Shipping Parrotlets, Speaking Engagements, Parrotlet Handbook

Hi Sandee,

Thank you very much for your referral. I contacted one of the breeders and mentioned your name. I hope to hear back from him.

I have to admit that the thought of having a bird – especially a bird as small as a parrotlet – being shipped makes me very paranoid. I do see you also breed your own birds. Have you shipped your babies to Indiana or the surrounding states? Did they have to switch airplanes and travel for half a day without water, food, and any interaction? I noticed that one of the parrotlet books by Barons is authored by you. Just by looking at the pictures in the book, I can see you raise top-quality healthy parrotlets.

Mine passed away on April 24 at the age of 13 after a very brief illness. He peacefully went into sleep in my husband’s hand. My other flock members (green cheek, African Grey, Solomon Island Eclectus, and cockatiel) miss him as much as I do. The dynamic of the flock changed, and I can tell they miss him a lot.

I have been looking for another parrotlet for my flock, my husband, and myself for quite a while without any success. So I really appreciate your information. Do you have many parrotlet for sale? Do you have any plan to be at a bird show in this area?

Again, thank you so much for responding to my email. Your blog page is wonderful. I will start visiting it frequently.

I am so glad you contacted Conrad. He has magnificent birds and I’m sure you will be happy with one you get from him. I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your parrotlet – 13 is considered very old these days so I’m sure he must have had a very long, happy, well-cared for life.

I can understand how it would be scary for people who aren’t familiar with shipping birds to have misconceptions about it. It is perfectly safe and harmless for the birds; as I stated, they are used to being kept in small confined areas and the airlines must, by law, provide them with a climate-controlled, pressurized environment. I ship my birds with food and water sources in specially designed cages and containers. They are large enough to allow the bird to have movement but not so big as to have them be subjected to injury. I try to use direct flights but even if I can’t, I ship the birds ‘counter-to-counter’ not cargo. This means the birds are hand-carried on the plane and off and transported directly to the next flight by a human being. They are never left in the elements or warehouse and the airlines take excellent care of them. As I said, I’ve been doing this for more than 20 years and have never had a problem of any kind.

It’s important to remember that good breeders spend so much time and money caring, feeding and socializing their birds. The price I charge does not cover the costs or time it takes to raise a parrotlet to weaning and placement in its new home. I would never do anything that would jeopardize the safety or comfort of my birds and would never ship them if there was any danger involved.

I have only recently set my birds up for breeding as I was caring for my mother who died of cancer. I do have several pair on eggs and expect to have babies available soon. I have no plans to be in your area anytime soon although I was in Chicago earlier this month speaking at a bird club. I do have a Facebook page for The Parrotlet Ranch where I post my speaking engagements.

Thank you for your very kind compliments about my birds, my book and my blog. I sincerely appreciate it. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!