Traveling with bird question

[Stasia]

Good morning everyone!

I am in need of some good advice, so this is the place to come :)

The hubby and I have lost our minds and decided to drive from WI to NH for the weekend. It is my brother in laws 30th suprise bday party and we want to suprise everyone by showing up. It is a 16 hour drive each way and we only have the weekend to get there, although we are leaving at noon on Friday. We have never traveled with my bird before though, so I am a little nervous about how our tiel Marley will do. We are going to take a test drive with him tonight, but I am realize that might not give us a good idea of what a 16 hour drive will be like (well, 32 hours if you count roundtrip).

My first real question is if there is any harm done to a bird by bringing them on a long trip? I realize we will need to make sure we get fresh air in the car, but also make sure he doesn't get a draft and make sure he gets his food and water during the trip. He will be in the back of a minivan which I am folding down the seats and trying to make it into a sort of bed so we can take shifts driving while the other person sleeps in the back, and so I would like to be able to take him out and let him sit on whomever is back there, although I will have to get a flight suit on him which might be quite a task, so that he cannot fly around the card and distract the driver. How long can you leave a flight suit one if I can get it on him? Do birds tend to scream in the car? Also, are they able to sleep? My largest concern is that we will not get any good sleep until we arrive (we will leave him at our inlaws while at the party that night). Will lack of sleep for a couple days hurt him? It is all highway, so it should be a smooth ride.

I would consider leaving him at home but since we are still pretty new to the area I don't know anyone well enough yet to trust them with a house key, plus I think Marley would get so lonely so I really want to take him with us. I could board him, but I have a fear of that at the present time because Pedro died shortly after being boarded. The cause of his death is unknown and I don't think it was related, but I just haven't really gotten past that yet. Speaking of, I would be putting Marley in Pedro's old cage. Since as I said, we don't know what killed Pedro, could there be anything lingering in his cage after I take all the old toys out and clean it with diluted bleach solution? Pedro's cage is small enough to travel with but big enough for marley to have some room in there. I don't really know anything about avian diseases so I'm worried about that. But the vet seemed to think it was some type of seizure or stroke.

One more thing (sorry for so many parts to this question), the minivan we are taking is a new car only 2 weeks old and still has that new car smell. Could this hurt Marley? If so, is there a way to make it safe for him. We do have an older car, but it is much less comfortable and I couldn't make a sleeping area in it so I very strongly want to take this new car. Also I don't know how the odler one would handle 2000 miles in a weekend. All of your thoughts, experiences, and opinions are greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!

Stasia

[PEANUT]

I Take Kramer With Me When I Go Home. It Is A 10-12 Hour Drive. He Does Fine. I Put Him In His Carrier And Away We Go. He Does Not Mind It At All. He Jabbers And Talks The Whole Way. When We Stop I Feed Him Give Him Water And We Are Off Again. I Take A Squirt Bottle And Give Him Drinks Out Of It. I Give Him Frozen Grapes And Apple Along With His Pellets.

[Alika]

You can do it, but you'll have to make some accomodations.

First of all, it is not safe to have lose animals in the car. I know you said that he would wear a flight suit, but I don't think it's very healthy to leave those on for more than an hour at a time. If you do it that way, you should pull over every hour or so to check and possibly clean the flight suit. I know macaws don't poop as often as smaller birds, but when they do...

But the bigger issue is if you get in an accident, your bird will be far more likely to be hurt if he isn't contained. I think that if you're seriously going to take him with you that far, you need to get a carrier appropriate for a macaw. Sometimes you can just buy a dog or cat kennel, but for such a large bird with such a long tail, you might need to look into getting a carrier specifically designed for macaws. I am assuming, of course, that you don't already have one. I could be wrong in that.

You should also bring something to cover the carrier with in case all the visual stimuli prove to be too much for him and he needs some quiet, dark time to relax and calm down.

Then you have to take into consideration how you will house him when you get there. Are you taking his cage with you? Do you have some kind of traveling cage he can live in while he's there? Even if you don't normally keep your bird in a cage, he should be contained when he is in a new place. There will be things you can't control... things that can get to him and hurt him, and furniture and walls for him to destroy when your back is turned. He will also need a place to feel safe and secure so he doesn't have to feel like he is out in the open all the time.

Food, water, and the temperature of the van are obvious considerations. He doesn't necessarily need unrestricted access to food, but you should definitely find a way to make sure he has water available the whole time. If not, frequent stops may be necessary to make sure he stays hydrated.

If you are concerned about the temperature of the van, you can bring along a small digital thermometer. But I think that as long as you are comfortable, your bird should be comfortable, too. Just make sure that if you will be running either the heater or the air conditioner, that it will not be blowing on him.

If you've never taken him on such a long trip before, it is hard to predict how he will react to it. He might love it as much as Peanut's bird, or he might really get stressed. My cockatiel and my sennie seem to enjoy the car, but my amazon gets very stressed and tends to have diarrhea in the car. Every bird is different.

Once you're on the road, you'll have to monitor his condition. If he seems to be happy and enjoying himself, you can probably drive for longer periods of time before taking a break. If he seems stressed and unhappy, you might have to stop more frequently to give him reassurance and such.

It can be done safely. The most important thing is keeping the bird's welfare in mind the whole time.

[Stasia]

Thanks for all the great advice!!

Just to clarify though, this is a cockatiel we are bringing, not a macaw. We do have a travel carrier too, but will bring a medium sized cage for when he is at my in laws.

I never thought of bringing a blanket to cover the cage if the lights are too much, I am so glad you mentioned that! I also wasn't thinking about him being loose in regards to an accident, so thank you for pointing that out also.

Thanks again, and keep the advice on coming please everyone!! :)

Stasia

[cfulhage]

My cag goes everywhere I go when I will be gone overnight. She loves to ride in the car, although she hates her small travel cage. I cover half of it with a blanket, so she can get in the shade if the sun is shining directly on her.

I also would not recommend letting Marley out while the car is moving. There is always the chance that he may get scared, and fly into a window, or of course, distract the driver. He will probably feel more secure in his cage anyways. If Marley isn't comfortable in the flight suit, a long trip in a car probably isnt the best time to put it on him.

When I drive, I am often talking to Ollie, just to keep her distracted. We sing songs, and play the "Ollie, whats a kitty say??" game. (That's the only one she can do as of yet). When she was just learning to travel, my voice really kept her calm. Ollie never screams in the car, she is really pretty quiet. She just jabbers and gurgles to herself. Another way you can make it not quite so scary, is if you go over railroad tracks, a bad bridge, or just a pot hole, say "Weeeee!!" in a really fun, excited voice. Ollie now thinks its fun to go over bumps. I think its a good idea that someone will be in the back with him for his first long trip. This should make him significantly more comfortable.

I'm not sure about anything lingering on Pedro's old cage. All I can recommend is to clean it very very well, and hopefully someone who knows the answer can help you out. I also don't know about the new car smell. I wouldn't think it would be a problem, especially after 2 weeks, but I could be wrong.

Just try to make every aspect of this trip fun, and Marley should be fine!

[Alika]

Oh, COCKATIEL!

Why did I think we were talking about a macaw? Must have been Peanut's post. So sorry about that.

You should have no problems with a cockatiel. Mine actually rides in her cage, and is quite comfortable that way, and then she has her cage to sleep in when we get there. If you try it this way, you should take the toys out so they don't swing around and hit her... or you can zip-tie them to the side of the cage. The cage is nice because they are already comfortable and feel safe in their cage, and it's easy to have water available to them.

[Stasia]

Anyone have any idea about the new car smell? Someone told me once that that smell is really from the chemicals in the car which is the only reason I thought of it affecting Marley, but I don't know if that is really true.

Stasia

[Freedomoflight]

You could always roll down all the windows to help air it out a couple days before your trip, and keep air circulating as you go, if you are worried about smell. Since it is 2 weeks old, it should not have as strong as a smell as a couple day old car, if you know what i mean.

[WarriorWoman1st]

To bad I missed this one....we raised an Umbrella in an over the road tractor trailer, as in never home NY to CA. We know a thing or 3 about traveling with birds. Learned them the hard way. lol Everything from the heat stopped working in NY one winter to the AC broke in Texas one summer, as well as how to heat water for hand feeding and how to teach them not to eat the truck. That part was interesting.LOL

[Joe&Young]

We travel all over with our tiels and conures. We always have their travel cages but once in the car, they sit very well on the head rest and enjoy sight seeing. Baby and Bertie don't quite seem to enjoy it as much, but they don't protest that much so I think they are just playing hard to get, lol