Traveling with Juvenile Beardie

[Shana]

Hello! So... my husband and I are heading to visit my family next week and we will be gone for a week. I do realize that having someone to take care of our girl (Lulu) would be the best option however, that is not an option for us.

I have done some research so I will list the specifics of our travel below along with what our plan is and please add anything that you may have additional information about or hands on experience and ideas.
Trip Breakdown
Length of trip: 4 hours max- that accounts for traffic
Time of day: Monday morning
Temperature in our area during trip: mid to upper 70's
Length of Stay: one week

Lulu (our Beardie)
4 (almost 5) months old. close to 12 1/2" long and weighs about 135 grams
Clean bill of health one week ago: exotic vet.
Does very well with car rides.
Very comfortable with my husband and I but has a special attachment to me.

Current plan

Preparation

• Feeding- I've read that I shouldn't feed her the day before traveling to make sure her food has had sufficient time to digest. We will be leaving Monday morning so I plan to not feed her after her Friday dinner feeding and then will pick back up with her typical routine Monday morning about 2 hours after we arrive and she has time to thermoregulate.

Car Ride

• She likes to be in her satchel across my shoulder when she's in the car. I put the seatbelt around myself under the satchel and the satchel is fastened in as well. I also have a nice cloth reptile carrier, and given the 4 hour travel time would that be the better option?
• I have contradicting info when it comes to her temps in the car. The trip is 4 hours and the weather is warm, should I use a reptile warmer for her to keep her temps up? That is what I'm planning to do, it seems to make the most sense to me, but is it needed with a shorter travel time?
• I'm going to bring a temp gun to monitor her temps on the ride just incase.

Enclosure

• B/c we are staying for a week our plan is to take a 20 gallon breeder tank that we have in storage with us--it is much smaller than her current enclosure of course but my thought is: the 20 gallon is smaller, more portable, she was housed in it until she was almost 3 months old so there's some familiarity there for her.
  • Decor- Taking a piece of wood and basking platform from her current enclosure
  • going to use papertowels for substrate while we're away
  • Lighting- lamp stand, UVB hood, basking bulb

Once we arrive her routine will be as similar as possible and we will of course have her out of her enclosure quite often. We don't expect her to be in a 20 gallon all week without exercise.


With all that said, please chime in with anything especially the trip itself or how to reduce stress for her during our stay. There are no other pets or anything of that nature where we are going. Calm environment, etc.

And if you have had a good experience with traveling with your beardie, feel free to share that too! I know it's doable and many people do have success with it. We have her best interest at heart so I want to be sure we do what we should.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello! So... my husband and I are heading to visit my family next week and we will be gone for a week. I do realize that having someone to take care of our girl (Lulu) would be the best option however, that is not an option for us.

I have done some research so I will list the specifics of our travel below along with what our plan is and please add anything that you may have additional information about or hands on experience and ideas.
Trip Breakdown
Length of trip: 4 hours max- that accounts for traffic
Time of day: Monday morning
Temperature in our area during trip: mid to upper 70's
Length of Stay: one week

Lulu (our Beardie)
4 (almost 5) months old. close to 12 1/2" long and weighs about 135 grams
Clean bill of health one week ago: exotic vet.
Does very well with car rides.
Very comfortable with my husband and I but has a special attachment to me.

Current plan

Preparation

• Feeding- I've read that I shouldn't feed her the day before traveling to make sure her food has had sufficient time to digest. We will be leaving Monday morning so I plan to not feed her after her Friday dinner feeding and then will pick back up with her typical routine Monday morning about 2 hours after we arrive and she has time to thermoregulate.

Car Ride

• She likes to be in her satchel across my shoulder when she's in the car. I put the seatbelt around myself under the satchel and the satchel is fastened in as well. I also have a nice cloth reptile carrier, and given the 4 hour travel time would that be the better option?
• I have contradicting info when it comes to her temps in the car. The trip is 4 hours and the weather is warm, should I use a reptile warmer for her to keep her temps up? That is what I'm planning to do, it seems to make the most sense to me, but is it needed with a shorter travel time?
• I'm going to bring a temp gun to monitor her temps on the ride just incase.

Enclosure

• B/c we are staying for a week our plan is to take a 20 gallon breeder tank that we have in storage with us--it is much smaller than her current enclosure of course but my thought is: the 20 gallon is smaller, more portable, she was housed in it until she was almost 3 months old so there's some familiarity there for her.
  • Decor- Taking a piece of wood and basking platform from her current enclosure
  • going to use papertowels for substrate while we're away
  • Lighting- lamp stand, UVB hood, basking bulb

Once we arrive her routine will be as similar as possible and we will of course have her out of her enclosure quite often. We don't expect her to be in a 20 gallon all week without exercise.


With all that said, please chime in with anything especially the trip itself or how to reduce stress for her during our stay. There are no other pets or anything of that nature where we are going. Calm environment, etc.

And if you have had a good experience with traveling with your beardie, feel free to share that too! I know it's doable and many people do have success with it. We have her best interest at heart so I want to be sure we do what we should.

Cooper Dragon is better at this stuff going to flag to him
@CooperDragon

 

[CooperDragon]

I think she'll be OK on a short trip like that. I've found that they do just fine at normal car temps, so no changes are really needed there. I only bother with a heat pack if it's mid winter and we need to leave the car for an extended period (meal etc). I prefer using my pet carrier which clips into a seatbelt, but go with whatever works best for you. It's helpful to keep cleaning supplies easily accessible in case poop cleanup is needed. On long drives I usually stop to offer some basking time in nice weather, but a 4 hr trip shouldn't need that.

A 20g is kind of small but is probably a good option due to portability. What I like to do instead of lugging around a glass tank is use a folding playpen or pet pen with the top off. I can set an adjustable lamp stand to hold a dome fixture over the top and set a mercury vapor bulb in there to provide the necessary lighting. I just set that on an on/off timer and it works well. I've had good luck using the 100w Lucky Herp (frosted version) MVB for travel. It should fit into a standard sized dome fixture and be about 10-12'' above the basking spot. It helps to have a digital thermometer with a probe so you can check surface temps and adjust bulb height as needed.

It's also good to bring food that is easy to transport. A container of black soldier fly larvae usually works well. I also keep some veges in a cooler to offer salads during the trip.

 

[Shana]

Hello! So... my husband and I are heading to visit my family next week and we will be gone for a week. I do realize that having someone to take care of our girl (Lulu) would be the best option however, that is not an option for us.

I have done some research so I will list the specifics of our travel below along with what our plan is and please add anything that you may have additional information about or hands on experience and ideas.
Trip Breakdown
Length of trip: 4 hours max- that accounts for traffic
Time of day: Monday morning
Temperature in our area during trip: mid to upper 70's
Length of Stay: one week

Lulu (our Beardie)
4 (almost 5) months old. close to 12 1/2" long and weighs about 135 grams
Clean bill of health one week ago: exotic vet.
Does very well with car rides.
Very comfortable with my husband and I but has a special attachment to me.

Current plan

Preparation

• Feeding- I've read that I shouldn't feed her the day before traveling to make sure her food has had sufficient time to digest. We will be leaving Monday morning so I plan to not feed her after her Friday dinner feeding and then will pick back up with her typical routine Monday morning about 2 hours after we arrive and she has time to thermoregulate.

Car Ride

• She likes to be in her satchel across my shoulder when she's in the car. I put the seatbelt around myself under the satchel and the satchel is fastened in as well. I also have a nice cloth reptile carrier, and given the 4 hour travel time would that be the better option?
• I have contradicting info when it comes to her temps in the car. The trip is 4 hours and the weather is warm, should I use a reptile warmer for her to keep her temps up? That is what I'm planning to do, it seems to make the most sense to me, but is it needed with a shorter travel time?
• I'm going to bring a temp gun to monitor her temps on the ride just incase.

Enclosure

• B/c we are staying for a week our plan is to take a 20 gallon breeder tank that we have in storage with us--it is much smaller than her current enclosure of course but my thought is: the 20 gallon is smaller, more portable, she was housed in it until she was almost 3 months old so there's some familiarity there for her.
  • Decor- Taking a piece of wood and basking platform from her current enclosure
  • going to use papertowels for substrate while we're away
  • Lighting- lamp stand, UVB hood, basking bulb

Once we arrive her routine will bimilar as possible and we will of course have her out of her enclosure quite often. We don't expect her to be in a 20 gallon all week without exercise.


With all that said, please chime in with anything especially the trip itself or how to reduce stress for her during our stay. There are no other pets or anything of that nature where we are going. Calm environment, etc.

And if you have had a good experience with traveling with your beardie, feel free to share that too! I know it's doable and many people do have success with it. We have her best interest at heart so I want to be sure we do what we should.

Just r

I think she'll be OK on a short trip like that. I've found that they do just fine at normal car temps, so no changes are really needed there. I only bother with a heat pack if it's mid winter and we need to leave the car for an extended period (meal etc). I prefer using my pet carrier which clips into a seatbelt, but go with whatever works best for you. It's helpful to keep cleaning supplies easily accessible in case poop cleanup is needed. On long drives I usually stop to offer some basking time in nice weather, but a 4 hr trip shouldn't need that.

A 20g is kind of small but is probably a good option due to portability. What I like to do instead of lugging around a glass tank is use a folding playpen or pet pen with the top off. I can set an adjustable lamp stand to hold a dome fixture over the top and set a mercury vapor bulb in there to provide the necessary lighting. I just set that on an on/off timer and it works well. I've had good luck using the 100w Lucky Herp (frosted version) MVB for travel. It should fit into a standard sized dome fixture and be about 10-12'' above the basking spot. It helps to have a digital thermometer with a probe so you can check surface temps and adjust bulb height as needed.

It's also good to bring food that is easy to transport. A container of black soldier fly larvae usually works well. I also keep some veges in a cooler to offer salads during the trip.

Thank you so much for your reply! I see contradicting information but from day one this forum has been my "beardie bible" and I so appreciate the feedback!
I was actually looking at foldable playpens because I just really do not want to haul that tank and like you said, it just isn't much room and it wouldn't be fair to her.

Would a playpen such as this work? Large https://www.amazon.com/Parkland-Pet...x=bearded+dragon+playpen,aps,109&sr=8-24&th=1

Just to confirm- she would be ok then with the playpen, a lamp stand (already have that covered) and just a 100w Lucky Herp (frosted version) MVB in a standard dome?

Do you have any input on pausing her feeding for about 24 hours prior to our departure?

I'm so glad I reached out. This sure beat hauling that tank and the lights and all that. Her age is really where my hesitation comes in, I don't want to do anything to halt her growth progress and overall health.

 

[KarrieRee]

Just r

Thank you so much for your reply! I see contradicting information but from day one this forum has been my "beardie bible" and I so appreciate the feedback!
I was actually looking at foldable playpens because I just really do not want to haul that tank and like you said, it just isn't much room and it wouldn't be fair to her.

Would a playpen such as this work? Large https://www.amazon.com/Parkland-Pet-Portable-Foldable-Removable/dp/B01E7PHXR6/ref=sr_1_24?crid=3VBC2OPVTCCSB&dd=SN6NDM9KefyWZH2wxdj7rQ,,&keywords=bearded+dragon+playpen&qid=1683053733&refinements=p_90:8308921011&rnid=8308919011&sprefix=bearded+dragon+playpen,aps,109&sr=8-24&th=1

Just to confirm- she would be ok then with the playpen, a lamp stand (already have that covered) and just a 100w Lucky Herp (frosted version) MVB in a standard dome?

Do you have any input on pausing her feeding for about 24 hours prior to our departure?

I'm so glad I reached out. This sure beat hauling that tank and the lights and all that. Her age is really where my hesitation comes in, I don't want to do anything to halt her growth progress and overall health.

Gonna chime in here --- the Lucky Herp MVB I would not get or use -- if you want a MVB go w/ a Mega Ray -- they are a better quality bulb --- Cooper Dragon can help w/ the rest

 

[Shana]

Gonna chime in here --- the Lucky Herp MVB I would not get or use -- if you want a MVB go w/ a Mega Ray -- they are a better quality bulb --- Cooper Dragon can help w/ the rest

Thanks, Karrie!