Relocation Stress?

[MissHiggles]

Hi all! I'm going on vacation and leaving my 4 month old beardie in the care of my sister who will do a great job. The only thing is she will have to check on him 2 to 3 times a day and the drive will be kind of stressful. We were thinking of setting up his tank at my sister's house for the time we're away (7 days). My question is, if his set up and schedule is exactly the same, will he still suffer from relocation stress? Or will the familiarity of his enclosure and day/night cycle alleviate that? He is familiar with my sister and mom who will be the only people handling him.

 

[KevinsMom33]

I would definitely move the tank to your sisters - that's just me - because I did the same thing - brought mine and the tank over to a sitter -
I think it would be less stressful for everyone involved. You from worrying whats going on between visits, your sister from driving there 3 times a day - and most importantly the dragon, who if she's already used to the family will be fine in her own tank and being looked after and on her regular schedule will be much less stressed.

 

[MissHiggles]

Thank you - this is what I was thinking! My dragon is a bit of a special case in and of himself - after his shed last month he stopped eating, got mouth rot, and just this morning finished a 14 day round of Baytril and a 7 day round of preventative Metronidazole. He's also got MBD and takes liquid calcium (this is why they say not to buy from a pet store! I've learned my lesson! But he's ours and we love him!). So while he's doing MUCH better than he was a month ago he's still not back on bugs and salad and is being syringe fed and watered. My family is more than equipped to handle him in this state and he's only getting better every day, but he is a high needs little man so having him close to someone who knows what to do 24/7 would be way more helpful for everyone, including him.

We're leaving on the 26th and coming back the 1st so it's not such a long time away. We hope in the mean time before we leave he'll get back on bugs and salad. If he does, great! But I know if he gets back on real feeding and gets stressed and stops or slows down, at least they'll know how to syringe feed him and we have a plan for that!

Thanks so much!

 

[KevinsMom33]

Wow - you have gone through a lot with your friend, I'm so glad he's with you. You're doing the best thing and you'll feel so much better. My Norma was a special needs (malnourished, couldn't move, calcium deficient etc etc) rescue and had to be syringe fed too - she's the one I sent to the sitter when I went out of town. So with all your guys needs right now and all the on site care - it is so much less stressful for all - especially your little guy.

When I adopted Norma, she looked like this:

For syringe feeding have you tried the Repashy grub pie - apparently its awesome for syringe feeding - wish I knew about it when I was mixing up organic baby food, calcium and crushed bugs -

4 months later - Norma now looks like this (the dragon, not the cat):

Keep everyone updated to how he's doing!

 

[MissHiggles]

Thanks for your kind words! Your baby is beautiful! I'll definitely keep everyone posted because as needy he is, my Tad Cooper is a special boy and we love him!

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health