Need some help...taking a short trip!

[StarSapphire22]

Hola tortie peoples!

So my mother decreed that Christmas doesn't take place until this Saturday (January 4th). We are driving from where we live (Fargo, ND) about 3 hours southeast to her home in southwestern Minnesota and back...leaving late morning/early afternoon on the 3rd and coming back late on the night of the 4th.

I have a 5 month old Hermann's. I'm a little nervous at leaving him home alone, and no one is available to check on him that weekend (we thought my FIL could, but it turns out he now has to go out of town that weekend for work). His light is on a timer, so that shouldn't be an issue as long as the cat doesn't unplug it....our apartment is about 73 degrees anyways, which he could handle for a few hours if he absolutely had to. I'm mostly worried about feeding and the "what-ifs" (flipping, running out of water, etc.). I'm a bit of a worrier.

So my question is this:
Is it better to...
a) feed him a generous amount of greens on Friday, soak him before we leave, make sure everything is in order, let him eat whatever is left on Saturday, and resume life as normal on Sunday?
b) Set him up in his old under the bed bin and bring him with? (My little cousins would love that, lol!)

My concerns would be, how would we keep him warm in the car? We can't plug in his light...should we just keep the car running warm? And what if our car breaks down or something...it's been subzero lately!

I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons here, and am really struggling to figure out what is best. Whatever we decide, it needs to be a fairly inexpensive solution. Any help is much appreciated.

 

[StarSapphire22]

AAAAAAAAAND, I just found out, my aunt is hosting now, not my mom. So we would drive to my mom's Friday, stay there for the night, drive to my aunts for 2 hours or so, have Christmas at her house for the day, then drive four hours home late that night. LOTS of driving. Yippeee....

It's a good thing I'm a momma's girl.

 

[wellington]

I would leave him home. Your plan of how to leave him is good. If there is anything in the enclosure that could cause a flip, remove it for the time you are gone. However, if this is his hide, I would leave that in for him. I have left my leopard when he was smaller and even now for a couple days, doing the same thing you have planned.
Happy driving, be safe, it's a mess out there in some places

 

[StarSapphire22]

Taylor (my fiance) just pointed out a few things. He's a bit more of a rational thinker than I am.

I have 2 main worries about leaving him at home: flipping, and running out of water. His water dish randomly evaporates completely within an hour sometimes. I was told it might leak, but even the new dish does it. *shrug* As far as flipping...his most likely flip is his hide. He LOVES climbing on it. But sometimes he just trips on his moss too. He's a bit of a clutz (kinda like his mom, ha!).

I have 1 main worry about bringing him with: getting cold because our car breaks down.

The first two things are a lot more likely to happen then our never-before-had-a-problem, fairly reliable car breaking down. He also pointed out that if I didn't bring him, I probably would spend the whole trip worrying instead of enjoying Christmas with my family who I rarely get to see. Ah, anxiety...though art a jerk. Also, apparently my youngest cousin has heard there might be a "turtle" coming and is about to explode with excitement.

I think...I think I would like to bring him with. So I guess I answered my own question. Does anyone have tips on how to do this as safely as possible? I will pick up a few handwarmers just in case, but any other tips are greatly appreciated.

 

[wellington]

LOL, too funny. Is his enclosure small enough to take with? If not, get a box and put his dishes, hide and some substrate in. Bring his lights and heat of course. Warm up the car before you bring him out to it. Don't put him on the floor, that's the coldest part. Keep the enclosure covered for the ride. Will help keep warmth in and darker for less stress.

 

[StarSapphire22]

His old enclosure should fit nicely across the back seat...it's just one of those under the bed bins. I will test it out later to be sure. If not, I should have a regular sized tote I can bring, or buy. We'll have the heat going in the car too, so it should be nice and toasty.

 

[Jacqui]

I would have left him home, turn up the house heat, turn off the day light bulb, and remove the water. Then you only have whatever you use during the night to worry about and have on a timer. He could go without water for that long and he could eat greens even if they become dry. Leave the cat (or him) in a room the cat can't get into. As cold as it is in your area, I would fear a car breakdown. So if you take him, use something small you can have under your clothing in case of an emergency and can take inside to a restaurant or repair shop. Then have your larger enclosure for once you get there. Remember to watch for cold spots/hot spots, and both hot and cold drafts in your car. Covering him while traveling with a big thick towel is a nice thing to do.

 

[StarSapphire22]

That's a really great idea to transport him in a smaller container and set him up in his big container later. We can keep a smaller container in my lap and direct the warm air to him.

As far as breakdowns...we've got a people emergency kit in the trunk. I think we will make him one too. We'll get some handwarmers for sure...anything else to include?

 

[Elohi]

I took my Leo's with my on a long road trip. I have a minivan with an outlet and we also have a power converter so I could plug in multiple things but I just used an incandescent bulb during daylight hours and a CHE at night. I also took a mvb and a black light for additional heating options.
I took a medium sized tote that I already used as a temp humid enclosure for when my first hatchling arrived back on November 5th. So it already had substrate it in and the lid already had a hole cut out. It was easy to keep to temp, though the humidity fluctuated. It was kind of a pain in the butt to manage when we got a hotel and had to tote them upstairs and back down. But I had peace of mind, and sometimes that is more important than inconvenience. I wasn't worried about my van breaking down because it's new BUT, I did take along those packaged hand warmers, "just in case" something unfortunate happened along the way. That way I could box them up with hand warmers and keep them warm.

 

[Jacqui]

Always have on the box something that let's rescue folks know there is a little life inside that box which needs immediate care. Make it big and brite like red. Then inside have basic care information and telephone numbers of somebody who knows what your tortoise needs. This is just incase (and hoping none of you ever experience this) but your in a serious crash and your not able to tell the rescue folks about your tortoise.

If possible the tortoise's box he is in needs to be seat belted in... just incase.

 

[StarSapphire22]

Good tips, thanks guys!

 

[Richsandwich]

When I moved it was a 2.5hr car ride and my leo rode with me. He had plenty of heat and hand warmers and a nice travel box set up but even so it still took him a couple of days to return to his normal behavior. If everything is on a timer I would leave it home

 

[Saleama]

Here is what I do. I use a much smaller, low sided tote. I fill it 1/3 with coco coir and I plant a few house plants in it (not really an option for you I know) so I have a nice little mini house for my guys and gals. When I travel, in they go with a small terra cotta dish and some food. I keep the heat on in the car which is unbearable at times for me, but nice and cozy for the little ones. I bring extra substrate and dishes for them and then, when I get to where I am going, I buy a larger tote and make a vacation home for them. You don't need to worry about that because you have only one little guy (I have 5 sullies, 4 Leos and 6 baby boxies that go with me). The extra home's serve as a food growing tubs when not being used to transfer. I also have the kind that stack and have easy off lids I can check while driving. Leo's go on the floor, Sullys in the passenger seat and boxies (more temp tolerant) go in the back seat. Bring a small area heater to set up by him at your Mom's and you should be set! Your husband is right by the way. I left mine for three days and had an awful time. Came home early and everyone was fine, but still. What if?

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Mine jump right into their vacation homes and have no trouble adjusting back into things when we get back home by the way. I guess I got lucky with that. Yours may react differently. I use extra soaks and food to make sure they are ok.

 

[StarSapphire22]

Thanks Stephen, those are some awesome tips! We probably won't bring any plants, but he will definitely get some moss...his favorite!

Littlefoot is a pretty adaptable dude from what I've seen so far. We stuck him in a mixing bowl with some dirt and moss while we switched everything over to his new enclosure. He did a couple circles, crawled under the moss and resumed his nap. After a couple minutes in the new place he was zooming around. We change his enclosure a lot, and I think that helps. Plants get taken out and replaced, hides are changed, a gnome was added, layouts get mixed up a little...he's used to new stuff by now I think. We'll try and keep the layout as similar as possible to "home" and I bet he'll be just fine.

 

[StarSapphire22]

I put together his travel box tonight! Did end up picking up a couple plants after all...I think he's gonna like it.





Is there a way we can heat his bin without a light? My fiance would really like to keep him in his travel bin for the entirety of the trip if we can...little car that has to hold 3 people, luggage, and presents means not a lot of room for a big ol' bin. If we have to, we can, but he would prefer not to. We did pick up these:



He's just bugging me to "figure it out." Lol.

 

[StarSapphire22]

Anyone?

 

[Saleama]

Be VERY careful with those hand warmers. They can and often do, over heat and cause serious burns, something that can be real bad for cold blooded babies. You would be surprised by how easy it is to keep your car temped around 80f. Crack his lid and point the vent to it. When it warms up real nice, close the lid. Repeat every now and then You can also wrap the tub in a blanket to hold the warmth in and put the hand warmers between the blanket and the tub wall.

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Also, bring a light and suspend it over him during the day (I use an old BBQ rack) and get a small heater for night. They have really cheap ones at Wal-mart ($14.95) that are fan driven and can be "pointed" for better coverage. The short time you will have him in a dryer environment will not hurt him. Having him cold even for a short time, could.

 

[StarSapphire22]

Since he's a hermanns, I'm not so concerned about night time heat. Ideally, we'd like to heat him in some way that would allow us to keep the lid on (my aunt has cats). If we did use a low wattage bulb though, would it get too hot in that little box? We have 40 and 60w incandescents and a 50w basking lamp. Our 100w powersun would definitely be too hot.

The handwarmers we bought more for emergencies, like if the car breaks down.

 

[Saleama]

Hermanns are way more temp tolerant. As long as the temps stay near upper 60's or so he should be fine. As far as day time heat, use a 40 watt or adjust the height over his tote. To cat proof, I would cut a hole in the top of the tub and line it with foil. Shine the light through the hole and keep it close enough that kitty is not tempted to squeeze in there. Or keep him in the bed room you will be using and keep kitty out.

 

[StarSapphire22]

Our dome is a 10"...should we get a smaller one?