Hello,
Moving to Vaud in August or September and wish to bring our 5 year old cockatiel with us. She's a rescue bird that was given to me at the age of 4 months by an animal shelter employee. No receipt, no band, no papers, just the bird.

Have verified that cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus) are not listed in CITES, so no special requirements there.

Have already performed numerous Google searches, looked extensively at related EF (and other) posts and am slowly getting the picture. Everything points to:

http://www.bvet.admin.ch/themen/0161...x.html?lang=en -> "Pet birds from third countries" (the Swiss side of things)

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_exp...rts_pets.shtml -> "Taking Your Pet to a Foreign Country" (the U.S. side of things)

Basically, I *think* I must take the following steps:

1) Get a veterinary certificate (2007/25 Pet birds) completed by an NVAP accredited vet and endorsed by an Official Veterinary from USDA APHIS (might have to be the same vet)

** Here's where I'm a bit confused: "30 days isolation" OR "10 days
observation WITH bird flu test" ? To get the vet certificate in the
U.S., must you leave the bird somewhere for quarantine either 30 days
or 10 days with test? I will call APHIS to ask about this, but would
appreciate hearing from someone who's fulfilled the requirements...

2) find an airline willing to let the bird travel in-cabin with us (most likely Delta)

3) Show the veterinary certificate to Swiss airport vet upon arrival in Geneva

4) Proceed to our new home (i.e. short-term apartment)

5) Try to convince the missus to let me immediately purchase a companion for our bird versus her preference to wait for the neighbors to turn us in...


Is that all there is to it? Am I missing something?

Anyone out there with first-hand experience in bringing a pet bird to Switzerland from the United States and could you share specific steps/tips with me? I'm looking to get an idea of the *entire* process, i.e. if I contact the USDA, I'll only get their side of the story and not an idea of what happens once we land in Geneva.

I have seen one or two people on the EF site that appear to have brought parrots over and if this post does not find volunteers, I will PM them... Wanted to ask for volunteers first before I resort to the draft...

I did the same with my mutt dog. no papers or anything, the vet just made them. The as my roommates dad was a vet he signed the papers that he stayed in quarantine for 40 days. got him chipped and the rest of the paperwork filled out. funny thing was that the only people asking for paperwork was the airline (united...which took VERY good care of him at a cost of 125$ ) and he flew over with me.

Might be similar for a bird

I believe cockatiels ARE exempt from CITES but if I were you I'd confirm that with the local USDA import/export rep. Not having to get a CITES permit hugely simplifies everything. Technically, our parrots should not have required a permit but both the USDA and the FVO decided to interpret the CITES appendicies differently. Check with both the USDA and the FVO on this. During this process, it was very tough to get everyone to be saying the same thing, even though they eventually did.

This is an EU health certificate and it must be stamped by the USDA. These do not have to be the same vet, just an approved vet. Yes, I know that CH is not in the EU but that's what they use.

We did the 30 days without the test. Actually, they did a blood test anyway. You don't have to send the birds away to be quarantined, the key factor is that they have to isolated from other birds. You will have to have an inspector come out from the USDA to check the quarantine area that you choose.

We took our parrots from Seattle to Zurich using Delta. No problems. I'm pretty sure you can't have pets in-cabin on international flights but check with Delta on that. There are only a couple of places that can handle pets so make sure you're going into an airport that handles them. Another thing to consider is that if you can't take your pets in-cabin, you have to make sure that the temperature on the tarmac isn't too high (or too low). If it is, they'll be stuck wherever they are until conditions change. Time your travel accordingly. Ask the airline and your vet about this.

1) You'll also need an airline health certificate for your animal, stamped by the USDA. Ask your vet. this isn't for the vets in CH, it's for the airline.

2) Check on their cage requirements. Delta was pretty easy. British Air was a major pain in the ass (avoid at all costs going through Britain via BA).

3) You'll need to have your bird chipped, if they aren't already, and have the chip info ready to present to authorities if asked. Note that the US and EU chips are different and require different readers. If you can, get the bird to have the EU chip. One of ours had the EU chip and the other had the US chip so we've gone through Zurich with both. ;-)

4) You need an import certificate from the FVO I believe. This is very easy to get and is good for 3 months. Check with the FVO though. My view may be tainted by my experience with importing two CITES birds.

Adding this for future users: If you're reading this 6 months or a year or two years or what have you after I've written it, don't take it as gospel. This stuff changes, and can change rapidly. Do not expect that what you read on the internet is what the authorities will tell you. If, for example, you have a parrot and you look up the CITES appendicies and discover your bird is not listed, this is NO guarantee that the authorities see this the same way. As far as the USDA was concerned we had parrots. Even though CITES only lists a few parrots on their appendices, the USDA bureaucracy doesn't care. We had parrots, therefore we needed permits, etc etc.

Thanks, Anthony1406 (still a n00b, can't button-thanks)...

From what I can tell, Switzerland handles birds differently from cats, dogs and ferrets (those seem to be the "common" pets.) For starters, they look for avian flu instead of rabies. And I don't have an "in" with a vet... nobody to just take my word that my bird has been in isolation (though she has, for more than 5 years...)

Switzerland (and Europe, I believe) have a separate certificate specifically for birds. Still hoping to hear from pet-bird-owners with first-hand experience...

Cheers,
nomadic

This post has some good links and the poster is a pet shipper.
Airlines handling parrots?

Our parrot does not have a ring and was not microchipped. We moved back home with her from Japan (her country of origin). We needed a CITES permit, an import permit and a health certificate. When did the rules change that microchipping is a must?

Hi nomadic,

I just brought my 2 cockatiels over in April. Mine are 8 years old. I have an Albino and a Lutino. No issue of microchipping ever came up at all. My birds went to the vet for 10 days isolation (ridiculous when you think about, they aren`t walked on a leash and there was probably more of a chance of them picking something up at the vets!), received a certificate of good health.

My birds do have the ankle ring though and I think you need to check here that this will not present a problem for you.

It took 2 hours to clear immigration with them but that was only because we had to wait for the vet to show up.

I flew Swiss and my birds were in the special compartment down below. Is there a reason you want your bird to be in the cabin? I`m asking because if there is turbulence, how are you going to secure the cage? The temperature of that cabin is controlled by the co-pilot and mine went to check on them and asked me what I wanted the temperature set to.

I would suggest a couple of things for the flight. Do not bring her in one of those 2 piece plastic carriers. She will have nothing to grip and they are rather slippery. Even if you put paper towel down, it is bound to move around. A small cage would be best so that she can grip the sides of the horizontal bars with her feet and beak. I would also bring a small towel to cover the cage so that she feel secure and protected from all the new sights and sounds in the cabin. When they are covered they believe that they can`t be seen.

I wouldn`t introduce a companion bird in the very beginning. She has been the Queen of her world and she needs to make the transition to her new world. A companion is something else she will have to adjust to. Cockatiels have a psychology all their own.

Also with 2 you will need a much larger cage so that they can stretch and flap comfortably without smashing into the other one. Any supplies that your bird likes bring over. There isn`t the same selection here as in the US. If your bird likes those twist ropes to walk across the cage that secure with the screws, bring them. I have only found the parrot size here and they are too large for a cockatiels feet.

If your bird likes colorful toys bring them...everything here is a natural color. My birds love color and mirrors. They are true girls and love anything that sparkles and shines.

I`m having their wings clipped for the first time here tomorrow.....nails clipped as well. It was difficult to find somebody to do it. I have to go to St. Gallen.

If you need any other information, I hope I can help you.

There is an excellent avian vet in Baden. I am not sure if that is closer for you. Here are the details from an old post of mine.
My cockatoo [looking for a vet]

I know this is off topic but why are you clipping the wings? Nails I understand (I trim our parrots too), but why the wings?

My birds come out of their cage every day for long periods of time when I am home. I have a perch for them and I can bring them into the room where I am going to be.

If their wings are clipped on a diagonal just slightly, they can only fly down. They cannot achieve flight upwards.

This is important for smaller birds that are more jittery. They flinch and take off at every little thing that startles them.

They can`t see the glass and have an inability to learn that at a certain point they are going to smash into the window. It`s very dangerous as they can crack their skull or break their necks. The alternative is to put all the storen down and living in the darkness isn`t fun for them or me. this is what we have been doing for the last 2 months.

It`s done so that they can have freedom from the cage but not get hurt.

Sorry, I misunderstood, I thought you were getting the wings clipped for the first time ever. Good luck with the vet visit. Hope it is not too traumatic or expensive.

Thanks, I hope so too. I hate seeing them "handled" by somebody, it`s so upsetting.

I was in Sihl City in the Qual Pet upstairs and I asked them to recommend a vet that could clip their wings and they freaked out and looked at me like I was a barbarian! They said in no uncertain terms that this was not allowed in Switzerland. I thought WTH is wrong with these people?

They thought wanted to REMOVE their wings entirely!!! Can you believe that one? Who would ever ask such a thing! I know my German isn`t flawless but hey.....

BTW, thanks for the link to the other thread. I already added it to my favorites.

If you used the word "Schneiden" or something similar it may have been a genuine misunderstanding. To clip wings would be "Fluegel stuetzen"...just so you don't get any more weird reactions.

"fluegel stuetzen"......thanks I like the ring of that! You are right Snoopy, that is exactly what happened. I used "Schneiden" believing it clearly NOT defined as "wegnehmen" or "amputieren".

We got through the nail clipping and the fluegel stuetzen very well. The vet was experienced, and very gentle with the birds.

I must correct my post above. I confused where she is located with something else in St. Gallen.

She is in Kanton Zug and I would recommend her from what I saw on the first visit. She only does birds and reptiles but there are other vets that treat other animals.

Here is the info:

Tierärztliche Spezialistenklinik
Rothusstrasse 2
CH-6331 Hünenberg
Tel. 041 780 80 80 041 780 80 80
Fax. 041 784 00 10
info@spezialistenklinik.ch

http://www.spezialistenklinik.ch/

I just managed to bring my little parakeet from US to Turkey and then from Turkey to Switzerland. It was a lot of pain in terms of documentations but fortunately it went well. Let me know if you would have any questions about the procedure.

Do you have any experience about leaving your bird when going to a vacation? Is there any bird hotels or sitters in Lausanne?

hey,
i just started a petsitting network for pets that are not cats and dogs as it takes ages to trawl through the regular network looking for other types of pets,
so maybe if you folks would be interested you could post up the details of your birds, as professional pet sitting for more unique pets seems to be harder to come by?

Pet sitting network for rabbits, rodents, reptiles, fish and birds