Taking sulcata on vacation.

Ray--Opo

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Hi everyone, I have a yearling sulcata about 4 1/2 in. I live in Florida and going away for 3 days here in Florida at a resort. Any suggestions to make Opo,s trip less stressful. He hates changes and I don't have anyone that I can count on to come over to care for Opo. I will bring his hide,light and basking lamp. Opo will just be in a smaller living area. Any suggestions would be greatful.
 

wellington

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Keep it as close to his regular enclosure and he may not notice the difference. Maybe even put some of his old substrate in the vacation home.
 

Tom

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Hi everyone, I have a yearling sulcata about 4 1/2 in. I live in Florida and going away for 3 days here in Florida at a resort. Any suggestions to make Opo,s trip less stressful. He hates changes and I don't have anyone that I can count on to come over to care for Opo. I will bring his hide,light and basking lamp. Opo will just be in a smaller living area. Any suggestions would be greatful.
Leave him at home.

Your lights should be on a timer, and your ambient heat on a thermostat.

Soak him the day you leave, or night before, and remove the water dish.

Go to the store and get some "nopales", AKA: spineless opuntia pads and leave two or three in the food dish.

Go have fun on your trip and soak him the day you get back, or the next morning, if it is late. Your tortoise will be much better off left at home where it is safe and comfortable for him.
 

orv

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I would re-consider taking your yearling Sulcata along with you. Is there absolutely no neighbor you could trust to care for him for a few days? Perhaps a local pet shop employee? Tortoises aren't like puppies who enjoy family vacations and the changes they bring. Consider various scenarios: do they perhaps use poisonous chemicals when cleaning your room? Temperature changes are another problem. Leave him home . . . he'll be safer and more comfortable. JMHO
 

Ray--Opo

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Leave him at home.

Your lights should be on a timer, and your ambient heat on a thermostat.

Soak him the day you leave, or night before, and remove the water dish.

Go to the store and get some "nopales", AKA: spineless opuntia pads and leave two or three in the food dish.

Go have fun on your trip and soak him the day you get back, or the next morning, if it is late. Your tortoise will be much better off left at home where it is safe and comfortable for him.
Hi Tom, should I cut up the pads or leave them whole? Also reason for removing water dish. It is one of those taracata bottoms not to deep.
 

Ray--Opo

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I would re-consider taking your yearling Sulcata along with you. Is there absolutely no neighbor you could trust to care for him for a few days? Perhaps a local pet shop employee? Tortoises aren't like puppies who enjoy family vacations and the changes they bring. Consider various scenarios: do they perhaps use poisonous chemicals when cleaning your room? Temperature changes are another problem. Leave him home . . . he'll be safer and more comfortable. JMHO
Good points, I think it's me hating to leave him alone. It's good to hear from others with knowledge on this. I have had people say to just leave him home. My first thought was no way. Your right he will be safer and more comfortable
 

Tom

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Hi Tom, should I cut up the pads or leave them whole? Also reason for removing water dish. It is one of those taracata bottoms not to deep.

I would leave them whole. They will "keep" better that way.

Remove the water dish because if he poops or drags food or substrate into it one hour after you leave, it will stew and rot in the water bowl for three days and a thirsty tortoise might want to drink that bacterial soup. There is no reason why a tortoise cannot go 3-4 days with no water, if it is soaked the day before, and soaked upon your return, and munching on cactus pads while you are gone.

If possible, you can even hook up a webcam so you can see what he is doing and check on him while you are gone. Maybe a friend or family member can be on stand-by just in case of "emergency".
 

Ray--Opo

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Ok thanks for the info. We are leaving tomorrow afternoon. If I can work it out I will try and get a web cam in the morning. Being disabled and not driving I have to work around others schedule. But a webcam would make me feel more comfortable. Again thanks to the responses. This is a great forum because of all of you members.
Ray
 

vladimir

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Went on vacation and Opo and I survived . The webcam was a great idea. Thanks Tom!
Glad I took the advice of leaving Opo home
Glad everything worked out. Hope you enjoyed the vacation! Did you catch Opo doing anything cute on the webcam while you were gone? [emoji16]
 

Ray--Opo

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Opo,s hides hollowed out logs so they are curved. I thought I had them blocked off so Opo couldn't climb on top of them. Wrong! On our way home he was upset so I watched Opo tearing up the place. Filled the food tray with bedding and taking his anger out on the cuttle bone and that ended up in the food tray. And numerous trips on top of his hides.Gonna change the hides to a little taller square box type hides
 

kellygirl64

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Opo,s hides hollowed out logs so they are curved. I thought I had them blocked off so Opo couldn't climb on top of them. Wrong! On our way home he was upset so I watched Opo tearing up the place. Filled the food tray with bedding and taking his anger out on the cuttle bone and that ended up in the food tray. And numerous trips on top of his hides.Gonna change the hides to a little taller square box type hides
Apparently Opo wanted the driver to go faster and get you back home more quickly !! You were 'missed' but he waited to wreck his place until you were going to be home soon - to fix it all back up for him and give him the attention n love he missed. Typical Kid !! Glad he did well and that you chose to leave him behind so he could make sure you got home and were reminded that vacation was over n it was back to the grind !! (just being humorous here) Thanks for the update !!
 

Ray--Opo

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They are work if you want to care for the little rascals properly. But it's well worth it. When I was setting up the cam I noticed the cam also had audio. So the whole time I could hear Opo digging and scratching. So I was talking to him. Then on the way home I noticed a little microphone on the screen and figured out I needed to activate that first to turn my audio on. LOL I guess I should have read the instructions.​
 
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