Emmi's vacation!

[KimberlyAnn]

So we just got back from our two day anniversary trip up in the mountains! We had a blast! We went through a cave, fished, went up a mountian, went on a short boat ride, and found some great dirt roads to explore. And through all this, we still had hours to relax. I still can't believe we got to actually relax. lol Most of things we saw were within ten miles of where we stayed.

But in a very unexpected turn, we had to bring Emmi. I guess we didn't HAVE to. But it ended up that way and it went great!

Sadly, my step daughter made a poor choice (teenager Ahhhh) so we made her stay with friends instead of staying home and watching the bird. My mom could not watch the bird because my gram got ill and so she had to leave town. Everyone else I could have asked? They had other animals and no bird experience. No thanks! We did have one friend on the way so we figured we would see how the car ride went and drop Emmi off on the way.

Emmi has never had trouble in the car so far, but it's always been short trips so I was a little concerned. The first hour of this trip...it just went so well! She played, she bobbed her head at passing motorcycles, she ate, she drank and she took a nap. So we kinda went hmmmm. Hmmmmm wonder if she can make the rest of the trip? It was a snap decision we were worried about, but we just decided to go forward.

We stayed at a small studio cabin at a resort where the owners happened to have an African Grey. When we got there, we found that the cabin actually had a seperate room with a door. This was to be Emmi's room! Perfect! The front desk was very nice and answered all my questions about how they cleaned the rooms etc. I was a little worried about toxins. And to my surprise, they had quality bird safe cookware! All stainless steal! Since it was the off season, we even got a late check out so we got to relax more. Perfect!

We had a deck that we ate on almost every meal. We took Emmi out there in her cage to eat with us. She was fasinated with the woodpeckers who seemed to fight and chaise each other the whole time we were there. She would answer their calls while eating her greens. When inside, she would jump to the window from the top of her cage to listen to them.



When it came time to leave, we buckled her travel cage into the back seat and she got REALLY EXTREMELY EXCITED like it was bath time! She started to talk and make her kissy sounds. She did flips and jumps and for a moment we wondered if she was upset about getting back in the car or happy. I took her out and she was not shaking so I put her back in and she continued her excitement for about 20 mins down the road. Talk talk talk watching out the window. It kinda worried me that she kept hanging off the roof of her cage and bobbing her head (I didn't want her to fall lol) so I gave her some treats and she went for them.

But just like before, she played, she took a nap, ate, played again, repeat. All the way home. But I have to say, she really likes the car. REALLY likes the car. She didn't scream once. THANK GOD! lol But next time I will pack the quiet toys while in the car. Heavy metal chain and plastic disks are very loud and jolting when driving quietly down the freeway LOL.

When we got home, Emmi got to rediscover all her toys again and we got to take a nap for about an hour. Was much needed! I'm so glad everything went so well.

[marie83]

Sounds brilliant, these green cheeks are pretty adaptable compared with some species.

[cml]

Thats awesome, my hopes are that since we have carrier trained both birds, that we can also bring them along for trips this summer .

[Strawfrawg]

Thanks for sharing your story...sounds like you had a nice break and Emmi had a blast. What a relief to know she can travel so easily, even really enjoy it! I know it would have been on your mind if it turned out to have made her miserable. I feel awful when I think one of my pets is unhappy with something I've had to make then do (in Marvin's case, that's mostly having to stay up past his bedtime). And what luck that your lodgings were so bird-friendly!!!!

I'm outside with Marvin right now and he's keeping close tabs on my bird feeders. I'm convinced he finally learned to bathe himself properly by watching other birds in my birdbath....

[KimberlyAnn]

Yes, I'm very pleased it turned out so well. It has not seemed to phase her one bit in the days we have been back. We will be going back to that place with or without the bird. Very beautiful and very well kept with lots of extras! But this makes me glad because it means she can go to our family cabin when we go. (shorter distance)

Hopefully (CROSSED FINGERS) she will always love the car LOL

[cml]

This story actually made me order a replacement carrier for Stitch, I got a new one for Leroy a couple of months ago, but Stitch's current one is a converted hamster wire cage - not ideal.

As my intention is to bring the birds along for short trips during summer, Ive just ordered a Kings Cage Aluminium travel cage . Expensive as hell, but hopefully worth it.

[KimberlyAnn]

We need a better travel cage too! Ours is a coated wire hamster cage as well, but with enough room to move around. It's three times her size wide and one and a half times her size deep...maybe a foot tall? Then we have a bigger collapsible cage to live in for the weekend. (which is awkward and rattles in the car no matter what! So I want to find a better one) I've been looking into travel cages and have not found one I like yet for the car, but the hamster cage does the job just fine for now and does not mess up her tail. This is also the cage that Emmi sleeps in at night. It makes the perfect sleep cage! No wire bottom so she can sleep comfortably on her back if she wants, a little wire shelf is up on one side she can perch on it or use the wooden perch. She never goes potty in that cage...she's never in there awake long enough to do so. But you can see how this gets annoying in the car! I'm doing constant pull overs to change the paper towel and/or baby wipe poop grabs. Lol