Will moving back and forth be too stressful?

[KNG]

Today might be the day I bring Lola back to my apartment with me. To get there, she will have to endure a 2 hour car ride. She will be in a totally new environment. I plan on taking her with me wherever I go. I often go home on the weekends, so that would mean another car ride. Do you all think this will be too stressful on her? My mom seems to think so. But she doesn't get enough play time here. I talked to my neighbors, telling them I would be bringing my bird in the next week or two and to talk to me if they have any problems with noise. I hope to buy an aviator harness and train Lola during these cold winter months, so by the time it gets warm we can go outside and soak up some sunshine!
Katie

[sidech]

Some people bring their parrots to work. I know Cap'n West takes his Amazon everywhere he goes. I think it depends on if you're willing to make it work or not. Some people seem to have success at it.

So I say, why not ? If your bird is uncomfortable doing it, she'll give you signs.

And as for travelling, it shoudn't be a problem if you have the proper travel cage.

[patdbunny]

Not at all. I take my babies everywhere with me for hours on end so they get super socialized. My daughter's sun conure, Ducky, went with us to a farmers market today. We were out with him from 9 a.m. - 3p.m. You just have to be sensitive to your bird's moods and make sure he has food and water available periodically. I offer food and water about every hour or so to see if Ducky wants to eat or drink.

If your bird's not used to getting out and about you should probably start slow and increase the jaunts as he's more comfortable.

[KNG]

Ok, Lola and I made it through our first night. I'm not sure she likes it here though. All night she was grinding her beak..is that a sign of stress? Normally I don't sleep in the same room as her so I'm not really sure what's normal.

During the day, when I'm at class or in another room, she calls for me. I am so afraid the neighbors are going to get upset! What should I do?

Katie

[Dave]

Ours seem to grind their beaks when they are "cozy" and going to sleep.

[MandyG]

Ours seem to grind their beaks when they are "cozy" and going to sleep.

Mine do the same.

She should get used to the new place soon enough. We take our birds camping with us in our camper. So basically throughout the warmer months they're constantly going between two homes and travel for over an hour in the car.

As for the noise, have you tried leaving a radio or the tv on while you're away? Some people have had luck with that. You can try to find a station that keeps her quiet, maybe like a news station. Test a few out to see what she likes, some birds get excited over the radio and will talk and sing along to it so try to find something that doesn't excite her too much.

[lzver]

It might be stressful at first while she gets used to the situation, but I'm sure she'll be fine.

We take our birds with us to our trailer with us every weekend ... it is only a 20 minute drive, but they love it there and it doesn't seem to stress them out at all.

At least you're familiar to her.

[idlepirate]

Apparently conures, especially the smaller kind like greencheeks and my bluethroat are the best travellers. Thats what my breeder said to me at least when I was worried about the 4 hour drive home. Im not sure if lola is your green cheek or if its one of your other birds? Somehow they enjoy travelling in cars. We took loro in the car a few other times but shorter trips and he really is calm and enjoys watching whats going on. I travelled hours on end with my previous green cheek and they never caused a problem either. as long as they see you nearby they should feel secure enough.They think of it as an adventure:)

Grinding the beak is good thing. As other posters mentioned that its usually when their birds are winding down and relaxed. Could be that they're tired from travelling and all the excitment and just happy to relax.

youll know a stressed bird more with a change in their eating/drinking habits or poop.

[Grey_Moon]

If you think about it, parrots fly everywhere all day in the wild.
They go all sorts of places and see a whole bunch of new things---its part of their lives and in their DNA to travel (I'd think that so many of the problems we see with captive parrots would be fixed by respecting that). So I think, as long as she is socialized and adjusts to it that it would even be beneficial to places.

Also, consider your bird as a species and as an individual. My Grey, Jacko, travels a lot less easily than my cockatiel Sully who is happy to jump in his pak-o-bird. But both birds are shy and sensitive are greys and cockatiels often are (they are generally very noisy and a little nervous when brought to new places--this is also because they aren't habituated to travel however), so they do not travel as well as some of the extroverted birds (macaws, toos, amazons etc). Your little one being a conure and young (young birds go with the flow a lot better than adults) should adapt juuust fine to travelling

[KNG]

I think I was mostly worried because I have more experience with gouldian finches. They are a delicate species that get stressed easily. But Lola seems to be doing great so far. She gets a lot more time out of the cage now, plus fresh fruit and veggies every morning. I ordered her an aviator harness, so hopefully with some training, I'll be able to take her on walks with me.