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Travelling With Pet Birds or Parrots

Published on Wednesday, 4th January 2017
Filed under Avian Articles

Look around your store, you probably have a variety of solutions for your customers wanting and needing ways to spend time and enrich their pets' lives outside of their home as well as ways to safely transport them from one place to another.

Extendable leads, car harnesses and carriers are a few of the more obvious ones for your dog, cat and small animal customers, but what options are there for pet birds and Parrots?

These intelligent companions thrive on social interaction. As a result, your bird keeping customers are increasingly looking to spend their money on accessories that enrich their bird's lives, enable them to spend more time with them away from the home and transport them safely.

Some of the main reasons include, trips to vets, weekend breaks or even longer holidays, visiting family, taking them to work, exercise and simply enjoying the great outdoors; would it surprise you to know people take their birds out to the shops or walking in the countryside?

So let’s explore and look at a some of the solutions available for this niche yet lucrative section of the pet market.

Travel Cages (or Carriers)
Most pet bird and Parrot owners buy the largest cages they can for their bird to live in at home, so they have as much room as possible to play and exercise. Their size and weight means they can’t just pick it up, put in a car and off they go.



It’s not always easy to find a bird sitter who can devote the time and attention needed. Plus, Parrots generally find anything or anyone new along with changes to routine unsettling and stressful.

There’s been an increase in the number of pet bird and Parrot specific boarding facilities, however, many owners find it difficult to leave their bird with someone they don’t know. Plus, there may not be anyone local and if they’re going away for a few days or longer it’s an added expense.

Travel cages specifically designed for birds provide a safe and secure way to transport them. It may be tempting to sell a plastic carrier, but these can easily be chewed and damaged by a Parrot's powerful beak, and the last thing we want is for their feathered friend to escape, become ill or injured.

Travel carriers for birds should be made with zinc and lead free metals and paints, (lead and zinc are toxic to birds if ingested). They should have a perch so the bird can stand in a natural position, have feeders for food and water and a secure locking mechanism to prevent escapes. 

There are number of suitable carriers (included back pack styled ones) on the market nowadays for all sizes of pet birds and Parrots, some even have removable trays to make cleaning easier, can be folded flat for easy storage and quickly assembled again when needed.



A travel cage makes a great temporary home away from home (or should that be cage away from cage) for short holidays, as well as a secure comfortable way to travel to the vet or work for example; definitely a good investment and something you should consider offering.

Tips
-          It may be an idea for your customer to use non-tipping or gravity style feeders to help prevent food and water loss / mess.
-          Hanging toys may be a hazard when travelling, toys can swing about and bang into the bird. Suggest your customers buy a selection of foot toys instead.
-          Some birds get nervous whilst travelling; covering them up can help reduce the stress.

Parrot Harnesses
These products have actually been available for a long time and have continue to increase in popularity to the point where they are now virtually an essential part of a Parrot owners kit.



Birds are designed to fly – and learning to and having the opportunity fly regularly helps keep them fit and healthy, improves co-ordinated, self-confidence and self-esteem.

Once fitted, a Parrot harness allows bird and owner to venture outdoors in a way not possible with a travel cage or carrier. It’s the element of freedom, in a controlled and safe way.

Harnesses typically come with a lead; and in the case of the Aviator Harness an elasticated leash to reduce that sudden jolt should the bird fly too far. There’s even an additional Aviator Flight Line that attaches to the light weight harness and allows the bird to fly in a large area whilst being securely tethered.

Parrot owners use harnesses not only to allow their bird to exercise, but to take them out and about, to the shops, to friends and family, to work or out on walks. The change of scenery, sights and sounds offers enrichment, they get to interact with other people, and enjoy the benefits of natural UV light; just what they need to improve their health and wellbeing.

Birds need UV rays to synthesise Vitamin D3 for proper calcium metabolism for strong bones and egg production. It also enables them to see in the full spectrum of light, they can see many more colours than us humans and without the correct levels of UV their sight is restricted.

Popular sizes include those for African Greys, Amazons, Cockatoos and Macaws.

With a little bit of thought and planning your customer and their bird can be enjoying the world together. 



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