Travel?

[brighteyez]

What are your opinions on traveling with your cham? I was planning on going out of town for a month to visit my parents and wanted to bring my cham with me, but it's a long drive and I don't want to stress him out too much. Is it even possible to travel with them, or will they just flip out? It's a 5-7hour drive to my parents.

Thanks
Whitley

 

[Eric Adrignola]

I do it all the time. Put them in a box, out of the sun and cold, and fll it with paper towels to keep them safe. They'll sleep most of the way, as long as no light gets in theirbox. If it's lit, they'll try to climb out, rubbing themselves potentially raw in the process.

I take a number of animals to Raleigh (4-5 hour trip) several times a year - longer trips are not a big deal. 90% of the time, they will be asleep when you open the boxes.

 

[Malicious]

Almost all our chams have traveled at one point or another...via UPS and FeDex. You should be fine to take it with you, providing you maintain a good temp for him with the help of a heat pack. Be sure he gets a good drink prior to leaving, and one apon arriving aswell.

-Jay

 

[brighteyez]

WoW! That's great to hear! I was worried I'd have to leave my baby behind with someone watching him. I guess now the only thing I have to figure out is where I can put him so that my cats won't get to him while I'm driving. lol

 

[brighteyez]

OK, I'm getting ready to take my cham Wilson on a trip tomorrow or the day after, and I wanna make sure I do this right!

So, Malicious, you said I should keep him warm with a heating pack. What's the ideal temp?

Also, how do I make him go to sleep? Just put him in the dark for a while?

What about air holes? won't they let in light?

Do you have any other tips or tricks that I should know?? I've never done this before, and I'm a little nervous. He's pretty fragile as it is, I've only just gotten him to eat on a regular basis, so I don't wanna upset him too much.

THANKS!

 

[jannb]

I travel with my guys. Even going to the vets is a 2 hour trip for us. I have small travel cages (12x26x24) and my guys love sitting up high in the cage looking around. If I'm going a short distance and only taking one, I just put a small tree in the front floor on the drivers side and they never move from the top of the plant.....they seem to enjoy looking outside and ridding. I even bought this adapter thing so I can plug in their light to the cigarette lighter for long trips.

 

[reptilemancan]

I travel with my guys. Even going to the vets is a 2 hour trip for us. I have small travel cages (12x26x24) and my guys love sitting up high in the cage looking around. If I'm going a short distance and only taking one, I just put a small tree in the front floor on the drivers side and they never move from the top of the plant.....they seem to enjoy looking outside and ridding. I even bought this adapter thing so I can plug in their light to the cigarette lighter for long trips.

lol that sounds great unless you have to make an emergancy stop!!

 

[SliK JiM]

I've had to move my guy before. I got a large ish card board box with holes in the top, poked sticks through the sides, so he had something to hold onto and put a fake vine thing in to make it 'look' a little nicer. I ushered him in about an hour before he normally goes to sleep, and just closed it up. I put him in the footwell of my car and draped a black jumper (anything black will do) over the whole footwell, to not cover the holes of the box but block out any light and still let air circulate around. Once I put his box down in the car the rustling stopped in about 10 seconds and I left him there for about 20minutes to fall asleep (and for me to disassemble his cage) and set off. Got to my destination, set up everything and put the box he was in in the bottom of the enclosure and opened it (in as little light as possible to not wake him). Then in the morning, he's up and about happily basking like nothing happened!

Done this a few times now and it seems to work for me! Hope that helps!

 

[brighteyez]

Wow Slik JiM, sounds like you really have it down. I like the idea of putting him in the footwell with a black cloth above him. I think I may try that, but the only issue I see is that I'm taking my two cats with me as well. I always let them roam around the car because if they can't see what's happening they get really distressed.

jannb, that sounds cool too. Unfortunately I took Wilson in the car a little while ago while he was awake, and he flipped out. I think it was too bumpy for him.

 

[SliK JiM]

Do you have one of those travel cat cage things? You could put the chameleon in his box in one of them and drape something over that and that'd keep the cats out! Plus it'd make it easy to drape the thing over as I normally have to tie the sheet or jumper in place so that it doesn't fall!

My folks had cats when I was younger. They were always strays that we rescued, and we had one that was absolutely terrified of cars. Any car! He wouldn't even walk passed one. Taking him to the vets was always a nightmare! We think his previous owners had chucked him out of one while it was moving or something. He's got better now, but he has to be able to move and do what he wants as well! My old man built a frame to put in to stop him getting into the front of the car!

 

[brighteyez]

Do you have one of those travel cat cage things? You could put the chameleon in his box in one of them and drape something over that and that'd keep the cats out! Plus it'd make it easy to drape the thing over as I normally have to tie the sheet or jumper in place so that it doesn't fall!

My folks had cats when I was younger. They were always strays that we rescued, and we had one that was absolutely terrified of cars. Any car! He wouldn't even walk passed one. Taking him to the vets was always a nightmare! We think his previous owners had chucked him out of one while it was moving or something. He's got better now, but he has to be able to move and do what he wants as well! My old man built a frame to put in to stop him getting into the front of the car!

you are good! that's a great idea!! Thanks

Aww poor kitty! I'm glad he has a new and better home.

 

[SliK JiM]

No probs!

Yeah, they're all like that when we get them! They're all super friendly after a while though so it's nice to see them improving!