Traveling for weekend - What to do for Beardie?

[Travis1102]

I'm going away this weekend and given the long amount of time in the car (8 hrs each way) and so little time actually staying where we are going, I plan to just leave Pete home.

Here's what I'm thinking...I won't feed him on Friday (or Saturday since I'm away), but will make sure he has a bath Friday morning so he will 'hopefully' poo and be hydrated before we leave. I'm thinking that if I don't feed him on Friday, maybe he won't poo while we are away. I'm afraid if he does, he will spend the weekend redecorating (painting). His cage is all set up on timers for the lighting, so that's covered. My goal is to get home early enough on Sunday to feed him at least 2 hrs before lights out, but it may end up being Monday before he gets a meal. I hate "starving" him, but given that he's a reptile with healthy weight (8 months old, weighs 468 grams) I don't think it will hurt him.

Any other ideas / suggestions?

 

[daner923]

Honestly, I would feed him Friday, leave a big bowl of greens with him, and just deal with the clean up when you get back. 3 days is really too long without food. Two would probably be okay though.

 

[Goodtruant]

Beardies are naturally opportunistic eaters. In the wild, they eat when there's food available. Obviously, most of us treat them like they have an unlimited supply of food daily. Actually they can survive a long time without food....weeks....months....but you never want to do that if you can avoid it. This is also why they can eat so much at one 'sitting'. They will eat as much as they can in the wild because they don't know when their next meal will be.

What live feeders do you use? We've left a bowl of dubia in for our beardie before, since they can't climb out. I wouldn't do this with crickets or supers though.

It also might be a good time to try pellet food.

 

[PhatSprinter]

I would bring him with. I just bring a tub and a light and it worked great for me, and we were gone for two weeks.

 

[GingerBeachy]

I have an add on question. How do you transport them while driving? We are planning a trip later in the year & are trying to figure out bringing ours or asking a friend to babysit.

 

[jloucks]

I just plop our lizard in a plastic travel bin. He seems to like to travel. No different than a little dog.

I only feed 'treats' while on a trip tho, since they are easier to transport (wax worms, lettuce, mealworms etc.)

And just like a little dog, don't leave him in a hot car (or freezing one either for that matter).

 

[qsnook]

I travel with my BD once a month or more. Weekend trips about 3 hrs each way. I use a large plastic bin and put a towel on the bottom along with one of his rocks and a log. If it's cold out I'll usually put a few hot hands heat packets under the towel to keep him warm.

I also use wax worms for live feeders when we're traveling. I've learned that little cup or two of wax worms is a lot easier to carrier around than my bin of crickets and all the stuff that goes with them...!

I use smaller plastic bin that I put his lights and other necessary items in for travel.

He does fine in the car, no stress marks, he usually just lays down on his log and chills out.