Relocating - increment or all at once?

[nuclearkielbasa]

Hello there! we will be acquiring a 3-year old beardie that has been living in the same tank his whole life; a glass exoterra 12" x 18" x 36". We have a larger melamine tank that is 17" x 20" x 45" that will become his new home. What would be the best way to move him in?

• Do we keep him in his exoterra with his existing decor/substrate for a bit but set it up in the new location and then at some point later, move him into the new enclosure?
• Or do we "rip the bandaid off" and move him into the new enclosure right off the bat?

I know each beardie is different and can get stressed regardless of move, but it makes sense to me to do it all at once; the first option seems it would just prolong stress?

(our first rescue had only one day of Upsetty when we moved her. The next day she was fine! We got lucky with her. This guy I think could be rather antsy about change.)

 

[hdochow]

personally i would go the "rip off the bandaid" approach. no point in letting them take a week or two to settle in and then start all over again. i'm no expert though. i moved sir henry from a 20 gallon straight to a 4'x2'x2', and he's our first beardie, so don't have the most experience with the process.

 

[smaugthebeardie3756]

personally i would go the "rip off the bandaid" approach. no point in letting them take a week or two to settle in and then start all over again. i'm no expert though. i moved sir henry from a 20 gallon straight to a 4'x2'x2', and he's our first beardie, so don't have the most experience with the process.

I would tend to agree. Seems like incrementally would maybe make it less stressful for each step, but he would be dealing with it over a longer period. Might stress him out more doing it all at once, but once he's settled down he's done.