Regulations on bringing small pets into Hungary from outside EU

VeeBee wrote:

Hi all!

I have a pet hedgehog and I plan on travelling with in the near future to go see my husband in Hungary from Canada. I've read a few things and it seems that I would require certain papers and whatnot but the information is all very confusing. Can someone give me a run down on what I would need in order to bring my hedgehog and/or point me to the right resource?

Regards,

Viet B-H.

We've got a pet hedgehog.  Probably it'll need to be chipped and have an anti-rabies shot and certificated acceptable to the EU.  Probably the same conditions as dogs or cats. Couldn't you leave it in a hedgehog home temporarily? Our hedgehog is very nervous and I expect yours is the same.  Might be too stressful to travel all that way.

You will need to get a "pet passport". You can look up this term, but basically it is a set of documents for your pet required for travel. Your local veterinarian is the the person to contact for the requirements you will need both in Canada and Hungary. You should be able to get the Hungarian paperwork forms from a local Hungarian consolate or embassy if your vet does not have them. Canada is a rabies controlled country, so the EU regulations about that will also apply where needed.

Sad to say, I would leave it at home if I were you.
Our HU friends brought their pet Doberman ( my Doberman's GF)  to Hungary over a decade ago.
She was a strong and healthy dog but the long flight was very stressful on her, they planned on staying in HU so had to bring her along.
I flew from the mainland of Cal to Hawaii and moved back to the mainland with our Dobbie,he was a mess coming and going.
He also had 4 months in quarantine in Honolulu.
They no longer do that ,thanks to the efforts of many pet owners, myself included in signing to do away with it.
I have personally had a very negative experience with the airlines in
connection to bringing in a pet bird to Hungary from Las Vegas.
This was 15 or so years back.
My son bought his HU GF a pet bird a cockatiel when she was in the states.
She returned to HU and we took over the care of the bird. We fell in love with it.
We wanted to take it back to HU with us and give it back to his GF.
I called everyone in the US from fish and wildlife to the airlines, several times each to make sure it was ok to bring the bird on board in it's cage with us.
I took it to the vet, had it checked over, got a health certificate from the vet. Told the dam airlines again, about the bird, asked if I needed to buy it a ticket or anything.
Got the all clear, Had a cage fitted just for the flight and even took the bird into a hotel room with us, tipping the porter not to tell the management about the overnight stay of the bird in the room,
In the check-in line in Vegas we got the stupidest most unhelpful clerk ever, just an idiot. He held us back in line without letting us know what was going on, going back and forth with his supervisor, no one would let us know what was going on, our son had walked onboard the flight without us, thought we were right behind him with his bird.
The clerk was looking on line at Cockatoo's not cockatiels.
He said it was an endangered species and couldn't go onboard! They were calling our name to board over the PA system, that's how long they held us up with their BS.
I started crying and begging them not to do that, the supervisor came over and said, seriously with a straight face that if the bird got out of the cage, it would eat the wires and the plane would go down!!!????
I called up the women we had bought the bird from, at least one normal clerk said she would watch the bird until the old owner could arrive to take it home with her.
I was crying all the way from Vegas to Munich, there I was able to call the old owner and make sure she had actually picked the bird up.
All was good, it was playing with her kids, it had been hand raised and was a gentle  sweet bird.
After we returned 6 months later I never asked for the bird back, just too painful to confuse it. I have not allowed myself another pet since then, it is too painful to have idiots with power over something you love.
If you're not going to stay in HU then have a pet sitter.

From what you all have told me, it seems like way too much trouble and I won't actively try doing anything to bring it with me until I make plans to move there.

Thank you all for your input! Honestly, I don't know what this Hungarian forum would be like without you folks - seriously!

I actually took a few mins. and looked online for regulations about bringing in a small animal to Hungary.
It was more for dogs and cats from what I read.
It is extremely a hassle now, you can try to look it up too if you want.
Rules about having 2 health certificates, one in Eng and one in HU done no sooner then 10 days before flight, passport for your pet, a ton of stuff, would really only be worth it if it was only a one way thing for ever.
I wonder what they regulations would be to take your pet out of Hungary later, might be even harder to get them out then to take them in
Your pet will miss you while your on holiday but it will recover, just find a good sitter.
Our lovely Doberman was put in a kennel for 6 weeks once when we came to HU.
I used a very good kennel that my dog trainer had recommended, I checked it out before hand, they were great, actually took him for daily walks etc.
Even so when we went to pick him up he ran and jumped with joy followed by him sulking for the next 3 days, wouldn't come when called, gave us a sad look for days. Soon forgotten though.

VeeBee wrote:

From what you all have told me, it seems like way too much trouble and I won't actively try doing anything to bring it with me until I make plans to move there.

Thank you all for your input! Honestly, I don't know what this Hungarian forum would be like without you folks - seriously!

It's a wise decision. 

I think if we took ours on such a long journey it would be very unhappy.  It spends nearly all of its time asleep and hiding under a blanket.  But it's active at night.  Just the timezone change might confuse and stress it for a while.   It does like to come out of the cage and run about outside (runs fast).  It's all just natural behaviour. 

Kids in the neighbourhood find it a very interesting and cute animal so it's a good icebreaker down at the playground.   But does get angry quite quickly, it's got really sharp teeth and we have to warn people to keep their hands away from the front end.  My daughter uses oven gloves to handle it when it's grumpy.

Anyway, if and when you move here then at least you will only have to stress it once.

Side note: Maybe to save your little hedgehog the stress of international travel, can you rather import your Husband to Canada? 

klsallee wrote:

Side note: Maybe to save your little hedgehog the stress of international travel, can you rather import your Husband to Canada? 

Side side note;  Maybe the OP can say if he's cuter than the hedgehog.   If so, straight in.

HaHa!  Yes, that's an option as well. It would definitely be less stressful for the little girl.