How to move a G. Rosea across country safely(by car)?

Hey guys! I am going to be moving from Michigan to Florida in a few days. I would like to know how to transport my beautiful girl safely. I've had her over a year now and will be very upset of anything happens to her. Should I just keep her in her tank? Her tank is 5 gallon. I know that's kind of big for her but that's all I had. I would put her tank in front of me or behind a seat. Or is there a better way? If there should I move her back to her tank at night in the hotels? Its going to take us about four to five days o get there. We are taking our time no rushing.

Thank you! :biggrin:

airserver said:

Hey guys! I am going to be moving from Michigan to Florida in a few days. I would like to know how to transport my beautiful girl safely. I've had her over a year now and will be very upset of anything happens to her. Should I just keep her in her tank? Her tank is 5 gallon. I know that's kind of big for her but that's all I had. I would put her tank in front of me or behind a seat. Or is there a better way? If there should I move her back to her tank at night in the hotels? Its going to take us about four to five days o get there. We are taking our time no rushing.

Thank you! :biggrin:

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Four or five days is a long trip, the T is gona be pretty rattled. In that circumstance I think the best thing to do would be package her (as if you were shipping her) for the car rides and let her back into the tank each night. It's gona confuse her for sure but I dont think leaving her packaged for 5 days in a bouncing car is a great idea

For packaging if you're not sure of the process, you need a container slightly larger than her (not too big not too small) and pad it with damp tissue (but not too wet). Put her inside and close the lid so she is surrouned in a kind of sphere of tissue. Then get a larger cardboard box and fill it with newspaper shreds, place the container into the box amongst all the paper, this will help soften her ride. Try and keep the box the same way up the whole trip.

I recommend against travelling with her in the enclosure, things will bounce around and shift, she may be injured. Good luck =)

airserver said:

Hey guys! I am going to be moving from Michigan to Florida in a few days. I would like to know how to transport my beautiful girl safely. I've had her over a year now and will be very upset of anything happens to her. Should I just keep her in her tank? Her tank is 5 gallon. I know that's kind of big for her but that's all I had. I would put her tank in front of me or behind a seat. Or is there a better way? If there should I move her back to her tank at night in the hotels? Its going to take us about four to five days o get there. We are taking our time no rushing.

Thank you! :biggrin:

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Taking your time for sure...that's like 3.5-4 hours of driving a day...lol. If you want what's best for the t, its not taking that amount of time. I'd pack it like I was mailing it, but then again, I would drive right through to Florida. 5 days, I just don't know what to tell ya, its probably too long to be contained tightly, but keeping it in an enclosure seems like a risk. The wrong panic stop or evasive maneuver could be bad news for a t. Good luck with the trip, you're getting out of the region just in the nick of time!

Do you think she could be so stressed she could pass away? Kind of like fish? Sorry it sounds silly but I'm soo worried about her.

What about air? Poke holes in the little box and the bigger but could it be possible it wouldn't give her enough air?

---------- Post added 11-11-2014 at 09:09 PM ----------

It's not my choice how long it's going to be. I'm moving with my parents and we are taking my uncle with us. My mother said it will take four days I just put five just in case.

airserver said:

Do you think she could be so stressed she could pass away? Kind of like fish? Sorry it sounds silly but I'm soo worried about her.

What about air? Poke holes in the little box and the bigger but could it be possible it wouldn't give her enough air?

---------- Post added 11-11-2014 at 09:09 PM ----------

It's not my choice how long it's going to be. I'm moving with my parents and we are taking my uncle with us. My mother said it will take four days I just put five just in case.

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Do you know anyone at the other end that you mail her too?

airserver said:

Do you think she could be so stressed she could pass away? Kind of like fish? Sorry it sounds silly but I'm soo worried about her.

What about air? Poke holes in the little box and the bigger but could it be possible it wouldn't give her enough air?

---------- Post added 11-11-2014 at 09:09 PM ----------

It's not my choice how long it's going to be. I'm moving with my parents and we are taking my uncle with us. My mother said it
will take four days I just put five just in case.

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Packing it tight would be best for it, but with that amount of time, it would be impossible to be able to monitor it. Leaving it in an enclosure would allow you to monitor it as well as giving it "normalcy" while you are not in the car, but would leave it in potential danger from the car ride.

I don't think stress in necessarily the biggest worry. Time, maintaining even temps and the bouncy car ride are bigger dangers IMO.

What if I pack her in a little box like you guys have said above and hold her the whole time? I'm willing to do that. Then let her in her house in the hotels.

And no I don't have anyone to send her to.

airserver said:

What if I pack her in a little box like you guys have said above and hold her the whole time?

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You're definitely not going to want to hold it the entire time, that would really suck for you.

Here's a thought and possibly the way I would go unless advised otherwise....just a thought. I'd get a smaller KK, create a safe/stable burrow (like a pvc pipe chunk) in substrate and get the t into it. Then put in cotton balls or something that provides cushion and is inert, enough to keep it in the safe hide, basically packing the remainder of the kk to prevent shifting ot movement like you would for shipping. I'd then take that and place it into a cooler, also packed with something to provide stability and cushion and maybe a hand warmer in the bottom, at least for the first leg or two of the journey until you are out of the cold. This way when you get to a hotel, you can remove the kk from the cooler, and remove the cotton and allow it to roam the kk while you are chillin' in the hotel.

This is the only way I can conceive of having the best of both worlds, safety for the t as well as normalcy and monitoring of the t.

I've moved across country with various size Ts. All I did was pack them in appropriate sized deli cups, coco fiber subsrate, and packed those in a box for protection and minimize bouncing around. They came in the hotel every night, never out of their deli cups. Despite being in a 16 oz deli cup, my adult females do get "used to" being in a small container. When I reached my destination I put them into their new homes. I will say, the Ts did not want to leave the deli cups, I had to coax/force most of them out!

Hey guys ! Sorry it took so long to give you an update! She made it, perfectly fine. She rode in a critter box lined with towels and at night I would take her out and put her in her house. She didn't even seem to be bothered. Ate three days after.

airserver said:

Hey guys ! Sorry it took so long to give you an update! She made it, perfectly fine. She rode in a critter box lined with towels and at night I would take her out and put her in her house. She didn't even seem to be bothered. Ate three days after.

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How's Florida? I hear that it's not in the single digits this time of year. Nice she made it, I had to move from Detroit to Lansing and ended leaving mine in their containers but packed snuggly in a box, everyone was fine and no bare bottoms were noticed.

So glad the move went smooth! I remember moving all my pets by car but just from VA to NC (6 hour trip) -- dog rode shotgun but 2 cats and 3 parrots were each in their individual kitty carriers and the beta fish in his tank was wedged on the car floor next to grandmother's china, and my guitars in their hardcases were all packed in tight around and on top of carriers with pillows tucked in so that nothing could shift. I followed the moving van and thought "everything near and dear to me is in this car. I prayed for no wrecks or fender benders. Weird having everything precious to you in one car.
Yours was a long long trip -- so glad you all arrived safely!

viper69 said:

I've moved across country with various size Ts. All I did was pack them in appropriate sized deli cups, coco fiber subsrate, and packed those in a box for protection and minimize bouncing around. They came in the hotel every night, never out of their deli cups. Despite being in a 16 oz deli cup, my adult females do get "used to" being in a small container. When I reached my destination I put them into their new homes. I will say, the Ts did not want to leave the deli cups, I had to coax/force most of them out!

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+1 for this.. I have done the same and had no issues. Their a lot hardier than most people give them credit.