movin and taking dragons with me

Hi. I'm going to be moving cross-country in early August, from Ohio to Nevada. I am going to be taking 2 leo geckos and 2 bearded dragons with me. I'm not too concerned with the geckos, since I know they can go a while without eating. My main concern is with the dragons. How long can they go without eating? The trip is going to take about 3-4 days, since we're going to stop every night at a hotel. Should I feed them right before I leave, or not? Is there anything else that I need to know? Thanks.

Why can't you feed them while you're on the road?

It might be a pain trying to find crickets while traveling, but there's a grocery store on every corner that you could at least get greens, then just tear them up by hand.

And actually, you could probably take a box of crickets with you. If they can survive 5 days in the "care" of the USPS for shipping without food or water, they should be able to handle a few days in the car with half an apple thrown in. Or roaches. Just don't leave the container in the direct sunlight so it won't overheat.

OK. I just didn't know if they should eat with all the stress of the move and everything. Should I keep the dragons in large kritter keepers (like I originally have planned to do) or would it be better to put them in bags and then inside a box like how they came shipped to me.

Hello,

I would not feed a whole lot though, unless you are going to be able to keep them at optimal temps for digestion. How old are your dragons now? If they are adults, they should be fine without eating for a few days, but, you need to keep them hydrated though.
If they are not going to be able to be kept warm under lights then it would be better not to feed them. You don't want them having stomach problems due to improper digestion.

Tracie

I have moved a few times this year, but it was only about 800-900 miles and every time I took every animal (and eggs) with me. Never lost one in transit yet. From adults to recent hatchlings, dragons, leopards, skinks, dart frogs, fish, dogs, cats, everything. I just box them up as if they were being shipped with the same procedures prior. It was only a 2 day trip at most and I did not feed them while in transit because they would not have the opportunity to warm up in between. They'll just take a nap and be a lil groggy when they finally get settled, but you'll be back to normal soon enough. The move itself is stressful enough, don't worry about it, they will be fine. Just make sure to keep them in the vehicle that you are traveling in so you will know if it gets too hot or too cold.

If they are adult beardies, I would recommend cooling and "hibernating" them for the trip. About 3 days before you leave, stop feeding them and allow them to clean out their system. Before you leave, give them a warm bath and then pack them up to travel. Try to keep them cool and dark along the way, possibly giving them a room-temperature bath after a couple days if you think they need to drink. As long as they have good weight on them before the trip, they should be fine this way for 3-4 days. They will just sleep, and the trip will be a little less stressful for them that way.

That sounds like it would work. Well, one is 4 years old and the other is about 1 year old. The 1 year isn't full grown yet, still has some growing to do. Should I also start lowering temps when I start hibernation? It should be pretty cool in the car, with the air conditioning. I'm going to have them in the back seat of my car with the side windows in the back draped off, so they won't be in the sun. Should I start feeding them waxworms to help put on some extra weight, or just stay with the greens, crickets and mealworms? I'm going to start giving the leos a few waxworms a day, so they can put on some extra weight, also.

They should both be old enough to make it just fine the way I described. As long as they both have good fat stores on their tails and heads, they shouldn't necessarily need any extra fattening, but it wouldn't hurt to give them a couple waxworms if you wanted to. When you stop feeding them a few days before you move, you want to leave them in the heat for a couple days to allow them to finish digesting any food that they have left in their system. You might want to turn off the heat and leave them at room temperature for the last day before putting them in the air-conditioned car so that it's not as drastic a change in temperature. Hopefully that helps.

Thanks for the advice. I will try it. I'll let you know when we get there and how everything went. Thanks Again!!!

Hi. I just wanted to let everyone know that we have finally arrived in Vegas and that everyone tolerated the move well. Thanks to everyone for their advice!!!