Small birds and airplanes/car rides?

[LittleBirdAirlines]

I THINK this goes in this forum, heh.

A few of you here know how bad my situation is with my mother. Things got worse, and the bank is taking away her car and house, of where I'm living currently. Instead of helping something she put herself into, I'm leaving. I may go with my father in GA, or I may go to Texas with my cousin.

Either way I go I'll have to fly. I'm fine, but I'm concerned for my bird.

Going to the airport will be an hour drive. Then I have to put her on the plane. I refuse to put her in the back. Absolutely refuse. I hope they will let me bring her with me on my lap if I pay extra or something.

But I'm terrified to bring Nibbles on the plane. She is a small bird, after a long car ride she would be going through a big air port, including the radio activity from the airport security screening, and then going high up in the air in a loud plane for an hour or so.

I don't know if my bird can handle it. She will feel better being with me, I could sneak her out of the cage on my lap and into my shirt during the flight. Has anyone had experiences with bringing a bird on a plane? Do they make it? Is there anything I can do, tips and tricks to make her feel better if it comes to moving out of state? Not sure what to think.

 

[Brigidt36]

Lynz, I might be able to help you out since I work for TSA and do checkpoint screening. First thing you need to do is check with the airline you are ticketed with and ask about their policy on traveling with a bird. Place your bird in an airline approved traveling cage, one that will fit under the seat. Do not fill the water dish until AFTER you go through security. When you get to security, ask the officer checking your ticket and boarding pass if you could please talk to a supervisor. When the supervisor comes, explain that you are traveling with a bird and since animals DO NOT go through the xray, you would like a private screening to ensure your bird will not escape. What generally happens is you will hand the travel carrier to an officer who will hold the carrier with the bird in it until you and your property get screened. Once you have all your belongings, two officers will take you into an enclosed room where you will be asked to take your bird out of it's carrier. HOLD on to your bird, if you have a flight suit or flight harness that will help. One officer will either physically clear your travel carrier or take it to be xrayed, then bring it back. You will then put your bird back into it's carrier and it's done. You might also want to ask the supervisor if there are any officer's who are familiar with parrots, and if there is one on duty, request that officer be part of the screening team. At my airport, I'm the Go To officer when it comes to screening animals, especially birds and reptiles. Under NO circumstances should your bird be put into the xray. It won't really hurt the bird, it's just not a good idea, but we've had pets accidentally xrayed before. When we've had that happen it was always due to the passengers misunderstanding the process. Once you are through security you can then fill your birds water dish or water bottle. If your bird is used to a water bottle, I suggest you go with that as opposed to the dish as the dish will spill. I hope this helps. If you have any other questions I can help you with, feel free to PM me or as in this thread.

 

[Brigidt36]

Oh, and DO NOT attempt to sneak your bird through security and onto the plane. If your bird should get loose catching it at a crowded, busy airport is almost impossible. If a flight attendant saw your bird out of it's carrier on the plane, you may end up being fined or something. I'm not familiar with the various airlines rules and regs.

 

[allison]

Great post Brigid. I've been going back and forth on driving to CA vs flying.
Are the private screening rooms pretty small? I wouldn't want one of my little guys getting out and flying around a big room.
I've considered clipping them before the flight, but i would feel so bad. The little guys are terrified of people, so flight suits would work, and for the big guys, they would have to be trained to like them. Also, I wouldn't want Kei to bite anyone (he flies at strangers and bites them sometimes).
It would be a 20+ hour drive so I'm not sure what would be easiest and least stressful. Plus if I fly I would have to have my dad take 2 and I take the other 2 and each pair would have to be in 1 carrier.

 

[Brigidt36]

Allison, I'm not sure about all airports and the size of their private screening areas. I know ours is a very small room, but def request a private screening in a small room. One other thing you can do to make it easier is to have the bird travel in a small wire type cage. Do not have any toys or other accessories in it (you can keep your toys, etc in your carry on and put them in the cage after you go through security). Only have like one paper towel on the bottom of the cage, this way the officer can just do a visual screening of the cage without removing the bird. Keep a towel in your carry on to cover the cage if the bird becomes frightened from all the activity or if he gets stressed or starts screaming.

 

[LittleBirdAirlines]

Thank you SO much, Brigidt36, for the info. You gave me a lot more info than the actual TSA site did.

Allioson, I was thinking the same thing of clipping her before the flight. But I don't know if I could do such a thing to her. I'm against clipping unless it HAS to be done. ButI don't know, we'll see.

Anyone have tips for bringing a bird on a long car ride too? Maybe an 8~ hour car ride. I'm not so sure which way I'm going to go yet. Thought I'd get ideas for both. Either way I'll have to be in the car for at least 3 hours, since the airport is far away.

But yeah, Brig, I think I'm going to follow your advice and see if it will work. I'll call ahead to before I make reservations and ask that airline if they allow pets or whatever.

Oh and I couldn't sneak Nibbles if I wanted. It's impossible for her to keep quiet. "Excuse me ma'am but your shirt is... squeaking..."

 

[gritsinct]

You asked also about driving... I took a bird to SC from CT last summer (15 hour car ride). I took him to the vet a couple of days before I left to get a last "all clear" for travel. I also started putting him in his travel cage for longer periods a few days before we left so he was very comfortable and accustomed to that cage (I got the biggest cage I could manage to fit upright in my car (had to turn it sideways to get in but then it would sit upright and fasten in seat belt).) I have a small carrier I use for vet trips, etc. and I took him for a few car rides in that in the weeks prior to the trip, to make sure he didn't get car sick (per vet recommendation) and also so that he wouldn't associate every car ride with a vet visit.

There were three of us in the car so he was able to come out and hang out on people's shoulders at times during the trip and also always had someone sitting beside him in the back seat. We covered him when it got dark and car headlights didn't seem to bother him at all.

Overall it was a very successful situation and he appeared to enjoy every minute of it.