my bourke parakeet. The others have only moved with me once, however, except for Casey, all of them have had at least one or two homes prior to mine... and Charlie has taken the longest trip with me! From Berkeley, CA all the way up to Reno, NV! His foster parents were in CA so I took the trip down to pick him up! Would have been quicker if we took a flight, but it was all driving!

 

[KatherineI]

She's not that great at traveling in the car, but that's my fault for not taking her more places!

Today was sooo not a good day for her, and she's been exceptionally clingy as a result. I know we'll make it out alive, and as long as she has us to reassure her at the end of the day I'm sure she'll be fine.

 

[MikeyTN]

She'll do fine with the move! As long as they have the same cage with the same setup, they'll do fine. When I brought Dixie home from over 2 hours away, she played on me sweetly. But I did had her in a kennel to begin with but she begged to get out. The second time when we moved is when we finally bought a house but she had to be in the kennel as we had a lot of stuffs to move. The main priority is to move them in and have their cages setup asap and place them within and give food and water. My house was a hectic mess for a longgggggggg time after the move cause we both had to work a lot during that period so there were boxes everywhere that we sort through every night after we get home. It took months before things settled down but my birds did just fine. As long as your there with them, they'll do just fine with anywhere you have to move to.

 

[bkparrot]

I have used cat or dog carriers to move the birds. I had perches installed inside so they were comfortable and had something to hold on to. If its a long trip, add food and water containers or treats.

 

[KatherineI]

I have used cat or dog carriers to move the birds. I had perches installed inside so they were comfortable and had something to hold on to. If its a long trip, add food and water containers or treats.

Oh, we have both a travel cage and a Pak-O-Bird, so transporting her and Loki isn't the issue. She's just super sensitive and I'm just trying to figure out the best way to make her OK with everything.

But now that we've had her 6 months, she handles change soooo much better than she did before. Because of an incident yesterday morning, we had her sleep in our room last night (she normally just sleeps in her cage downstairs) and while I was cautious and thinking it would be a disaster, she's in a fantastic mood today. So I'm thinking as long as she has us, she won't care, lol.

 

[MonicaMc]

Does not handle car rides well how?

If your bird gets motion sickness, then you can always feed fresh ginger and/or ginger tea a few hours before a road trip.... and providing some fresh ginger on the drive.

You can also try covering the cage, leaving it uncovered, partially covered, having the air on, air off, radio on, radio off, etc.


Since it's a short trip, I wouldn't think anything too drastic would be required.

 

[94lt1]

I have only my experience to offer. We moved 2000 miles..from Montana to Texas, and we had a scarlet macaw and a yellow nape, plus 2 parakeets to move with everything else.. its hard. Especially since Monte's tail feathers are so long, and it appears to make him sick or sore when they're even slightly bent..

So we had to go for short distances and let them move around. It makes for a long, long trip.. you make zero time, but you see a lot. And its pretty draining..

Its just what you have to do. As far as the bird getting reacquainted to its surroundings, it takes a little time.

Good luck

 

[KatherineI]

Does not handle car rides well how?

If your bird gets motion sickness, then you can always feed fresh ginger and/or ginger tea a few hours before a road trip.... and providing some fresh ginger on the drive.

You can also try covering the cage, leaving it uncovered, partially covered, having the air on, air off, radio on, radio off, etc.


Since it's a short trip, I wouldn't think anything too drastic would be required.

In the past, she's sort of freaked out. Starts yelling the entire time, even started to hyperventilate once Being her second home, and knowing that she was extremely sheltered and interacted with minimally, I think her only association with car rides might have been the Vet and then to the place where we got her (it's a shop that takes birds who needs new homes and finds them ones, but sells a lot of supplies and ONLY does birds).

However, we ended up having to take her with us on a trip to the new house last night as she was seriously freaking out on us coming and going and barely having time to give her any attention. And she handled it beautifully!! I was so proud of her! Although, it was probably just because she was more focused on the fact that she was with her flock and not being left :20:

I have only my experience to offer. We moved 2000 miles..from Montana to Texas, and we had a scarlet macaw and a yellow nape, plus 2 parakeets to move with everything else.. its hard. Especially since Monte's tail feathers are so long, and it appears to make him sick or sore when they're even slightly bent..

So we had to go for short distances and let them move around. It makes for a long, long trip.. you make zero time, but you see a lot. And its pretty draining..

Its just what you have to do. As far as the bird getting reacquainted to its surroundings, it takes a little time.

God luck

Oh my goodness!! I moved 3,000 2 moves ago, with 2 dogs, a turtle (the water kind), a disabled cat and an 18mo child with chronic diarrhea. I kinda feel your pain on that one!

Glad you guys made it safely though.

Anyway, today is the day. We're putting Sugar and Loki's cages on last so they are the first thing taken off and then they can be put right into their cages to settle in.

 

[MonicaMc]

If stressed, you can always do chamomile tea. Supposed to be a great stress reliever and calmer...

However, it sounds as if that's not required and she took the trip fantastically!

 

[KatherineI]

Aside from Friday night, like I already posted, she has handled everything beautifully! Saturday her cage was the last thing loaded on the first load so that we could use the larger travel cage for Loki and his cage could come on the second load. It was the first thing I dealt with and I placed her in it and with her favorite foods and water and left to deal with the unloading.

She's been calling at bed time a bit more than usual, but she's also now in a room with Loki (the third bedroom is being used as a school room and bird room) and she's not used to his sounds. Last night was the first real problem we've had and she settled down once I took her out and gave her some extra attention. When she started falling asleep on me, it was time to go back to "bed" for her.:54:

So, all in all, I worried for nothing. Go figure!!

 

[MikeyTN]

Of course you would worry! I don't because I've moved birds with 16hr drive before and they did just fine....As long as your there with them, they're fine!!!

 

[Kiwibird]

We, unfortunately, had to move only a couple months after we first got Kiwi (who we had just adopted knowing he had behavioral issues). It was extra work for us after a move, but we just made sure his routine stayed the same. He did not seem to notice nor care. If anything, he seemed to be happier after the move when he suddenly had a big window and some grass to look at. Parrots can have positive reactions to change to. I actually couldn't imagine parrots have THAT complex of thoughts about moving to begin with. Their view in nature changes all the time. As long as they are still with the people they are familiar with, and nothing else with the daily routine changes much, it probably barely registers for them. Many parrots also enjoy car rides, why not take her for a quick drive around the block to see how she responds? Make driving a "fun" experience for her, play music, talk to her, put some treats in her cage before you leave. A few short drives to help her make a positive association with being in a car will help when you go on a longer drive. Kiwi seems to really enjoy being in the car. Even on the rides home after getting his toenails trimmed and his wings clipped (which he hate) the minute we start moving, he's preening, making all his happy little grunts and beeps. On the drive home after we adopted him (4 hours), my husband fed him treats and kind of just talked at him. I think he probably associated his first positive association with people being in the car. Just make Sugar feel like being in the car is fun.