Traveling on plane with a small parrot?
Question by hapyguitr: Traveling on plane with a small parrot?
Hi, I’m 13. My family has a very tiny consideration of moving to the East Coast. We currently live near L.A. in California.
The problem is we have a Meyer’s parrot about 4 or 5 years old. Her/his (I’ll just call it a she) name is Pee Wee. For a Meyer’s, she gets stressed/screamy around lots of people and noise, and in traveling in a small pet carrier. We’ll buy a bigger one and get a vet check-up etc. if we really want to move… so yeah. (I wish we could also buy a bird leash for her but she absolutely refused her old one and now I can’t find it. Plus my parents would get annoyed at spending so much money).
I’d go insane if Pee Wee couldn’t make it alive through the long plane ride, but if we go to the East Coast I would not want to give her to another person.
So I’m just curious. Can anybody give advice or stories on flying with their parrot? It seems possible. Thanks for everyone’s help! I appreciate it, I’m sorry I can only choose one for best answer. 
Best answer:
Answer by furubayasha
I understand how you feel-I love my birds too!
The bird should probably, as a first, precautionary step, get used to people a little at a time. Gradually get her used to more and more people around, even if you have to cover her cage, let her get used to the idea of noise not being able to stab her and kill her.
The bird leash may be useful, but if she won’t use it, then don’t bother. Just keep her in the carrier, as the darkness in there may just be more soothing for her.
You should also contact the airline if you are for sure going to the east coast, to see if they have a policy for transporting pets or birds in particular.
Add your own answer in the comments!
I’ve traveled with my birds a lot. Here are pictures of all my birds;
http://flickr.com/photos/davewomach
When you go through security, you can tell them you have a bird and it’s fully flighted and they will take you to a separate room where you can take the bird out safely and they can examine the carrier. All they care about is making sure nothing is hidden in the carrier. My birds are well trained and sometimes I put them on a harness like you were talking about and so I can easily take them out for security and actually run their empty carrier through the x-ray. Then I walk through with the bird.
The carrier needs to be small enough to fit under the seat in front of you so you can carry the bird on. It will be less stressed if it gets to be with you the whole time and not be sent like cargo.
This may sound cruel but for long flights I will sometimes leave the light on the night before so it’s harder for the bird to sleep then when we leave early in the AM the bird is fast asleep for the entire plane ride – it keeps the stress down but does mess up their schedule a bit and may seem mean but really, I feel it’s a good trade vs having your bird flipping out about the unfamiliar noises, new people, and feeling from the planes and being carried around all day.
Bring some food and treats carry on and reward your bird for being quiet and calm… don’t treat to get your bird to be quiet as you are just telling it it will get rewarded for being stressed.
Hope this helps!