Bird Carrier Backpack Safety

[charlie13]

Hello,
I have two budgies (5 yrs old and 4 yrs old), and I was wondering how safe the "plastic covered" bird backpacks are on Amazon (links below). I would like to take my budgies on short walks in my neighborhood for enrichment and some vit. D, but I'm not sure whether they would overheat in the summer heat with those plastic bubbles. Basically:
1. Would budgies even be happy going on walks? They can be neurotic about new things so would this be overly stressful?
2. Would a bird backpack with the major side/ front covered in plastic not provide enough airflow for them?
3. What would the max temp for a budgie be in these carriers?
4. Finally, any recommendations for a backpack would be great. I've got a pretty low budget ($50's about max) so a Celltei backpack's out of the question.
I live in Georgia (US) so summer temps can get to high 90's.

www.amazon.com/Texsens-Bird-Carrier-Backpack-Breathable/dp/B09L8BZYSJ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
www.amazon.com/halinfer-Carrier-Backpack-Stainless-Standing/dp/B0C9CL9RY7/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=bird%2Bcarrier&qid=1621902943&sr=8-7&th=1
Thank you!

[Azalea]

Hello, Charlie13!

For the question of whether a Budgie would even enjoy this: I personally don't want to try it with mine. My reasoning is that my Budgies will sit on my hands or arms, and three of them will sit on my lap, but they don't want to "ride" on me as I move (Willow does stay on my hand if I move slowly). I think they would be uncomfortable if I took them for walks.

This is just my experience, though. YouTube has a few videos of people taking their Budgies for walks or taking them on road trips.

[Hezz]

I wouldn’t take budgies out walking, even in a carrier (I can’t comment on how good or otherwise these are made or perform). As you have said, they are nervous about most things new and this would definitely take a lot of getting used to. From another perspective, being in something as seemingly open as this I think would bring attention to them from all sides - other humans who would want to approach and interact, poke, push, stare at them, get in their faces, and worse, other animals - cats, dogs and birds of prey. Being on your back is not necessarily going to be off-putting enough to discourage a raptor from trying its luck. I have heard too many horror stories of people losing their small pet birds to raptors when they have taken them outside with them on their shoulder. I think being so exposed may make the budgies feel very vulnerable.

For me, I’d want an environment that I had much more control over. That’s my opinion.

For Vit D, have a smaller cage that you can easily handle and put them outside, half sun/half shade and sit with them. UVB rays from where VitD is made doesn’t penetrate glass or most plastics so you may not be giving them anything by using the carrier, anyway.

[charlie13]

I was thinking of having the backpack on my front so I could see them/deter raptors. The sides/top of that bag are made of mesh, would UVB go through that? Their cage is unwieldy to take outside, and honestly, a smaller cage seems the same as a backpack but harder to move.

[lemonora]

I totally agree with what Hezz said
Honestly not worth the risk
Why risk their fragile lives

[Hezz]

A smaller cage would just be for sitting them in the sun at your home where everything is familiar, not out walking the neighbourhood where any- and everything could startle them. Think this through carefully; are you wanting to take them for walks for you or for them? I bought a harness for my sun conure, thinking he would love to go outside and walk around with me but in actual fact he hated it. If he wasn’t on edge looking around for whatever was going to attack him, he was worrying at the harness itself.

[starrymist]

I agree with what’s been said above but another thing not covered is the size of the holes in the backpacks. I have got a carrier (a bag not a backpack) for vet visits but it was the only 1 I could find that had holes that were small enough that a budgie could not get his head trapped in them or even on some of the bags, get all the way through. Certainly on your 2nd link, the holes look way too large. Both links have larger parrots in them which suggests the holes are not suitable for a budgie sized bird. With the carrier I have got, if we go to the vets the whole carrier will be placed in a larger, flat bottomed (“bag for life”) bag for extra protection, not least because the clear sides mean he will be entirely visible to any predators.
I personally think taking them outside for anything other than necessity is placing them in some degree of risk but of course that’s just my opinion.
This is the 1 I have got:
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BXB2TCGR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1