Horrible experience last night! :-(

[paper_lantern]

Well, I had a horrible experience last night. I drove four hours to the nearest airport, to pick up my baby around midnight. Well, the plane came in...and still no Furbie. The guy said he just wasn't on the plane, and he said my confirmation number wasn't working. It took 5 phone calls before he realized that he was typing the confirmation number in wrong.

My baby had to stay in Detroit over night. I'm never shipping again, the idea of shipping made me uneasy and now after this episode I don't trust it at all. My baby should be arriving around 4:00pm so I'm going to drive the four hours again to pick him up, hopefully this time he has arrived safely.

I'm so scared, I really hope he is okay and that they took good care of him overnight. I was in tears the whole way home last night. I just want him here with me.

[laducockatiel]

I hope that he is being looked after safely, he mus be so scared. It is best not to ship, I'm glad you have realised that. It is just too much stress on the bird. I hope he is ok when you get him, good luck!

[liz]

That is awful. I am sorry you and more important the baby had to go through this. I don't like shipping and little being. It is just too hard on them.

[dohcsvt]

I really hope that everything works out for you. Keep us updated once you get your little bundle of joy home. I would take some seeds with me to affer as a treat as soon as he arrives.

[Michael]

I'd get hand feed formula at home as backup. Now what was normally a kind of stressful shipping experience has turned into a long haul. He'll probably be ok but depending on how young he is may regress. If he eats whatever he was weened on great, stick with it. But if he's refusing to eat, considering he probably lost weight being shipped so long, you may have to do a little hand feeding. You don't even need a syringe, just offer it from a spoon. If you can't get formula but need something to feed, you can try oatmeal. Serve the food warm but cool enough that you can comfortably touch it to your finger or lip without getting burnt. This could be done to stimulate a young bird to eat that is too traumatized to feed itself.

[Cage Cleaner]

I'd get hand feed formula at home as backup. Now what was normally a kind of stressful shipping experience has turned into a long haul. He'll probably be ok but depending on how young he is may regress. If he eats whatever he was weened on great, stick with it. But if he's refusing to eat, considering he probably lost weight being shipped so long, you may have to do a little hand feeding. You don't even need a syringe, just offer it from a spoon. If you can't get formula but need something to feed, you can try oatmeal. Serve the food warm but cool enough that you can comfortably touch it to your finger or lip without getting burnt. This could be done to stimulate a young bird to eat that is too traumatized to feed itself.

And if it won't eat the oatmeal/formula, feed it anything it will eat. Apple sauce comes to mind as an easily accepted, palpable energy source (as long as it's organic with no added sugars/preservatives). Literally, give it anything (obviously except chocolate/avocado/coffee/alcohol/anything else that will kill it) to that it will accept to give it energy to recover and make up for the long wait, during part of which it may have been starved.

Here's hoping that it will eat on its own, though. Do you have the current diet he was weaned on ready at home?

[Michael]

Also, hope you have a vet available on standby. Don't mean to make you worry too much. Just talking about preparation, not trying to scare you. Most likely the bird is fine and would have just as likely not eaten at home on the first day. It's just that now even more time will pass so if it ends up "not eating at home the first day" that will really be two days as the result of the delay. It's generally a good idea to get a bird to the vet soon after getting but with this situation it's not out of question you may need to the same day. So just make sure you have your vet's info handy and possibly make an appointment.

Honestly though I think the bird will be fine. They can go 2-3 days without food. It's just that you're losing some of your buffer with the delay so you need to be more prepared.

[GlassOnion]

There's nothing wrong with shipping, the area is temperature-controlled as well as environmentally stable with no bumps or loud sounds. Lengthy, bumpy car rides in busy traffic are a lot more stressful for the babies and can cause car sickness.

[paper_lantern]

Great news everyone! I picked up Furbie today and he is doing very well. Michael I did have a vet on standby, and I will get him checked out soon but for now he seems great. He actually came right to me and we did cuddle and play a bit. When I put him in his cage for the first time he went right for the pellets, and he even ate a bit of the quinoa I had made!

I'm so relieved, and happy to have him with me!

[laducockatiel]

Great news everyone! I picked up Furbie today and he is doing very well. Michael I did have a vet on standby, and I will get him checked out soon but for now he seems great. He actually came right to me and we did cuddle and play a bit. When I put him in his cage for the first time he went right for the pellets, and he even ate a bit of the quinoa I had made!

I'm so relieved, and happy to have him with me!

*sigh of relief* I'm do happy he is doing ok! I was worried for him, but I'm glad he is ok.