Moving cross country?

[Domothebudgie]

Hey everyone!
It’s been a while since my last post, but I’m finally almost done with college!
I have a job opportunity starting in a few months, but it would require me to move across the country. I will be in an apartment for at least the first 2-3 months, and will then either move back home or find a house to rent. I don’t think I can keep him in an apartment with me due to the noise, so might take longer to actually find a place that we can stay.
my biggest concern is with gonzo(slender billed corella/cockatoo). My plan is to leave him at home(where I’m currently staying) with my parents. they love and adore him, but have never really spent 4-5 hours a day playing with him, showering him, etc. and this would obviously be a huge ask of them to take care of him for that long.
Another option would be to take him to a boarding facility. He absolutely loves the hotel I board him at, and gets to talk to plenty of people/birds. But the issue is he won’t be able to leave his cage very often since he’s flighted, unless I clip his wings. And staying away from home for that long without family might be too much, the longest we’ve had him there was 3 weeks.
Has any had experience with this, or any suggestions? Thank!

 

[donutweall]

I'm also facing a cross country move, which looks to be a 40 hour drive with my budgie flock. I decided to take them with me via car, because it's hard to find an airline that would let me take 4 in the cabin. Frontier may have worked if I bought multiple seats, but they also have limits on the number of pets allowed per flight. And I think they would be too stressed in the cargo hold (and I don't trust the baggage handling service not to leave them in the sun as the weather is getting hotter).

It's going to be very hard to fly with multiple birds of different species. If you go the driving route, it's hard to do multiple times.

Pet friendly apartments, which are hard enough to find in the first place, often don't allow birds. Same applies for hotels/Airbnb if you're driving cross country, be sure to ask ahead of time.

So I'd support leaving your birds with your parents, especially if that's where they've been living before. Boarding them for months may also be very expensive. Good luck with the new job!

 

[Xoetix]

I feel like, in the big picture, 3 months isn't that long to leave him at home with your parents - are they able to give him at least a couple hours out of the cage?

Also, that way you wouldn't have to clip him. And being around familiar people would probably be better for him for that amount of time.

 

[Domothebudgie]

I'm also facing a cross country move, which looks to be a 40 hour drive with my budgie flock. I decided to take them with me via car, because it's hard to find an airline that would let me take 4 in the cabin. Frontier may have worked if I bought multiple seats, but they also have limits on the number of pets allowed per flight. And I think they would be too stressed in the cargo hold (and I don't trust the baggage handling service not to leave them in the sun as the weather is getting hotter).

It's going to be very hard to fly with multiple birds of different species. If you go the driving route, it's hard to do multiple times.

Pet friendly apartments, which are hard enough to find in the first place, often don't allow birds. Same applies for hotels/Airbnb if you're driving cross country, be sure to ask ahead of time.

So I'd support leaving your birds with your parents, especially if that's where they've been living before. Boarding them for months may also be very expensive. Good luck with the new job!

thank you! I found a couple pet friendly apartments, but with how loud gonzo is, I’m sure I’d get kicked out within a week!
And I definitely would trust putting my animals in the cargo hold, I’ve heard way too many horror stories. Good luck on your move too!

 

[Domothebudgie]

I feel like, in the big picture, 3 months isn't that long to leave him at home with your parents - are they able to give him at least a couple hours out of the cage?

Also, that way you wouldn't have to clip him. And being around familiar people would probably be better for him for that amount of time.

My parents play/walk him almost daily, but usually only for 30 minutes a day and with me around. They said they’ll probably be able to give him at least 1-2 hrs outside of the cage, but it definelty won’t be the 5-6 hours he’s used to. I might even get a smaller cage for him to hang out in the living room with them.
If I’m being honest, I think the 3 months will be harder for me than for him . At least I’ll be able to FaceTime him if he’s at home!