Comments By Plot Twist!

Yeah, like some airlines let you bring pet birds with you like you might bring a cat etc. Doesn't bother them the same way.

As for car sickness, I'll probably drive them around for a few hours in my car to see how they respond since it's been yeeeaaars, before I really consider sticking them in a truck for a month. I read that not letting them see out the side of the vehicle is key, which shouldn't be much problem in the back (and I tend to keep a beach towel wrapped around the sides and back of the cage anyway). I've also seen people say here and there that the more a bird flies, the less likely they are to get motion sick in a car.

My finches are in a flight cage and fly and fly and fly. When they invariably escape during any kind of cage transfer etc, it takes forever for them to wear out of flapping around in my bathroom (only room I do these things in, with the toilet seat down of course). They're strong little fuzzballs! Usually caged finches wear out fast, but my pair are a couple of workout fiends and they're in a big enough cage to do loops while also having four or five different perches (of different sizes and shapes, for toe health) that they land on whenever.

Yeah, like some airlines let you bring pet birds with you like you might bring a cat etc. Doesn't bother them the same way.

As for car sickness, I'll probably drive them around for a few hours in my car to see how they respond since it's been yeeeaaars, before I really consider sticking them in a truck for a month. I read that not letting them see out the side of the vehicle is key, which shouldn't be much problem in the back (and I tend to keep a beach towel wrapped around the sides and back of the cage anyway). I've also seen people say here and there that the more a bird flies, the less likely they are to get motion sick in a car.

My finches are in a flight cage and fly and fly and fly. When they invariably escape during any kind of cage transfer etc, it takes forever for them to wear out of flapping around in my bathroom (only room I do these things in, with the toilet seat down of course). They're strong little fuzzballs! Usually caged finches wear out fast, but my pair are a couple of workout fiends and they're in a big enough cage to do loops while also having four or five different perches (of different sizes and shapes, for toe health) that they land on whenever.

My Grey and one of the two Caiques use the trash can and the toilet. And yes in the cage when they must, the other Caique was a rescue and she is coming around slowly. But we haven't been training her as we did the other two. White paper plates. Put one in the area right in front of the door to the cage, open the door, bird climbs out and uses the bathroom on the plate... do this for a couple weeks and move the plate to the trashcan. Yes change the plate after each use.

So my favorite speach thing that happend with my Grey was when he learned the difference between a bath and a shower... Greys are powder birds vs oily skin... He would say "wanna take a shower" he goes in a stands on the curtain rod and soaks up the steam... well one day he said "wanna take a bath" so I filled the tub up and put him in. He looked at me and said "WANNA TAKE A SHOWER!!!) and sounded just like a little kid and even put inflection on the word shower...

I couldn't quit laughing and smile every time I think of that.

Ahaha, he learned an important lesson that day: be careful what you ask for!

Luckily my grey has another slave "my wife" and he tolerates her especially since while on my hometime I make up stuff for him to get daily like dried fruits and some but not many nuts and plastic and wood toys in coffee filters. And put them in an old pellet bucket to stay fresh and she puts them around his cage for him to find. But with her putting them into his cage I think that gives her cool points in his eyes.

Anyone reading this that doesn't have FIDS or Feathered kIDS, yes they can be just like kids... different moods, bribery is common, And you will have times that they will surprise you with just how smart they are. A dog can be kicked by it's owner and still seek affection from him. I have a Caique small 6-8 inchs tall.. And birds get pin feathers that hurt if touched the wrong way. This Caique will come up to be petted or scratched knowing she has pins that hurt and still rub her head against your hand and if it hurts her she'll bite the crap out of you for revenge. If you move your hand away from her she will chase it down and not stop till she gets her revenge. She won't naw on you forever but she will make it "even"

My Grey talks alot but occasionally gets bored and starts being loud to get our other two birds going then he'll be quiet for a few minutes and then tell the other two birds "cut it out your being to loud"

On top of that, for the uninitiated, an african grey is the size of a housecat. And can take a thumb off.

I've never had a Caique. We had a grey in the house when I was a kid, and I've had a few 'tiels, and a two species of finch (who... obviously aren't parrots, lol). You can hand-train finches, but it's a lot of work and with so many cats around in my case, not nearly worth the risk. One chomp or claw swipe and a finch would be toast. Cats can even kill them through the bars of the cage, which is part of why I'd rather have them with me. Roommate staying behind can take care of the cats who will scream bloody murder if they run out of food or water, but even finches... they're, mnnn, I wouldn't say "higher maintenance", but more caution has to be taken.

Thankfully because they're not parrots they're quite pleased to just be in their (nice and large, for them) cage. I definitely won't have bird poop all over my truck. IDK how people truck with even the most travel-happy of parrots unless they are On The Ball about cleanup, because parrots aren't pleased to just chill in their cage all day every day. They're too smart for it.

How heavy or light your load will make a difference. Also if you have your load balanced. Lighter loads I can feel the trailer bounce, but not much effects up front. Hitting a hard bump with a heavy load tends to toss my truck around pretty good.

Hm, noted. I may need to come up with some way to cushion them extra-good regardless of the truck itself.

How heavy or light your load will make a difference. Also if you have your load balanced. Lighter loads I can feel the trailer bounce, but not much effects up front. Hitting a hard bump with a heavy load tends to toss my truck around pretty good.

You can always tell when it's a good one.... All the doors for the cabinets are open.

Same with RVs. If it can swing, rattle, or open, it will.

I thought about bringing my Grey in the beginning but I just couldn't do it and he is "my bird" so he has alot more fits while I'm gone.

But he's a happy camper when I get home. He won't shut up for the first few hours "just to make sure he gets all my attention for awhile"

I also recommend checking out a Pack O Bird. Other companies might make them now but for the times you have to get out of your truck like at some shops while in for service it makes life a little easier and they collapse down to nothing.

Oh, that's a good carrier. I hadn't found that in my research for carrier cages without gaping gaps in them (finch bodies are like, the size of shooter marbles under all those feathers). Onto my list of things to get, it goes.

Parrots are all such babies, though I suspect my cats will be just as needy whenever I'm home. They like the roommate who will be taking care of them well enough, but I'm me. Pretty sure they'll be first on the list for attention whenever I get home, followed by my car getting all its fluids cycled around and its two whole axles (!) moved. Cars need to be ran once in a while or all kinds of stuff goes bad with them, and no one touches my machine child but me. :)

(I'm going to be such a nuisance for the mechanics if I'm not careful, just pelting them with questions... I may have already started learning the basics of diesels. But, I won't wrench on it if it's not mine unless it's something stupidly simple like clamping a hose back on or cleaning off an electrical ground that's getting grumpy.)

It depends on the truck. The 2010 cascadia I trained in bounced so much I asked the mechanic if the shock absorbers were still functioning. But in the 2015 Cascadia I slept great and didn't notice too much bounce.

I have a cat who sits on his pole while .driving and he rarely gets jolted. I know cats are different. Best I can day though lol no experience with birds.

One thing to think about is asking companies if they would allow birds. Some only do cats n dogs.

Yeah, I suspect it'll end up being a "wait and see what my solo truck actually is" situation. I plan to have my birds in my criteria for choosing a company regardless, if I don't find any other compelling reasons not to bring the birds. I would just be too worried about them in anyone else's care. Experienced as I am with finches (well over a decade now), I know how to jump most of the hurdles including in emergency situations.

I've been sniffing around fulltimer RV forums for travel specific issues, but a truck is a lot smaller living space with a lot more work it has to do. Bounce is the main thing RVs don't have to consider (for caged pets) as compared to a semi. RV suspension goes down the whole body, and doesn't have to carry nearly as much weight.

I've been in trucks that don't bounce to terribly bad but not many. If it's not well secured it's not where you left it.

My Caiques get car sick so.. My Grey just stares at me hopeful that he isn't going to see the man in the white coat that puts him in a towel and does other mean things to him.

If my birds come along I plan to wrap a strap around the whole bottom mattress and secure it over the top of the cage, with the cage facing forward.

I'll also be zip-tying all the joints of the cage to make damn sure nothing pops apart.

Also I know you mentioned not wanting to hear about bord basics but one you may not have thought of.

Canaries were used in caves for the sole purpose of gas detection.

Be very vigilant in your pretrip while looking at the exhaust including underneath the cab.

Oh, trust me, I'm on it. I'm extremely chemically-sensitive myself. I've done alright as a DIY mechanic but that's in an open airspace, inside I'm damn near a canary myself. I plan to have a few flavors of detectors in the cab for extra measures.

Yeah, I've taken the finches on a 12 hour drive before in the cab of U-haul, and they were fine with it. But if it's mega super bouncy all the time I'm concerned about that. Vibration, I can counter (after sufficient time for the materials to de-gas, of course). But big shaky boom-boom bounces? Not so easily.

How bad does your truck bounce around when going down the road? People talk about being nearly bounced out of the bunk when team driving, but I -- having never been in a moving 18 wheeler -- don't know how much of that is exaggeration and how much of it isn't.

Please note, I'm not asking how easy or hard it is to sleep during team runs. That's just the only time I've seen it come up. And I know the seats have some suspension, but I'm also not asking about that. Literally, how much does the truck bounce around. Just on average; I know some roads are smoother than others, and some are washboards. (I've done plenty of 12-to-24-hour straight drives all around the west in a car with a 23 year old suspension. I'm under no illusions that the road is smooth and silky.)

Asking for the sake of potential pet passengers who would be strapped to the bottom bunk during driving. Tiny and notably hardy birds, in their flight cage, to be specific.

Disclaimers time: I already know how to keep their temperatures regulated without power for extended periods, etc. How to set up the cage to not have swinging nonsense inside it; how to avoid water and food spillage, etc. If I hit a really rough patch, the cage gets some nice soothing darkness. Not a novice at birds, just at trucking.

And I know I may have trouble finding a company that'll let me take something besides a cat or a dog. Understood. Right now I'm just considering logistics from inside the cab, not from inside the company (yet). If I can figure out the former, then I will worry about the latter. Company policy won't be relevant if I decide I can't safely bring my single cage, single pair of zebra finches to begin with.

The potential bouncing is all that I can't account for, not having experienced it. Sorry if my disclaimers seem a bit much, just trying to head off being told about bird basics. Unless you keep tiny, hardy cage-only birds in your truck, then by all means, dish them details.