This could be a silly thread if you have wild & crazy suggestions or cartoons, but it is one we should think about. I'm just thinking about it now.

What would you do if you had just a few minutes to get you & you fid(s) out of your home {apt, house}?
I think for a Budgie, I will use:
~ the small cage + a fitted cover [yet to be made]
~ a traveling cage - maybe a backpack version [again yet to be purchased]

Also: We're training him to 'come' & we have a few tricks to get him into the cage as well - but haven't tried them with any speed involved.

Extra Ideas: Fire Extinguishers/Painter's masks. A lot of emergencies involve harmful air.

Wild suggestion - Or is it? People who tag birds use Tubes to contain their birds safely. They place the bird headfirst into the tube & apparently they relax & are so secure they can't hurt themselves.

I only have Ollie to worry about here, so carrying her in her travel cage is no problem in an emergency. I keep it in my closet, about 10 feet from her cage. There is a blanket that I can throw over the cage if need be. If she's out of her cage, 'catching' her is no issue.

Dakota has a small carrier under his cage for my parents to stick him in.

I hate thinking about this stuff, but it is necessary!

Hmm, I never really thought of this before. Kind of scary to not have a plan. I do have travel carriers around their cages, but I only have two, plus a small cage that I used as an overnight cage for Doyle on trips. I would put them into those and load them in the car I guess. Man I am so not prepared at all. I need to get travel cages for all of them. I have never heard of that tubing thing you are talking about.

All my birds are flighted and the only way to get everyone out safely and fast is to let them go out the door or a window. Our house is poorly designed for living with pet birds, so this was the only solution I could come up with that would ensure everyone a good chance at survival. Having them find their way back home to me would be the perfect ending, but hopefully whoever finds them will try to find me or care for them and love them as much as I have. My only concern is their survival. Let me add, this is MY solution and in no way recommended for others who have other options. This is the only way I could come up with... until Jerry and I move to a better suited home for our kids. They are our life and we love them more than anything.

In fact we have just started outside flight training with everyone. Those aviator harnesses are the best and I highly recommend them to everyone. I have never seen a happier bunch of birds then mine flying semi-freely outdoors. They love it! And they always fly right back to me!

I have two travel carriers that sit under Lulu's cage. They would go in there in an emergency. The carriers are hard plastic and have both handles and shoulder straps. Hopefully Winston and Jerry will be best friends and could share a carrier, but I don't know how easy it would be to get them both in - something to think about for sure. Lulu steps right into her carrier no problems, but Jerry hates going in and I have been getting better at holding his feet and making a swift motion to put him in. Once the weather finally warms up here I plan to take them both on more day trips and jopefully get Jerry used to getting in and out of the carrier without any fussing.

I have travel carriers too. But the real worry is more if an emergency happened when we aren't home-actually the more likely scenario.

My birds are fully flighted and if the smoke didn't get them, they could fly away and I hope I would get them back, but at least they would have a chance.

Everybody is going in the car...budgies can stay in their big cage, tiels and Gelly have to share. Catching the cats will be the challenge....good thing I have a wagon!

Well for the poi's, who are at a different house then the others, I would either stick them all in this little white budgie cage we have as a carrier or into a pillowcase if REAL need be. When we move, they will be flighted, so yes they could have a chance if worse comes to worst.

I haven't really come up with a plan for my dad's house. Definatley something to think about with three birds at each house.

As long as you are thinking....the other question is who would take you in with all the fids. Folks at work think I am a little "touched" because every time there is a fire, I send out an email to say I can take dogs, cats, birds, whatever (people if I have to ) because shelters are generally not set up for pets, especially multi pet households & it is hard to find a spot where you can be together. While I say that, I must quickly state my undying admiration for the local animal control folks and how well they set up temporary housing for animals, big and small, in case of an emergency

Not something any of us wants to think about, but certainly we should all have an emergency plan. There are some simple steps we can take, like having carriers or sacks on hand close to the cages. I really hate to say this, but I believe we also need to be realistic, and realize that in the event of a fire there may not be any time at all. Without working smoke detectors that are placed correctly throughout the house, chances are you will not have enough warning to get yourself out, much less have time to get the fids out. Even if warned by a smoke detector, it is possible that there will be nothing you can do if the fire is well established. Naturally we want to do everything we possibly can, but please remember that you won't be helping anyone if you become a victim of the fire yourself because you stayed too long trying to get the fids out. You may in fact be endangering firefighters lives by forcing them to have to try to rescue you.

After Katrina, and the increased Tornado activity the last couple of years, we should be well aware that emergency evacuation plans go beyond fires as well. There are many circumstances that could necessitate evacuation, and we need to think about all scenarios. For instance, I live in an area where winters can be quite severe and there is every likelihood of losing electrical power from a storm. Usually the power is only off for a short time, but what would you do if it were off for days? When the outside temperature is zero or below it doesn't take long for a house to get cold.

Another emergency planning scenario was recently brought home to us by Gayla's unfortunate car accident. What would happen to your fids if you were suddenly incapacitated?

I'm very thankful to Jac for starting this thread. No matter how unpleasant to think about, this is very important stuff that we sometimes ignore. Please spend some time thinking about it and develop an emergency plan!