Travelling with a parrotlet

[NBGwen]

Good morning all (well, it's morning here lol).

In about 3 weeks I'll be travelling 8 hrs to visit friends for a girls weekend. It's only two nights (8hrs both ways). Kalypso is only going to be 4 months old at that time. I love bonding with her and her flight suit should arrive this week.

Would it stress her out too much to take her with me? I have a cage I can take which she'll sleep in (it's not a small travel cage, more of a budgie size cage). Most of the time she'll be out with me except if the ladies and I go out. The cage I have also has a top that opens up for her to perch on. My husband thinks it would be too much stress for her to travel like that. Part of me agrees, but I'm worried she won't get taken out much while I'm away. She shares a large flight cage with my budgie, Pi (I let her sleep in it with him for the first time last night and they did great!), but really loves to come out for scritches and treats (she's a wee bit spoiled ).

So, I'm mostly looking for a yes or no answer - has anyone done travelling with their parrotlet? Would it be too much in such a short span? Would it be ok since she'll be with me and out of the cage most of the time?

Thanks all!

 

[GracefulWolf]

All my parrotlets love to travel. I took my first parrotlet, Zazu, on about 8 hour road trip with me when he was about 4 months old. He had a lot of fun. He always had fun on road trips. He would be chirping and playing in his cage. If I took him out, he’d cuddle in my hair, play with me, check out my phone or the book I was reading. I haven’t taken my current p’lets on road trips, but I have taken them with me just driving around normally. They also spend the time chirping and playing in their cages. When I took them to the vet for a check up, I played their Pandora station for them. They loved that. They got to chirp along to their favorite parts on our way there and back. I use wire hamster cages for traveling. They work well for me.

Side note, I really wouldn’t let your parrotlet share a cage with your budgie. Parrotlets are extremely cage territorial. When she hits puberty in a few months, you may come home one day to find your budgie missing toes or dead. It’s very common for parrotlets to kill other birds when they share a cage, even if they’re another parrotlet.

 

[BirdManDan]

I personally take our birds with me one at a time to go shopping, for walks or run errands. This way they get used going in the SUV and to new places for random socialization to many new things and people. When we travel from South Florida to the Georgia mountains an 11 hour trip they have travel carriers. We keep cages in the home up in Georgia so we don't have to travel with all those cages. If you don't have a permanent home for vacations traveling will require a lot more work. I don't envy that!

 

[NBGwen]

Thank you for the input! I thought she would be fine, hubs thought otherwise. Looks like I was right this time

As for them being housed together, I am very aware of potential issues (I did a lot of research before deciding). She usually gets put in her own cage so she has her own space, but they share during the day. There's only 3 days a week that they would be alone for about 5 hrs at most (my husband works part-time). I've told him that when I am working, I would like him to mind them to make sure there's no fighting.

Pi is loving her company. I lost my Lemon (a budgie) just before getting Kalypso and Pi misses her so much. Kalypso has been good for him. He doesn't seem as timid either! I only let Kalypso stay in last night as she was tired, I was exhausted and I knew I would be up before they were lol (I've had health issues the last little bit). She gets out a LOT (I can't take Pi out, he's fully flighted and terrified of everything - he's pet store budgie...I've not had much success gaining his trust yet) and loves just sitting with me. So...no worries, I'm on top of it and hope to make more room for both of them as well (would love to build an aviary for them!).

 

[Princessbella]

Starting travel early is good because she will be more apt to enjoy it when she is older. I drove Bella 8 hours when she was 5 months old and now she loves to travel