Stress on a Parrot that is shipped????

[DanaandPod]

Hi. Wolf and Pajorita! Could you both please comment about your thoughts/suggestions or if you disagree with shipping a parrot. I live in Connecticut and found another parrot. A female Meyer's living in Ohio. The owner says she does not have the heart to ship it due to the stress it would cause. It is a three year old bird. I know nothing about shipping. I would like your commentary as specific and sincere as possible if shipping a parrot is good or not to do. If it is okay, I want to use your comments to pursuade her. I just cannot find one of these birds unless i go to a breeder which i dont want to do for reason of cost but also I dont want to support breeding parrots. I plan to get a big cage... and if they actually bond...maybe take out the side of both and connect them. Into one big cage. And, in fact, I have found a huge cage listed and connect it to this one I already have possibly. Thanks...

[liz]

Dana, that was my idea about cages too. I now have 11 cockatiels which last year I would have thought were too many. I have not added Phoenix or Flutter to the group yet but did connect Cagney and Lacy's cage to the flight cage for more room. I have two more flight cages coming in today and will try to attach them end to end so they will have nine feet to flight in when I can't take them out.

My feelings on shipping (and take it with a grain of salt) is a no. I allowed myself two day to drive, stay overnight with Myrtle in a motel then drive back. Even that was rough on her but she could see me and I talked to her all the way back. Even though she was scared of everything she accepted I was her new human. She learned "hold on" before we got home. I always told my kids that when I was going to make a turn. I am grateful that she did not learn "recalculating".

[Wolf]

Well I am sure that shipping has made some improvements over the years but unless you can get same day delivery I would do my very best to avoid it. Pajarita is far more knowledgeable than I am about this as I have never shipped a parrot and have only ever had baby chicks shipped to me with a guaranteed next day delivery and still had a percentage of dead babies. Parrots are more delicate than biddies.
You really can't use a bird from a breeder for your Pod due to age differences, ie, one, Pod, being an adult and the other being a baby. Of course you might be able to get a retired breeder hen, but that has its own can of worms.
I drove from here in NC to NJ to pick up Skeeter, my parrotlet.

[Pajarita]

I am completely against shipping animals. I flew to California from New Jersey and back the following day to pick up Zoey. Parrots are intelligent animals so they are very much aware of their surroundings and conditions - and they already live with too much stress, as it is. Putting one of them in a box that is going to be moved all over the place, put on a conveyor's belt, etc is completely unconscionable in my opinion as it would terrify the poor thing. My rule is: If I would not do it to a child, I don't do it to an animal that has self-awareness.

What happened to the jardine in Manhattan?

[Michael]

Shipping isn't great and obviously best avoided but it's not as bad as it seems either. Truman was shipped from Florida to me no problem. Ideally go to pick it up yourself though.

Use only direct flights. Never do connections cause if the connection is botched, the animal is screwed.

Even if you disagree with shipping (or the relinquisher does), ask if this is for the animal's sake. If she has nobody else to adopt to and this is the only chance, then it may be the animal's only hope. On the other hand if she has a list of local people who are interested, then the bird may be better off going to someone there than being shipped.

My biggest concern for seller/buyer is not meeting each other in person. If I were the seller I would be nervous about who it would end up with (that is a relinquisher who cares about the bird rather than some junky looking for a quick buck). If I were the buyer, I would be worried about being scammed for money and no bird. There are plenty of other reasons to avoid such transactions. Shipping is just one of the dilemmas you will face on an impersonal bird transaction.

[DanaandPod]

Liz, yes...Recalculating would have been terrible to hear all of the time! lol Thank you Wolf, Parjarita and Michael! Well, the idea of sending Pod off that way would utterly break me... but if it was only one day and one direct flight compared to a life time ahead... then that is different. Of course, I am not the most ideal of circumstances living in an apartment...but yet better than some because i am caring and not neglectful. Heck, I have learned to put other things aside like tonight when i came home late...and was yelled at by my parrot... instead of doing some other things I wanted... I spent the hour on the floor playing peek a book and playing twinkle twinkle little star on a xylophone. Much like having a child. I can't believe that I never thought about whether or not they could scam me. I am just trying so hard to make Pod happy. The guy in NYC wanted someone there to adopt the bird. When I told him I was willing to travel there in a couple weeks to interview...and had asked about the bird and food it eats etc. I never heard from him again. But, if the case be that they may not bond...I was more interested then in getting another kind of bird. And, I like what i have been reading and seeing about the Meyer's. (If I had a house....I'd want a Cape though) Either way... there doesnt seem to be any Meyer's or Jardines around here!

[liz]

There was a pair of CAGs in Kentucky in desperate need of a rehome and quickly. The guy said I could have them for free but I would have to pay for the shipping. He told me to send a check to a third party who would set up the shipping. I told him I do not believe in shipping and would drive to get them.
Never heard from him again.

[marie83]

I too would avoid shipping where possible.
I don't generally have an desire to support breeders but if its your only option to get a companion wouldn't the cost of the shipping be as or nearly as expensive as one from a breeder?

[Pajarita]

Marie, the reason why we don't recommend she goes to a breeder is that the purpose is for the male bird to bond with a female and that won't happen with a baby - also, as he is overly hormonal, he might attack the baby when she doesn't accept his sexual advances so it's better to get an adult.

[marie83]

Every breeder works differently of course but Ollies breeder also rehomes older ones- he insists but obviously cannot enforce on having his babies back if the new owners can no longer care for them. That is why I made the suggestion. Or a breeder may at least be able to point in the direction of someone who is trying to rehome.