jgerardo Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 So most of my friends and family think I am crazy but I am going on a road trip to WA and I simply cant leave Luna alone. We will be gone for 2 weeks and I dont want to leave him because hes still a baby (10 months). It is going to be an 18 hour drive from Southern CA to Washington state. Has anyone ever gone on a road trip with their parrots? How was the experience? I am taking his aviator harness so he can enjoy the rest stops we will be taking. But i need to watch out for hawks I know there are quite a few in areas like OR and WA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 We moved nearly across country from Texas to North Carolina with nine birds, four cats and a dog in a Ford Excursion. As my avian vet not-so-gently put it "The birds will be fine. They typically handle travel well. The cats will be the ones who have problems." He was exactly right. A few things I did to make the trip easier: I put lots of padding under the travel cages. It cushioned the ride for them and helped me survive the annoying creaks and rattles that cages make when in a vehicle on bumpy roads. I also drove like a granny. I stayed far back from cars in front of me, and slowed early for lights if I thought they would turn on me so I could stop slowly and softly. This kept the birds from getting flung around in the cages. I also took a CD with bird sounds for entertainment. We had great fun making loud noises while going down the road! I took lots of extra paper (we use those rolls of 'packing paper' that is newspaper without printing on it). I also gave everyone a water bottle as the bowls seem to splash out a lot of water. (Ours all had water bowls and bottles in each cage). At rest stops, everyone got treats. Unfortunately, due to the cats being in the the vehicle, I could not let anyone out and chance having them landing on the cat crate in case one of the cats should reach up and claw or grab at them. They tolerated the 1400 mile trip just fine. (The cats were in a large dog crate in the very back, surrounded by cardboard on 3 sides with a blanket on top - the back side was the door and it was not covered to allow air in and also to give access to feed, water and change litter). I agree that you will have to be hyper-vigilant. I have heard stories of hawks grabbing birds right from the owner's shoulders. I am very paranoid about hawks as I had a red-tail that used to raid my bird feeders. Let's say they don't like showers any more than parrots do and leave it at that. *evil grin* The other day I had the birds on the porch for the day while I ran a 'clean' cycle on my brand new oven to burn off some acrylic coating on the insulation. We all spent the day on the porch and twice I heard the cry of a hawk very nearby and jumped out the chair and paced up and down watching the sky. A couple days later, I heard a hawk... IN THE PLAYROOM. Evidently Mr. Peck has had some exposure to a red-tailed hawk because he has their call down pat and he does it quite loudly. >.< Good luck on your trip. I am betting your boy will have a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray P Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 My birds have been all over the U.S. with us on many, many trips. Corky my Congo Grey has over 60.000 miles of travel and has been in many states many times. They seam to enjoy travel as they are very close to us and enjoy all our interaction with them. On one of our trips we were on the road for a month and covered over 7,000 miles on that trip alone. And yes Muse was right, the cat was the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 I took a Grey a BFA and a GCC from San Diego to San Antonio non-stop once. They all rode on the bench seat right beside me and my wife - around a 24hr trip. Greycie has gone on 6 hr drives with us no problems. Just drive safe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana600 Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 This kind of perch works great for car travel: http://www.amazon.com/Booda-Comfy-Perch-Cross-Medium/dp/B000084EDF We made the same configuration with two single perches and a heavy zip tie. That way when you are at your destination inside, in a safe place you can put one in an arch on the outside of the cage to double her play area. Keep all her hanging toys out of the cage for the trip because the motion may cause them to scare her. Don't expect her to eat or drink much while your vehicle is moving, she will be okay. One of our parrots gets car sick and it helps to cover her cage so she can only see out the front window. It's very tempting to let them on your shoulder or lap because its so many hours. But, since they are already in an unfamiliar environment, it takes so little to startle them and have a crisis in the car, that if you really need to give her a break, please do it at a rest stop. They are like a little kid and if you make that an expectation, it will make it a lot harder. We travel frequently, 1200 miles in a day stopping only for fuel. The parrots take it all in stride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brat Birds Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 I was going to mention that you should take home water with you. I did when I took my babies on a family visit. But, since no one else mentioned it, I am betting I was an over anxious mommy when I did it. Has no one had a bird have a tummy upset because of different water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinD Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Id like to travel with my bird lol.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I was going to mention that you should take home water with you. I did when I took my babies on a family visit. But, since no one else mentioned it, I am betting I was an over anxious mommy when I did it. Has no one had a bird have a tummy upset because of different water? We took bottled water and that is what they drank. They have had a lot of that (especially our Greys) as they see me with one and they feel they need to have some too. But that is a good idea. Different water sources can vary widely in pH and dissolved solids so it is probably a good idea to take your own when traveling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezron Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Moved Brutus, my grey, and Jimpster, a quaker across the country, in two different cars. I was nervous, but it turned out great! They loved all of the extra attention and ate slices of apples and nuts. They enjoyed the air from the vents. If anything, they had a better time than normal because they got petted for hours! They rode on top of their cages in the front seat. They did not get car sick at all. I heard that if you take them on short car rides, before the big trip, they will get used to riding in the car and not get sick. It worked for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 I used to take my grey, Josey with me when we went to visit my son and his family when they lived in West Virginia but we don't have to do that now since they moved back closer to home. I took water for her because she is used to our water and theirs had chlorine in it but she took the ride in stride, she got so she would chatter and play with her bell during the ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgerardo Posted May 27, 2014 Author Share Posted May 27, 2014 Brat Birds I had never thought about the water good call. We are leaving in a week and a half I will update on how the car ride goes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgerardo Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 So the trip was good. He was actually very calm during the ride. I took him out of the cage at every rest stop. He just stayed on his rope perch for the entire 17 hrs. He is so happy being with us. We found some branches and made a natural perch for him. Here is a pic of his cage and perch (that we made) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgerardo Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Sorry about sideways pic in posting through my iphone lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Glad to hear the trip went well. How did you like Oregon and Washington? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgerardo Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 Glad to hear the trip went well. How did you like Oregon and Washington? I love it I haven't been here in 3 years. It's been very rainy even though it's summer! Luna is not liking the cold. But it is so green and fresh it's nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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