Airline Travel

[arf2184]

Southwest now accepts animals in the cabin...they only list dogs and cats specifically on their site though...no mention of other species but it might be worth looking into.

 

[Ippo456]

I'd suggest maybe having them in the same carrier and separate compartments?
Then they know they have their buddy with them... I've had more chins feel more comfortable and less stress when shipped in those kind of carriers, not to mention with all the new rules like the IATA act stuff for the carrier, those are actually the best carriers to get that comply with the regulations. Judy of JPChinchillas makes them or Ryerson's.

Though for international travel, they do have extra tweaks they expect on the carriers now(seems to have been something they recently came up with this year - 2009.). The carriers have to have bars or handles on the sides as well as the tops-at least 10% of the length of the side, to keep the ventilation holes uncovered during the flight in the cargo(so nothing can cover up or completely block the vent holes). I attached a couple pics to show how we had to make our last carrier in order for it to comply with the recent IATA Act regulations for shipping kennels.

If you don't have them, you can be fined. I know, because they were basically threatening the person I was shipping to in the US, with fining her if the carrier was without the handles/bars on the sides. And these rules are specifically from the US Fisheries and Wildlife which they deal with all shipping of chinchillas in and out of the United States.
Below are also the pages describing the carrier requirements from the US FWS.

Where did you buy that carrier?
That carrier seems to be really small.
I'm planning to move overseas permanently and would love to bring my chinchillas with me (can't part with them, can't bear the thought of adopting them out), but it'll be a super long flight (12++ hours). What size carriers are acceptable for them to be placed in the cargo? Can I also include amenities like water bottle, hay, pellets, and maybe a hidey house inside the carrier, so to make the travel comfortable for the chins?

My sister flew with her dog once (domestic flight within the US) and her vet gave her some sleeping pills for the dog. Is it a common practice to give chins some sleeping pills during flights? I talked to my vet and he said that he doesn't like to give sleeping pills as he prefers animals to stay alert during flights.

 

[Ippo456]

What about moving overseas?? I've just accepted a job in Greece and will have to get my chins from Dallas to Greece. Will they hold up ok for that long distance? I have two chins, brothers, who depend very much on each other. They seemed very unhappy when we had to keep them separate after one had a leg removed. Most airlines I'm noticing state only one animal per carrier. I assume this is mostly of course for cats/dogs.. you think they would be ok with the chins being in the same carrier together? I think it would be harder on my babies to be apart from each other.

I have a feeling (but you better confirm it) that you will have to have the chinchillas quarantined as you will be bringing them from the US, and I don't think (again, you should confirm this) that the US & Greece have a treaty or some kind of agreement regarding animal import/export. But if you're traveling within EU countries, that's a lot easier and as I understand from reading, you don't require much paperwork, just that your pet is microchipped and has a letter from the vet explaining that your pet is healthy & up-to-date with health checkups.

I have been looking up quarantines (as I'm also planning to move overseas with my chins) and quarantine fees are usually supported by the pet owner. So if the required quarantine is 1 month, you're going to have to pay for 1-month worth of boarding. Not sure about Greece, but there may be different types of quarantine facilities that you can choose from: privately run (usually better) or publicly run. My sister just moved her dog from the US to Asia and she had a choice between an airport facility versus an outside facility. She was also able to choose between AC boarding or non-AC boarding, AC boarding being more expensive of course. You also have to be wary that not all quarantine facilities are created equally. My sister was lucky to be able to find a good quarantine facility that was willing to walk her dog and take the dog out once in awhile, rather than having the dog couped up for the entire 30 days in a cage.

 

[lilchinchilla]

I am not sure how the U.S. does it, but in Canada if you can have a vet certificate with a CFIA stamp on it, in most cases(not all) the chins can avoid quarantine. CFIA is Canadian Food and Inspection Agency. Their stamp means the animals are cleared for infectious diseases and illnesses. In most(not all) countries they can pass through the whole quarantine process if they have that stamp on the vet certificates. But I don't know what or how the U.S. does that or where to go there for such a thing.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the carriers are made by JPChinchilla or Ryerson's. We had to make some personal modifications ourselves, such as the bars on the side of the carrier. Which are relatively easy to do, if you stop at a hardware shop.

You don't want the carrier to be too big, because if the flight has turbulence or if the chinchilla cage gets thrown around, last thing you want is a chin flying around in a large kennel and breaking a neck or a leg, etc...during the flight.

The carriers made by Ryerson's or JPChinchillas are airline approved and are what the airlines prefer. JPChinchillas makes special water bottles that do not drip unless a chinchilla is actually drinking, which are perfect for travel, btw. Placing food(pellets or hay) in the carrier compartment works fine.

Hidey houses, etc... could be disastrous, again, if the chin gets thrown around in the luggage/cargo area. It's more for safety of the pet than anything. What might appear small to you for a carrier, is alot more safer than a large pet carrier where the chin has room to tumble/break a leg, etc.. in.
Chins do not need sleeping pills. I personally would not advise using them. I have shipped for many years, and those are the only carriers the airlines will accept without question. If you do go by the IATA act though, and are traveling overseas, they must have vent holes on four sides, not three(as is requested for national travel). You may want to request that if you get a carrier made for shipping in. Ask for the back and sides to have vent holes in them.

 

[Ippo456]

You don't want the carrier to be too big, because if the flight has turbulence or if the chinchilla cage gets thrown around, last thing you want is a chin flying around in a large kennel and breaking a neck or a leg, etc...during the flight.

The carriers made by Ryerson's or JPChinchillas are airline approved and are what the airlines prefer. JPChinchillas makes special water bottles that do not drip unless a chinchilla is actually drinking, which are perfect for travel, btw. Placing food(pellets or hay) in the carrier compartment works fine.

Hidey houses, etc... could be disastrous, again, if the chin gets thrown around in the luggage/cargo area. It's more for safety of the pet than anything. What might appear small to you for a carrier, is alot more safer than a large pet carrier where the chin has room to tumble/break a leg, etc.. in.
Chins do not need sleeping pills. I personally would not advise using them. I have shipped for many years, and those are the only carriers the airlines will accept without question. If you do go by the IATA act though, and are traveling overseas, they must have vent holes on four sides, not three(as is requested for national travel). You may want to request that if you get a carrier made for shipping in. Ask for the back and sides to have vent holes in them.

So is having a soft hideout, like a fleece tunnel or a fleece hammock ok?
Do you normally line the carrier with fleece or have it bare?