Traveling with a baby beardie?

Hello! My boyfriend and I recently got an adorable baby beardie (Crunch) and are faced with a little bit of an issue now.

In October we're going on vacation and his mom offered to dragon-sit for us while we're gone. So, we'll have to drive Crunch up to her house, 2 hours away. My main question is how can I make this more comfortable and easy for him? I'm really worried about him being stressed out over the travel and change of location then not eating properly because of it while we're gone. My boyfriend has had bearded dragons before is like "oh he'll be fine, they're the chillest animals ever" but I'm still so worried. I worry a lot and sometimes too much. I don't want Crunch to be too stressed over this short change (and I'm definitely afraid of him thinking we're abandoning him! )

Basically what can I do to make sure he's okay for that week.

He'll be just fine in nice ventilated tub lined with paper toweling on a lap for the trip to mum's.

You could set up a rearing tub like shown here : viewtopic.php?f=34&t=233480
and install him in it for a week or two so he gets used to it, he'll be lots less stressed that way and you can simply park him in a small tub for the trip and use the rearing tub to secure his food and other odds-n-bodds for the trip.

Can mom visit for a weekend before to be show the ropes and so he can get used to her and get to know her ? if she can it's a very good idea , this way she'll be more sure of herself , he'll be more inclined to eat for her and less stress all round.

kingofnobbys":21a688ky said:

He'll be just fine in nice ventilated tub lined with paper toweling on a lap for the trip to mum's.

You could set up a rearing tub like shown here : viewtopic.php?f=34&t=233480
and install him in it for a week or two so he gets used to it, he'll be lots less stressed that way and you can simply park him in a small tub for the trip and use the rearing tub to secure his food and other odds-n-bodds for the trip.

Can mom visit for a weekend before to be show the ropes and so he can get used to her and get to know her ? if she can it's a very good idea , this way she'll be more sure of herself , he'll be more inclined to eat for her and less stress all round.

Click to expand...

Alright, I'll definitely look more into the tubing. We also have a 15 gallon tank that he's been temporarily living in until, actually, my boyfriend's mom can come down and bring the big 50 gallon! So she's definitely gonna try to be here at some point before the trip. But could that 15 gal. also work in place of tubing? It's an environment he's already used to and he's still pretty small, like only 2 or 3 months old. That 15 gal. is like a palace compared to the crowded beta fish sized tank they were making him live in at the store (we wish we could have saved them all and given them their own palaces ), I can't imagine how he's gonna feel when we get the 50 gal. back!

Hi there, yes the 15 gal. will work out fine since you can transport it easily and he's already at home in it. Just be sure to transport the baby in a small box so it's not thrown around in the tank during the drive . They do just fine on car trips, I used to take babies on 3-4 hr. rides at a time with no problem, even in the winter.

We just recently had to take our baby to the vet who is 2+ hours away. I got "Hot Hands" from the store (I don't know where you're located so I can't say if they sell them where you are), and a very soft hand towel. Before we left the house, I wrapped Mycroft (my baby beardie) up in the towel and put 2 packs of the "Hot Hands" in the folds of the towel so they were insulated as well. I then put him in his small carrier and held him the entire way there. Granted, you can easily just buckle the carrier in.

It worked extremely well for us and he stayed warm the entire time.

Hand warmers are O.K. if needed, just be SUPER careful that the baby can not come in contact with them because they get burning hot, over 140-150 F.

The towel itself was very thick and I checked about every 30 minutes to make sure he wasn't getting too hot. Though, I was using the hand warmer that is marketed especially for hands. Since the hottest temperature that most people can immerse their hand in without causing pain is generally between 110-115F, I am having difficulties seeing how this particular hand warmer can get up to 140-150F.

I appreciate the concern, and want nothing to happen to my baby. I did get Tracy's and KingofNobby's approval on it prior to even purchasing the packs.

I would never understand why they make them so hot, but they do. I had some in the house and here is the pic...163 degrees ! Unreal, like you're going to cook something with them.

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/29883/full
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/29930/full

Yeah, that is weird especially because they advertise being able to hold them on bare skin. I would think if it gets THAT hot, your hands would burn. :|

Anywho, I do agree that extreme caution needs to be utilized when using these for our babies!