moving for employment

[Aanayab1]

At the end of the semester (middle of may) I will be moving to the Tampa, Fl area. I will be taking my ackies with and could use some tips from anyone who has moved a long distance with their monitors. Basically just looking for the best way to keep their stress level as low as possible.

Thanks for any help.

[Danimal]

If you are driving straight through, what's that like 9ish hours, I would just pack them like your are shipping them and put them in the back seat. If it was going to be a couple of days I would probably ship them. Are you going to empty the enclosure to move it?

[Pirarucu]

If you are driving straight through, what's that like 9ish hours, I would just pack them like your are shipping them and put them in the back seat. If it was going to be a couple of days I would probably ship them. Are you going to empty the enclosure to move it?With all the dirt and whatnot, it would be very heavy..

[smy_749]

Its only dirt, the hassle you save by taking it with the dirt, is only going to be replaced by the hassle of carrying an extremely heavy enclosure and the hazards of driving with that could cause cracks/damage to it. Empty it out.

[Aanayab1]

Yes I am driving strait through but in a 16ft moving truck and my truck on a carrier in tow. It is actually 851 miles from where I am at and where I am going. The fastest I've ever made the drive is 10hrs, I stop n eat when hungry and do not eat and drive it annoys me. So I'm gonna say due to circumstances it will be a 13ish hour drive. The enclosure has over 1 ton of sand. It also is way to large to even remove from the house in one piece. I will be loading the sand in the back of my pick-up as I remove it from the enclosure so I wont have to replace it. The sand is not simply replaced, it is high iron, silicate based, nutrient and plant matter free that I do believe would not be an easy thing to find in a city.

Pack the monitors like shipping and keep them in the cab of the truck with me sounds like a good plan. Should I put them all in their own container? Moist paper towels in with them? Heat packs in box? Should I fast them the day before or not, I've heard some say to do it?

[Danimal]

I didn't consider the size of the enclosure when I asked the question about moving the enclosure intact and full or not. My purpose was to consider time other than traveling the animals would have to endure outside of their home. That is easy to overlook. There is a million things to do and trying not to forget something is the worry, moving is a hassle. So just allow for the time that it will take you to get that enclosure set back up and getting them in it. If it is going to take time that you won't have immediately, would it be possible to get them into something temporary that would take care of those basic needs in the interim.

So here is my reasoning, you know that you can pack them up for shipping and that will take care of their basic needs. You know you will handle that package better than a shipper and you know that your time frame is probably equal to or less than overnight shipping. I don't know of a reason why you couldn't use a container other than a box but I assume that they should be kept in a dark, tight warm space. The heating part probably depends on the weather and the ambient temp in your vehicle. I would assume heat packs that shippers use in the colder months work on an assumption that at some point the package is going to be exposed to the current temp, like the back of a van or trailer. Your cab will probably be warmer, you will probably have to use your own judgment on that. Temp is probably not going to be a huge issue.

[Aanayab1]

Well a friend of mine lives there and I am going to see if he can go pick up some rubbermaid tubs to set them up in for a day once there. Can't imagine he won't do it. He has beardies so he knows how important keeping them at temp is.

[Gatorhunter1231]

Seperate containers. Mist the tub a little and add paper towels or something. You want them to be tight. Keep em dark. Should be good to go. Keep on cab with you. 70s are fine for temps. I moved eggs and they hatched after move.

[Aanayab1]

Sweet! Thank you gatorhunter1231