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Traveling with baby birds

© Mary Wilson

I'm not called "Mary's Zoo" for nothing. On my twice monthly trips to see my significant other who lives two and a half hours away, I usually am taking one animal or another. Birds to drop off at my mother's home (I was caring for her finches and parakeets while she was sick), birds to sell, or in this case, baby parakeets to be handfed. While caring for my mother's birds, her male parakeet, Hanz, decided he liked Ozzie, my cinnamon hen. I decided to put them together and see what happened, and four little somethings happened.

The parakeets are almost weaned now, which makes traveling with them much easier. I like to use the plastic "Kritter Karriers" that can be purchased for under $10 that can be purchased at a pet store. I line the bottom with a wash cloth for long trips, paper towels for daily use, and place the squirming, feathered babies inside.

Those of you who are parents can imagine a long car ride during which the children chant "Are we they're yet? I'm hungry." This is the same mantra, albeit in bird language, that the baby parakeets squawked during the entire trip. Thankfully, I'm patient when it comes to my birdies, and simply turned the radio up louder. Of course, the parakeets tried to out shout the radio, but eventually, we arrived.

A quick note about what to take when traveling with handfeeding babies. Of course you need to take along your formula, plenty if you're going away for a while. The local pet stores may not carry your favorite brand, and it is not advised to switch formula brands mid-feeding. Also, take along enough water to mix up the formula while you are visiting. The change in local water will change the taste of the formula, and the difference might be enough to cause digestive problems such as slow crop. You will also need to take along your mixing containers (I like disposable paper cups), syringes, disinfecting solution, and enough paper towels for the bottom of the carrier.

If your babies are feathered, like mine, then they will not need a supplemental heat source to travel. For younger babies, I like to microwave a wash cloth for about 1 minute, place it in plastic bag, and then cover with plenty of towels (hand or dish towel folded at least twice), so that the birds can seek out the heat level they want. The dish cloth will get quite warm in the microwave, so be sure you do not burn your babies. The carriers I use allow me to fold a dish towel in half, and I do this, and place my make-shift heat source under both layers. I find that the heat lasts about 30-45 minutes, and on a longer trip, I'm sure you can find microwaves at rest areas or convenience stores.

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