Finally moving to the Big Island (fingers crossed)! (Honolulu: home, transfer to)

[terracore]

That light sucks. One used to be able to turn right there on a red getting out of HPP where most people were going so the light didn't need to get triggered. Then they started contra-flow in the AM during rush hour and they had to put the kibosh on turning against the light because otherwise it would be two lanes approaching that intersection in the AM rush hour and 1 lane during other times, and it would cause too many accidents. It was supposed to be temporary because they were going to widen the road to 4 lanes all the way to Pahoa (I think the next phase was going to be four lanes to Kaloli with a roundabout at that intersection) but they suspended the project during the 2018 eruption for reasons I don't remember. The other part of the road plan was a roundabout at Orchidland drive and making Auli'i coming out of OLE a right turn only, so people wanting to go to Hilo would either have to use Orchidland drive or use the Ainaloa Blvd roundabout.

Fortunately, there is a way to bypass that congestion but most people don't know about it.

[Lapaki]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Yup, there's insanely fuzzy rabbits here! Shipping rabbits in from the mainland is pretty straightforward, although there's the usual SNAFU or two along the way. They don't quarantine, but they do need a vet certificate that states they're healthy before they can fly. They also land in Honolulu and the airline drops them off at the agricultural inspection desk. You need someone on Oahu to go to the Ag desk and pick up the rabbits and shift them off to Aloha Air Cargo to continue the journey.



Since there's that rabbit virus on the mainland these days, I'm not importing any more rabbits. I started with a pair and then imported three more pairs. That's been enough to keep them from being inbred by careful record keeping and breeding. There was the addition of some new genetics several years ago from someone who had brought in an unpedigreed buck which helped lower the ratio of inbreeding. Now several other folks have started their own English angora rabbitries so I can bring in descendants several generations away from my stock to keep the levels of inbreeding low. Which is kinda odd when you think about it since most of these are descended from those six imported rabbits.


I've noticed over the years that it's getting more restrictive on what can be brought in, no more ducks and turkeys, for one. Seems it would be good to get some folks specifically breeding different varieties of livestock and pets so if they ever shut the door towards importing more there would be sufficient genetics here to work with.


I'm hoping someone will bring in small woolly sheep. Something around fifty to sixty pounds what has nice wool and will mow the lawn. I tried to bring some of those in (miniature Cheviots) last year but the planes weren't flying due to Covid. We have two sheep now, Clun Forest, and they're excellent at mowing and fertilizing but they're pretty big at about 150# each. I've now learned not to pick tomatoes with sheep nearby and they like lychee, too. And bananas, although they leave the banana plants alone and just want the fruit.


Maybe if you end up in HPP or somewhere on the outskirts of Hilo there will be enough room for you to have lawnmowers? I like the Ainaola area (note: it's 'Ainaola' not 'Ainaloa'). There would be room for critters there and it's still close to Hilo.

Thanks, Hotzcatz! Island Pet Movers handles it all. We bring our rabbit to the Portland airport, they fly her to Honolulu, they have someone pick her up at the Ag desk, they put her on the next Aloha Air Cargo flight to Hilo, and we or someone else picks her up at Hilo airport. We just need to make sure we get her to Honolulu on the same day and time there’s an AAC flight to Hilo. We know about the vet certificate and a blood test to make sure she doesn’t have that virus. We love sheep (most animals, actually) so maybe we’ll consider lawnmowers!

[terracore]

I recommend Island Pet Movers. We imported 7 parrots ourselves and the stress wasn't worth it. IPM helped import our dog (she had to stay with friends for a month before we could bring her over). IPM has negotiated rates with the airlines that us commoners don't. Even with the service they provide, it's often cheaper to use them versus DIY.

Even if you DON'T use them, they give good free advice, so it's worth contacting them regardless.

[terracore]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

I'm hoping someone will bring in small woolly sheep. Something around fifty to sixty pounds what has nice wool and will mow the lawn. I tried to bring some of those in (miniature Cheviots) last year but the planes weren't flying due to Covid.

Do wool sheep do well in Honokaa? It's far too wet where we're at for them to be practical so we have hair sheep. If you're interested in importing sheep, most of the livestock is brought in by Kalitta. I don't know what their rates are like but I imagine they are probably pretty decent because they fly a nearly empty 747 to the BI to fly the cattle to the mainland and are probably open to negotiating anything to generate revenue on that trip.

Because of the cost of importing livestock a lot of folks only fly in young females and when they get to breeding age they get semen overnighted and have a vet artificially inseminate. The vet can give the girls a drug to make sure they are in heat when the semen arrives. It doesn't sound romantic but it's a good way to keep the genetics strong, avoid inbreeding, etc.

[Lapaki]

Originally Posted by terracore

I recommend Island Pet Movers. We imported 7 parrots ourselves and the stress wasn't worth it. IPM helped import our dog (she had to stay with friends for a month before we could bring her over). IPM has negotiated rates with the airlines that us commoners don't. Even with the service they provide, it's often cheaper to use them versus DIY.

Even if you DON'T use them, they give good free advice, so it's worth contacting them regardless.

That’s comforting to know. They’ve been very responsive to my questions. We bringing both a cat and a rabbit. When IPM quoted me a price, I thought it was per animal, and I thought it was reasonable. It turned out to be the combined price for moving both of them.

[Buckeye77]

I had 2 little yappers (Hoot the mini poodle and Annie the Shih Tzu) that I moved to Hawaii from Florida in January 2015. I forget who we used, but they did a great job. Annie crossed Rainbow Bridge in late 2016, and Hoot and I moved to Arizona in mid 2017. I used the same company to move Hoot, and he survived the trip from Kona to Honolulu to Denver to Phoenix, but by the time I picked him up at Sky Harbor, he was a wreck. I promised him then that I would never, ever, put him in a crate or in an airplane again. He and I took multiple long road trips (4,000 miles or more round trip), but I kept my promise. Hoot crossed Rainbow Bridge in early 2019. I still miss them both.

Not sure why I felt the need to share this, but please consider the age of your pet when you are deciding what is best for them.

[Lapaki]

You felt a need to share it because our pets are so important to us.

[Lapaki]

Buckeye77, I wrote a longer response, but only the first sentence would post, and I can’t delete that one-sentence post. Something is glitchy. I’ll try again tomorrow.

[hotzcatz]

Originally Posted by terracore

Do wool sheep do well in Honokaa? It's far too wet where we're at for them to be practical so we have hair sheep. If you're interested in importing sheep, most of the livestock is brought in by Kalitta. I don't know what their rates are like but I imagine they are probably pretty decent because they fly a nearly empty 747 to the BI to fly the cattle to the mainland and are probably open to negotiating anything to generate revenue on that trip.

Because of the cost of importing livestock a lot of folks only fly in young females and when they get to breeding age they get semen overnighted and have a vet artificially inseminate. The vet can give the girls a drug to make sure they are in heat when the semen arrives. It doesn't sound romantic but it's a good way to keep the genetics strong, avoid inbreeding, etc.

The Clun Forest sheep that we have are good with wet and they have a dry space to hang out in the rain now so they're not turning green like they were before their rain shelter. They're really friendly, the ram is almost absurdly friendly. We got them from Sunbonnet Farm in Pauuilo. I'm on the list to get any 'runts' that may show up, but other than our dear bug-eyed runt, Cypress (the ram), there hasn't been any smaller ones in the past few years. He's about 110# or a little more, which is much less than the standard size for a ram. Flower, the ewe, is bigger than he is although he doesn't seem to mind.



Two sheep keep the yard pretty trimmed, but we still mow occasionally. They also like the weeds better than the grass and don't get the grassy lawn until the last. We could use one more sheep, I think, if it's a small one. Which is why I'm hoping for some small sheep breeds being brought in.


Sunbonnet Farm brought in some new bloodstock just a year or so ago. I'm not sure how well AI works on sheep but they have enough ewes that a ram on hand would be a good thing. We've not tried AI with rabbits, but so far the levels of inbreeding have been low enough with careful tracking of pedigrees so it hasn't been necessary.


Folks moving to Hawaii, if they have a certain breed of animal and are planning on breeding more, may want to look around while on the mainland and make some contacts with other breeders of the same types of livestock/pets. That way when they either want more of the same type or a mate for the one they have, they will have someone they can get one from. It's pretty difficult to get good bloodstock shipped in when you don't have a relationship with any breeders or have hands on ability when selecting prospective breedstock.


Have you brought in more parrots? Was it difficult if you did? Although, with parrots, shipping in eggs would be a lot easier than the parrots themselves?

[tikicarver]

I am a pilot at Aloha Air Cargo.
As of May 2021 we started flying our own 767s from Honolulu to LAX and SEA
We fly dogs all the time, ( other animals too)

A lot of the airlines don't want to carry dogs any more. To much hassle for them.
Even if you find one, they are going to put the dog crate in the lower cargo area. It will be dark like a dark prison.
We put the dog crates right behind the cockpit. Myself and other pilots love to go check on the animals we carry in flight to make sure they are doing ok.

One thing to keep in mind. If you are picking up the animal yourself at the airport, you want to be there before the plane is due to arrive. Check with Aloha Cargo office to confirm the times. The reason, we are not allowed to open the crates. So if you are not there, the dog crate will come off the plane and sit in the hanger until you show up. A flight from the west coast to Honolulu is 5 to 6 hrs so your dog will be in the crate for at least 8 hrs, I think they would love to get out of that thing ASAP.

Island Pet Movers is great and there are some other similar companies. They take all the hassle out of it.

Just call Aloha Air Cargo and tell them what you need to move and where to, they will hook you up.

Originally Posted by terracore

I recommend Island Pet Movers. We imported 7 parrots ourselves and the stress wasn't worth it. IPM helped import our dog (she had to stay with friends for a month before we could bring her over). IPM has negotiated rates with the airlines that us commoners don't. Even with the service they provide, it's often cheaper to use them versus DIY.

Even if you DON'T use them, they give good free advice, so it's worth contacting them regardless.