Traveling with your lovie

[ravyn]

I've been reading a lot about parrot owners who take their birds almost everywhere with them--on the subway, to the park, on vacation, etc. All the stories were about larger parrots and not lovebirds.

I've been trying to figure out ways to spend more time with my little Henry, and I think it would be nice to take him with me when I go to my parents' house on Saturdays. My mom has a lovebird as well, though I doubt they'd get to play together as my mom's bird is a tiny blue bully. But they'd get to "talk" to each other and Henry would have my whole family to play with. I've got a little travel cage for him, so that would be no problem. I'm just wondering if anyone else has regularly taken their lovie with them on short trips and how it went. Any advice would be great!

[BarbieH]

Hi!

I've taken one of my lovies with me to Mom and Dad's house, in a small cage/carrier. It's important to make sure that you have your bird in a care-safe container that can't open accidentally. It's also important to make sure that the cage is secure in case you get into an accident. (You never know.)

I take two dishes with me, one for food and the other for water. Sam loves the extra attention at their house! He does come out of the cage and Dad is very good about having him perch on fingers. Mom gets kind of nervous.

They don't have any pets of their own, but if they did that would be a consideration. Any potential risk must be considered first. For instance, Sam hasn't visited his "grandparents" in some time because Dad was treated for prostate cancer with the radioactive pellets, and docs specifically said for him to stay away from small children and animals. But I think it's about time for it to be safe for Sam to visit again.

So: Car safety, visit safety, food and water, anything else ...? :) Don't let the bird out of the house without an enclosure. I see people outside with large birds perched on them, and it frightens me. There are so many dangers.

Good luck!

[Jally]

My advice is to take your baby along and have fun! Try to have the same sort of schedule at your mom's as you would at home. My lovie has been camping and has been to 2 hotels within the year and a half that we've had him and he does pretty well.

[ravyn]

Jally, camping? That sounds like fun! And so many wild birds for your lovie to talk to! How did you manage--RV or tent?

[Jally]

We have a small camper that we cram full with 5, sometimes 6 people, 3 dogs, and 2 birds. It is a lot of fun except I always miss out on the smore making since Peanut's routine is he snuggles deep down in my shirt to go to sleep at night. I'm not complaining though. I still get a burnt marshmallow when my kids bring one in for me :)

[nacho135]

Although I havnt traveled with Nacho yet I will prob. be taking him to my grandmothers soon. I bought a travel carrier and 2 bowls for it, perch and a toy. If Im going to go for a long time I'll prob take his smaller cage with me, but for the most part hes content with just sitting out of his cage on his little playstand that I'll prob. take too. Since BarbieH brought this up..the breeder who I got my lovie off of gave me diff info sheets and one sheet was a paper that you carry around in your car incase your in an accident telling the cops or whoever where to take the bird, his vet, and who their supposed to call to take charge of the bird if your hurt in an accident etc. which is a good idea, better to be safe then sorry :)

[bookworm0550]

i want to take mine to the park someday :)

[dmj64]

Luvies travel very well!
For about a year, I would leave them at work during the week and drive home with them in their cage for the weekend. Since I usually would ride my bicycle to work, on Monday morning I would strap their small cage to my backpack and ride in with them on my back!

Then, I transferred from Hawaii to Texas and they flew as cargo. Then I drove from Texas to Virginia (1k miles, 2.5 days) with them in their cage on the passenger seat (they loved it!). Then we flew back to Hawaii. I carefully chose flights that would allow pets in the cabin.

[maya_exquisite]

I always travel with my babies!! I take them to work all the time (they have a "work cage" :whistle: ), take them to my parents house, take them shopping... I have a small travel carrier with two cups, one for water and one for food.

[Pips mom]

I don't regularly travel with my birds, but.....I have taken Pip on some car rides. We've gone to my parents over an hour away a couple of times and the ride to the vet is a half hour. Pip seems to like the car ride and seeing new places, although he wasn't too happy about it when we went one time at night, so daytime is the best time to take birds out. My cockatiels love the car ride and going places even more than Pip does! My male cockatiel will even sing to strangers and loves going to the vet!!! Then of course there's Ivy......she gets car sick and is terrified of strangers! :rolleyes:

[HaleBoppPeachyluv]

when my hubby and i were still just dating & livng on separate islands, my maka would spend one long weekend a month at my parents & it's a 45min drive each way. he got used to the trips, and my sunnybird is entirely nonplussed by car rides!

[StormyMom]

Ive taken my Quaker and Goffins places with me but i also have a harness for them. Unfortunately they dont make ones small enough for lovies. I think itd be nice to take them around in a small travel cage tho, im sure just being in it and seeing the outdoors would be fun for them! But im not sure if id trust them outside the cage. Lizzy might be okay but Stormy is too skittish. Id be afraid of them getting away!

[ravyn]

Guys, thanks so much for all the great info! At first I thought that taking your lovie places with you was just not something people did. I'm so glad I was wrong! I'd love to bring my Henry to work with me, but he's pretty talkative and answering the phones would NOT be easy! But I'm definitely going to try taking him to my parents' place this weekend to see how he likes it. I think he'll get a kick out of it and it will help get him used to being at their house since that's where he'll go when I'm on vacation.

Hopefully we'll be able to progress to him sitting on my shoulder for the car ride (windows closed, of course)!

[HaleBoppPeachyluv]

^^ My maka and sunnybird ride in their cages the whole trip. I tried with maka (letting him out, he didn't like being in his cage) but he'd only sit still for a litle bit before trying to climb my seat belt or try to jump on my steering wheel. I had to keep in his cage. I haven't tried with sunny yet.

My first, Peachy, loved car rides and would stay on a shoulder or perch on the headrest.. and occasionally nap on the visor if it was pulled halfway down. Koji, our next, would freak out & launch at the windows, so he was caged too, for rides.

[Pips mom]

Guys, thanks so much for all the great info! At first I thought that taking your lovie places with you was just not something people did. I'm so glad I was wrong!

Actually, I think it's good to get them out places and go for rides....it gives them something new to see and fresh air.....plus it's always good to get them used to car rides for when you have to take them to the vet. If you could see how my tiels just LOVE going out places! I think they enjoy it more than me! Of course, I usually only take them out like that in the warmer weather, so wintertime they don't get out much! Plus I think birds love seeing and hearing other birds outside. Ivy loves being outside.....she just hates the car ride and being in a carrier.

[ravyn]

Well, Henry ended up having a very nice "day trip". My family enjoyed playing with him and he got tons of attention. He also got to hang out and "talk" to my mom's lovie. I don't think they thought much of each other. My mom's lovie was quieter than usual and my usually quiet Henry wouldn't shut up! We'll definitely do this on a more regular basis since the weather's warming up. I've even made an "In Case of Emergency" card to attach to his travel cage in anticipation of lots of future road trips!