Transporting Senegal home? Best practices?

[cledford3]

Hi,

I'll be picking up my pet this evening from the pet store. He/She is a 4 month old Senegal parrot who is very tame and fairly well knows me now. The store only has a box for transport - unless I want to shell out $25 plus dollars for a non-bird specific carrier. (Top opening, translucent, vented plastic box box with NO perch) That seems pricey given it is not specifically setup for a bird. I understand I'll need a dedicated carrier at some point (vet trips, etc) but have an issue paying a lot of money for something that isn't exactly what is required.

I have a spare, small cat carrier. I know that it would need to be carefully cleaned - but would this be OK? It is (like all cat carriers) front opening - which may pose more difficulty with loading...

Does it need a perch in it? either way, is some sort of "litter" (torn up news paper, etc.) advised? We'll be driving about 30 minutes from the shop back to the house.

Regarding the transport - since we want the bird to primarily bond to me - should I be the one holding the carrier or should it be my wife or neither of us? I'm only familiar with puppies -where the primary handler would be the one to experience the transition with the pup. However, with birds I've read that sometimes the associate "bad" (or traumatic) experiences with the person closest to them during the event. Technically, I wouldn't want this to be me OR my wife. So, should I hold the bird, my wife - or just strap him in?

Thanks for any advice.

-Calvin

[entrancedbymyGCC]

The cat carrier is fine as long as it is cleaned and disinfected. Most people use small-animal carriers for their birds anyway. A perch is nice, but not necessary. We use towels at the bottom of the carrier to add a little grip. Ours both had fairly short trips home. It can be nice to schedule the initial vet visit on the trip home and get all the trauma out of the way for a while, but we didn't manage that in either case. Birds seem to travel better than cats, so the trip may be relatively peaceful. It can't hurt to bring an extra towel to cover the carrier if the bird does get agitated, as long as it doesn't get too hot.

I'm not sure if there is any advantage or disadvantage to holding the carrier, but it's generally safer to strap it in.

FWIW, $25 seems fairly inexpensive for a carrier. If it is fitted so you can add a perch, and it's a nice design, it might not be such a bad deal.

[Michael]

First, check out the carrier I recommend for parrots and how I modified it for Truman. It's a bit oversized for a Senegal Parrot but can't hurt if you're not bothered by a tad more weight. The top wire door is very important because it makes getting the parrot in/out easier and for laying down paper towels and cleaning. The front load ones are pretty useless. Be sure to zip tie all connection points shut, last thing you want is the carrier falling apart on you.

As for who should carry the carrier. Actually it doesn't matter. I'd suggest covering the carrier with a towel anyway so that the bird doesn't see what's going on if you're at all worried. Of course if the climate is very hot or very cold, this is not a bad idea in itself. A traumatic experience isn't who is carrying the carrier but it might be if someone sticks a hand in and grabs the bird painfully and chucks it in a cage. Basically, in the first week do everything extra slowly even if it might seem a little mean (like grabbing or handling). The traumatic association is more likely to be a classically conditioned fright response when coupled with a startling stimulus. Basically if something really abrupt/frightening happens and the last thing the bird remembers seeing is your face, that can work against you.

However, when it comes to who will become the parrot's favorite person, you have much less control over that. It will like who it likes. Of course if you are nice to it (and not what's nice in your mind, but rather the parrot's mind) and the one who does more of this than others, you are likely to have a good lead. It's still important to socialize the parrot and let many people handle it so that it does not become a one person bird. What is very important is that other people be coached about how not to startle the parrot because that's a sure way to get it to hate visitors which can lead to problems down the line. At first, everyone is excited to see the bird immediately. Well it's important not to do that but rather to just hang out in the room ignoring the bird for a while and only bringing it out later when it's had a chance to see what's going on. This also teaches the bird that it has to wait to get attention rather than screaming and demanding it the moment someone walks in.

[Roger P]

That is truly inspired Michael! How did I miss seeing that until now? I have been looking for a carrier for Merlin and everything seemed really expensive, too bulky, and not very well constructed. This seems to meet all requirements and won't break the bank.

Now I want to make one!