Road trip with Kona...

[kona the tortoise]

We are headed to Florida for the summer in two weeks. We want to take Kona with us but don't know how to keep her area warm in the car. We are driving from New York, it will be a 17-hour drive and we are staying overnight in a hotel. We plan to keep her is a storage tote with holes drilled. It will be dark as not to stress her out. How would you suggest we keep it warm over the drive?

 

[Maro2Bear]

What kind of tortoise? How old, etc? Not to be goofy, but it’s in the 90’s here in Maryland, 90 in Pennsylvania, and pretty much the same all the way down I-95 to Florida. Just about 90 in Tampa. I don’t think you will have to worrt about keeping your tort warm (just don't turn the A/C on).

 

[kona the tortoise]

Alright, thanks. I was just worried. I will bring a CHE for overnight at the hotel. Thanks! She is a redfoot, almost 2 years old.

 

[Crush da Baum]

Alright, thanks. I was just worried. I will bring a CHE for overnight at the hotel. Thanks! She is a redfoot, almost 2 years old.

I know people won’t recommend it but I love taking my torts on vacation. I go up to Georgia to a cabin my grandparents own, for a few weeks every year and always bring my two russians. It is only a 8-9 hour drive and they have a plastic tub in the back with heat, food, and water and a real enclosure that I leave up at the cabin. It is always fun.

 

[newCH]

Sheldon has come on vacation with us about 4 times. It all works out just fine.

 

[zovick]

We are headed to Florida for the summer in two weeks. We want to take Kona with us but don't know how to keep her area warm in the car. We are driving from New York, it will be a 17-hour drive and we are staying overnight in a hotel. We plan to keep her is a storage tote with holes drilled. It will be dark as not to stress her out. How would you suggest we keep it warm over the drive?

@kona the tortoise
I could be wrong, but I think it might be unrealistic/difficult to drive all the way to FL in June/July without using the A/C in your car. Instead, you could use one of the heat packs which are used for shipping tortoises and other reptiles inside the tote to provide warmth and then you could use the A/C in the car as needed without worrying.

The heat packs come in various lengths of time for which they work. IE, some are good for 40 hours, some for 72 hours, etc. You could get a couple of the 72 hour ones and use one for each trip (to FL and back to NY) or get four of the 40 hour jobs and use two going down and two going back, etc. IMPORTANT: you need to wrap the heat pack in several layers of paper towels, cloth, or newspaper so that it does not come into direct contact with the tortoise. These heat packs get very hot and they can burn the animal if you do not take this precaution and the heat pack comes into direct contact with the tortoise. I even know of a few shipments of young turtles and tortoises which were cooked unwittingly by shippers placing their containers or cloth bags of animals directly on top of unprotected heat packs.

Another way to accomplish this protection from too much heat is to put the heat pack inside a small cardboard box with some holes in it to let the heat escape while keeping the tortoise from contacting the heat pack directly. Then simply put the box into the tote with your tortoise.

A good thing to do would be to buy some extra heat packs beforehand and experiment with them by placing a wrapped one in the tote before you actually leave to see how warm it gets. This will give you an idea how many layers of wrapping you will want to use for the actual trip.

You might be able to find these heat packs near you, but don't confuse them with the hand warmers. The hand warmers are not the same and don't last long enough for your trip. Here is a link to the Ship Your Reptiles web site where the heat packs can be ordered separately or in bulk:

Heat Packs

Reptile shipping- Ship live reptiles including snakes and lizards securely and affordably with Ship Your Reptiles

www.shipyourreptiles.com

Good luck!

 

[kona the tortoise]

@kona the tortoise
I could be wrong, but I think it might be unrealistic/difficult to drive all the way to FL in June/July without using the A/C in your car. Instead, you could use one of the heat packs which are used for shipping tortoises and other reptiles inside the tote to provide warmth and then you could use the A/C in the car as needed without worrying.

The heat packs come in various lengths of time for which they work. IE, some are good for 40 hours, some for 72 hours, etc. You could get a couple of the 72 hour ones and use one for each trip (to FL and back to NY) or get four of the 40 hour jobs and use two going down and two going back, etc. IMPORTANT: you need to wrap the heat pack in several layers of paper towels, cloth, or newspaper so that it does not come into direct contact with the tortoise. These heat packs get very hot and they can burn the animal if you do not take this precaution and the heat pack comes into direct contact with the tortoise. I even know of a few shipments of young turtles and tortoises which were cooked unwittingly by shippers placing their containers or cloth bags of animals directly on top of unprotected heat packs.

Another way to accomplish this protection from too much heat is to put the heat pack inside a small cardboard box with some holes in it to let the heat escape while keeping the tortoise from contacting the heat pack directly. Then simply put the box into the tote with your tortoise.

A good thing to do would be to buy some extra heat packs beforehand and experiment with them by placing a wrapped one in the tote before you actually leave to see how warm it gets. This will give you an idea how many layers of wrapping you will want to use for the actual trip.

You might be able to find these heat packs near you, but don't confuse them with the hand warmers. The hand warmers are not the same and don't last long enough for your trip. Here is a link to the Ship Your Reptiles web site where the heat packs can be ordered separately or in bulk:

Heat Packs

Reptile shipping- Ship live reptiles including snakes and lizards securely and affordably with Ship Your Reptiles

www.shipyourreptiles.com

Good luck!

Thus is great! Thanks for the suggestions! Yes, I will plan on keeping her warm on the drive. Thanks.