gthompson0267
New Member
We are making a seven hour drive with our tortoise. She will be in a plastic bin with plenty of substrate. Do we need to offer any heating to the travel habitat? Thanks.
seven hour drive w/ tortoise
- Thread starter gthompson0267
- Start date
You should need to, its summer. Bring garbage bags and paper towel. They poop a lot on car rides.
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2014
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- Location (City and/or State)
- South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
I use several layers if newspaper.
It soaks up a lot of the mess that WILL happen.
Yeah, I never had to take one on a long ride. I just remember the poop stink. Didnt have to deal with the pee. Mine actually laid some of her eggs and pooped lol.
I can't imagine the smell half way into 7 hours if one had nothing to clean it up, yikes!
I would suggest make the enclosure dark and so air from an open window or AC can't blow in on him.
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2014
- Messages
- 29,040
- Location (City and/or State)
- South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
I would imagine a good 2 or 3 stops to replace the paper.
From where to where? What species? Different advice for different parts of the country. Use the car's AC and heating to keep the temperature where it should be for your species.
I prefer to use towels on the bottom. They are very absorbent and very quick and easy to change out, as needed. Take the tortoise out, put the poopy towel in a garbage bag, put in a clean towel, put the tortoise back. Repeat as needed. Soak the tortoise for a long time the day before the journey to empty it out.
The tortoise will be most comfortable if you keep it dark.
What about on the other end? Do you already have a suitable enclosure set up and running with the correct temps? Are you moving, or taking a trip?
Poop stinks, YES! VERY aromatic!
I do what Tom suggests with the soaks and towels and I use a Snuggle Safe. These are microwaveable discs that hold heat for ~10 hours. If you find a microwave along the way, you can reheat for a short time (~1 min. vs. initial heat time of ~3 min. or bring a backup disc)--especially important in summer as the humans like it cold. I wrap it in a towel and place it in the tote or bin I am transporting in and then lay another towel on top with the tort and then cover tort's body with towel. It's important to do this even in the summer due to AC use. My girl is usually very good about not defecating or peeing outside her soak tub, but if necessary, I just swap out towels. I also give her a bit of moist greenery (like romaine, frisee or escarole) to munch if she wants to maintain hydration.
TaylorTortoise
Well-Known Member
Why is it the tortoise will be most comfortable if you keep the travel container you put him/her in dark?
