Anybody with birds?

[Liltttzr]

The better half and I ( well mostly her). Were called in to help rescue 2 conures. We have been working with them for about 2weeks now. They were afraid of people when we caught them. Now after getting their health back ( vet and full checkup, hungry but ok other than shots they needed) and working with them, the one has claimed me? When he see's me putting on my coat. He climbs out of the cage onto the couch, then climbs under my jacket to go with. At first I put him down but he throws a fit after I go out the door. So now he goes with me to the doctors and out to the store. They both have been really good they even let you know when they have to go potty? As long as they are with wife or me they have not shown any aggression. So I have sent the paperwork in for their passport's. Registered them with CITES and now we wait. Was wondering if anybody travels with their birds. We have done more than a couple rescues and always got them to new homes but these two have seemed to claim the nest (so to say).:sly:

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[belizesailor]

Likely need to change your gender references. Parrots are cross-species gender concious. The "he" that has bonded with you is almost certainly a "she".

I have a few parrots ashore and have cruised with a parrot. Crossing international borders with a bird (particularly any CITIES protected species) can be a real PITA.

One parrot I have ashore is a result of those issues...bird naive cruisers bought a local wild caught parrot (very bad action on many levels) and only later discovered the legal issues. Unfortunately by that time they had bonded so leaving the bird ashore with us was traumatic for both bird and humans. Took the parrot a long time to recover.

[Liltttzr]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Likely need to change your gender references. Parrots are cross-species gender concious. The "he" that has bonded with you is almost certainly a "she".

I have a few parrots ashore and have cruised with a parrot. Crossing international borders with a bird (particularly any CITIES protected species) can be a real PITA.

One parrot I have ashore is a result of those issues...bird naive cruisers bought a local wild caught parrot (very bad action on many levels) and only later discovered the legal issues. Unfortunately by that time they had bonded so leaving the bird ashore with us was traumatic for both bird and humans. Took the parrot a long time to recover.

Yes, lucky for us both of them are from breeders and were banded when young. CITIES have confirmed that they were bred into cap. Very sorry to hear about your little one...I have rescued a lot from ducks to emu's. This is the first time for this type. They only took about 3 day's to realize that we mean food for them. I did not know that they are gender conscious!!! I have done a little reading on them but... They are to have microchips (ID) put in January. The rescue that we help chip all of the animals. Just wanted to know of others who have gone before. Thank you very much and Happy Holiday's to you and yours!:thumbup:

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[Macblaze]

This guy sails with his parrot in the caribbean...

http://youtu.be/K1tNn1xdhRw

Aaaargh, how do you embed the d#mn video...

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Liltttzr

Yes, lucky for us both of them are from breeders and were banded when young. CITIES have confirmed that they were bred into cap. Very sorry to hear about your little one...I have rescued a lot from ducks to emu's. This is the first time for this type. They only took about 3 day's to realize that we mean food for them. I did not know that they are gender conscious!!! I have done a little reading on them but... They are to have microchips (ID) put in January. The rescue that we help chip all of the animals. Just wanted to know of others who have gone before. Thank you very much and Happy Holiday's to you and yours!:thumbup:

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Captive bred and banded will help. As I understand it, you can get CITIES approval for wild rescuses, but its more difficult. The wild caught Amazon we adopted is of course not banded, but the African Grey and Green Wing McCaw are both banded and have traveled extensively (esp the Grey who cruised with us).

The chips will help also. Some places, like the Caymans, require them.

Official regulations and actual enforcement vary a lot from country to country, but its best to be prepared per the official law. We prepared many times per law only to find officials on the ground who could care less (better than the opposite).

[hpeer]

We haven 32(ish) year old grey, wild caught. FREAKS at the sight of gloves. We got him at 7 years old. Years ago my energetic son cut the band off. He is deeply attached to my wife. He occassionally attaches to me, usually the third finger, second joint! He's a bit of a plucker.

Looking forward to cruising and not a clue about what to do with the bird.

We had lories for a bit. The last one was so deeply attached to me he would attack the wife when ever possible. But he got sick and passed, I really missed the little bugger. He loved to lay on his back on my belly and wrestle with my fingers, or clean my teeth.

[belizesailor]

Yeah, wild caught is going to be a paperwork problem. I would start that process very early. And its hard to have someone else keep them because of the bonding. The little Amazon we adopted was distraught upon being left with us...and the Greys are even more intelligent and complex.

[Liltttzr]

Thank you one and all. The 2 just have pushed their way into our family. They still are skidish at times, but we do not try to push them too much. They really must have been through some tough times. They do have their preference though. One with me, other my wife. Gemi likes to nip at me but will step up after some coaching. He flips out if I try to hold him in my hands. But we have just got them their travel tote. So hope fully by spring next year will start them out on the Ohio river then off to lake Erie for a week at a clip. Did any one use a harness with your birds? I was thinking it might be a good idea, never know about the wind kicking up!

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[Liltttzr]

P.S. happy holidays to all!


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[belizesailor]

Never tried a harness, but we did have a no pets above decks when underway policy and a fully enclosed cockpit. We had a perch area set up for our Grey in the cockpit and a at night she slept in a cage below.

Careful with parrots around water, they dont swim well and typically dont survive very long after landing in the water (their feathers are not waterproof like water fowl).