How do you transport your fids?

[come on co11een]

Hi everyone,

With the Holidays coming up, my boyfriend and I have some driving to do to get home (two hours to one destination, five to the other). We are planning on taking our cockatiel, Penny, with us, but we aren't sure of the best way to transport her. For Thanksgiving, we bought a smaller "travel cage" but with the rattling of the cage and her toys in the car, she was terrified of the thing!! She ended up riding almost the whole way on my shoulder in the passenger seat, and it was hard to get her back into the cage to eat or sleep once we reached our destination. We are thinking of maybe using an open box with towels on the bottom, but she doesn't seem to like that idea very much. My boyfriend is doing a leg of the driving my himself, so she needs to be in something and not just sitting on a shoulder. Any ideas? We are on a very tight budget, so if possible we would rather not buy anything too expensive. Please let me know how you take your fids in the car or if you have any recommendations for us!!

Thanks!
Colleen

[Izzy]

My cockatiel hates car rides too. She runs back and forth and screams the whole time unless she can see me.

I would advise you not to let her out in the car - if you were in an accident she'd be loose, and she could get startled and fly into a window or under the pedals.

If you put her in the travel cage, don't have any toys in it (you don't want them hitting her), and give her a rope perch for easy gripping.

My meyers is the exact opposite - she lives for car rides.

[mmr]

just a small carrier cage will be fine.

[bethn]

we have a small travel cage for Jazz. We place foam underneath it and that cuts down on the vibrations, (it made a noticeable difference in his comfort level).We put foot toys on the bottom of the cage and some treats, orange slices, grapes, nuts etc. also our travel cage is small enough to wedge between the two front seats on the console so he can see us and stick his beak thru for loves. We schlep a collapsable cage along for sleeping purposes :)

[Adinah]

Kuja gets a travel carrier that zips up. There's screened openings on the sides that he likes to look out from :)

[mels95yj]

We use the smallest, plastic dog crate to transport our conures to the vet. I screwed a wooden dowel in to give them a perch.

Mel

[Astrid660]

My fids go in small cages and carriers when I'm moving. I don't take them on car rides because they don't really seem to like it. It seems to stress them out more than it does them good.

[Lisa B]

there are alot of good smaller carriers out there. There is one that is a tiny version of a dog or cat carrier, but it is all wire. not expencive, about maybe 15 or less? You can even get a material type cover for it, that will prevent rattling, and its something that will last you a long time. Perfect for car rides, vet trips and such...not big enough tho to "vacation" in

[Lisa B]

here ya go. I took a pic...

[pippy]

When I take my birds in the car they share a travel cage (it's plenty big enough for the purpose) and I put seed in one bowl and cucumber and grapes in another. This means there's no need to put water in the bowl as the cucumber and grapes have a high water content.

Obviously this is only for short journeys.