Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am moving to Florida next week and will be driving for two days. I planned on putting the reptiles in separate rubbermaid shoe boxes with holes in the sides. Of course the car is air conditioned, but would get hot very quickly when we stop to eat, even if we are quick. Any suggestions?
I only had one idea, and I can see the look on my husband's face already...
I was going to stack the boxes on top of one another, put them inside a soft sided piece of luggage and just wheel it into the restaurant with me. Nobody would know the difference. That way they won't get too hot. I know it's kind of strange, but the heat is suffocating, so even a 1/2 hour is too long at this time of year. I also planned on putting one animal per container even though some are housed together just in case one would get upset with the other one in such small quarters. Any/all suggestions appreciated. Thanks!
Pam
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1.1 varanus acanthurus brachyurus (Dorado & Dora)
1.1 u. macfadyeni (Amani & Abeba)
1.2 u. ornata (Husani, Zari, & Bintu)
1.0.1 u. benti (Runako & Rhaxma)
1.0. geochelone carbonaria (Rojo)
0.0.1 cyclura hybrid lewisi x caymanensis x nubila (Sweetpea)
1.1 hyla chrysoscelis (Pudge & Squirt)
Herps Are Awesome!

Pam,

I am not certain on the specifics of all vehicles but I know that some vehicles will allow you to lock the doors with the car running. I have used this a few times in the past when transporting reptiles during summer months. If you have the right vehicle, a spare key, and air conditioning, this might be an option for you.

I also admit to taking one or two smaller reptiles into restaurants in paper bags on a couple of occasions after a show. ( sorry Bertucci’s) Then again, a small shopping type bag is a little less suspicious than an entire suitcase full of reptiles.

Thanks for your suggestions. The problem with leaving the car running is that we can't park in a conventional space in front of the restaurant as the vehicle with the tow dolly and other car on it is too long to fit anywhere close. My daughter suggested we each just take a duffel bag in the restaurant and leave it at that. We only stop twice and go in, both times for breakfast. We use a drive through for lunch and stay at a hotel overnight. I am transporting 8 animals. My grandaughter was in love with my cherry head red foot, so I gave it to her with a complete setup for her birthday. She is also taking my two tree frogs. My car and my daughter's car will be packed to the brim, we're lucky we can get in. LOL
We have made 4 trips down so far with a 1 ton truck towing a 24' trailer. We just sold the truck/trailer as we have to get two of our cars down. My husband is renting a truck for the rest of his stuff when he moves down. This move has been going on since Hurricane Charley on August 13, 2004. Our house had $200,000 in damage, so between all the repairs and the move, it had taken significantly longer than anticipated. Thanks again to everyone. We hopefully will have an uneventful trip. I ordered cages from glasscages.com in Tennessee and picked them up in March. They are all set up and ready to use.

Pam

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1.1 varanus acanthurus brachyurus (Dorado & Dora)
1.1 u. macfadyeni (Amani & Abeba)
1.2 u. ornata (Husani, Zari, & Bintu)
1.0.1 u. benti (Runako & Rhaxma)
1.0. geochelone carbonaria (Rojo)
0.0.1 cyclura hybrid lewisi x caymanensis x nubila (Sweetpea)
1.1 hyla chrysoscelis (Pudge & Squirt)
Herps Are Awesome!

Wow Pam, I knew that your move to Florida was postponed but I had no clue why. Glad to hear that things are coming around enough to finally make the move. Not only will you have a new home, but new enclosures as well!
With eight reptiles (for some reason I thought you had a $hitload like me), the duffle bag sounds like a good idea. Good luck to you .

Thanks Debb. I had a pair of somalis, a pair of malis, the red foot, two tree frogs and baby ackies. As I said, I gave the tort and frogs to my grandaughter and sold the rest. Living in Wisconsin, I had a reptile room and if needed, a basement. Living in Florida I have neither. The house is almost twice the size of my Wisconsin home, but set up with only three bedrooms. The master suite for my husband and I, one bedroom for my youngest daughter and the other is the guest room. I had to choose my favorites and whittle it down to 4 cages. I chose the cages because I could get the size/width I wanted but have them look like furniture so they could be in the family room. My husband is not an animal person, but has put up with my animals for 38 years. He bought me those cages as a gift, so he is a pretty awesome guy. When my rock iguana gets larger and I move him to an outside enclosure, I will most likely get another pair of uros. My Somalis went to a place in Kentucky that is working on setting up a breeding program with other pairs they have. I would love to get some cb babies back if they are successful in the future. I just bought the two Bentis from Lindsay, so my 4 cages are full. Thanks again...when are you moving to Texas? I have some farms there in Hockley and Floyd County that I have never seen, perhaps time for a visit in the future.

Pam
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1.1 varanus acanthurus brachyurus (Dorado & Dora)
1.1 u. macfadyeni (Amani & Abeba)
1.2 u. ornata (Husani, Zari, & Bintu)
1.0.1 u. benti (Runako & Rhaxma)
1.0. geochelone carbonaria (Rojo)
0.0.1 cyclura hybrid lewisi x caymanensis x nubila (Sweetpea)
1.1 hyla chrysoscelis (Pudge & Squirt)
Herps Are Awesome!

We are building in Texas (should be breaking ground shortly) so I will be relocating next year sometime when the house is done. I will be in Williamson county which is quite a distance from Hockley and Floyd but if you ever get to the Austin area, contact me so we can get together. It is next to impossible to find a builder in my area that is willing (and competent) to put in a basement so I have opted for a detached building for the reptiles.

I too received a nice looking group of benti from Lindsay and they are doing terrific and growing like weeds. I don't think he will mind me showing off a few of my photos. If you are attending the Daytona show and want to meet up, you can find me at the Urotopia booth.

Awesome group of bentis! I got the last two that he had, the larger one is dark, Lindsay says male, and the littler one is quite light. They look a lot like your second last photo, only the little one is smaller yet. Cute little guys.
I don't know about Daytona as I have to move my daughter into the dorm at FGCU on Thursday and am supposed to take my husband to the airport on Saturday around 11:30, so really headed in the opposite direction. I am about 4 hours from Daytona from my house. My daughter wants to go, but I didn't reserve a room at the Hilton either, so no place to stay.
You are fortunate to have the ability to have a freestanding reptile building, that is certainly the way to go. I only have 1/2 acre on the harbor, so I would not be able to build one due to zoning issues and that it can flood a bit in a bad storm. My house is almost 12' above ground, so my house is not an issue.
I wish you the best with building and moving, it is quite an undertaking moving, and taking animals makes it more of a challange. If I somehow get to Daytona, I will come over to chat. Have a great time, it is always a blast.

Pam
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1.1 varanus acanthurus brachyurus (Dorado & Dora)
1.1 u. macfadyeni (Amani & Abeba)
1.2 u. ornata (Husani, Zari, & Bintu)
1.0.1 u. benti (Runako & Rhaxma)
1.0. geochelone carbonaria (Rojo)
0.0.1 cyclura hybrid lewisi x caymanensis x nubila (Sweetpea)
1.1 hyla chrysoscelis (Pudge & Squirt)
Herps Are Awesome!

when traveling through unfamiliar areas never leave your car running esp. w/ loved ones or valuables in the car. they will smash your window and be off before your very eyes. best thing i can think of is some cool packs they use to ship reptiles- it is real hot on the back of a truck. i know LLLreptile has them. Be safe.

The suggestion on using air conditioning included a little common sense BK. No one would suggest leaving a running vehicle unattended in a shady looking area, large busy suburb, inner city neighborhood, or large mall parking lot. Stopping off in Galena Illinois (population 3460) and having a bite to eat at Happy Joes Pizza Parlor in broad daylight is unlikely to result in a smash and grab/theft in the 30 minutes it takes to eat.

A large truck is probably a little more forgiving with airflow and heat than a car that can get to 140F within a short period of time. I have no clue how many reptiles Pam owns. If Pam has the ability to carry along enough cool packs for a couple days to cool off all of her individual containers and has the ability to place and remove the cool packs back and forth between stops, then that may be a better option for Pam to consider.

You can bet that when I relocate to Texas and take along all of my reptiles, I will be opting for the air conditioning and decent looking restaurant in a smaller quiet city rather than trying to individually cool off several dozen containers several times a day over a 2-3 day period. I am not saying that there is no crime in smaller well-groomed areas, just would place money on the fact that a smash and grab/theft in broad daylight in a city like Galena Illinois will not take place in the 30 minutes it takes to eat my lunch.

While I do not typically advocate leaving a running car (even locked) unattended, Pam’s situation is not an every day event. I do not think that this suggestion is totally outlandish given the fact that Today’s MSNBC did an article on pet safety in January and included this recommendation:: “Carry two car keys with you, so if you have to leave your dog in the car for even a few minutes, you can leave the engine running and the air conditioning on, with your dog inside and the doors locked. Take the second key with you so you can open the door when you return.”

(I must point out that I do not advocate allowing a dog to stay in a locked running car unless the dog is restrained with a seatbelt (yes they make them for dogs), as the dog could potentially open a window by stepping on a power window lock.)

My point in this is that this can be a valid option to someone traveling across state with a vehicle full of reptiles if common sense is used (choose location wisely, short period of time, restaurant with plenty of windows, daylight) and other options are not feasible.

We live in Florida & have transported reps many times via auto. Not a big deal at all. Put them in an Igloo & they'll do fine so long, as Deb said, you use your common sense. And I can't tell you how many times I've left the vehicle locked & running while making a quick excursion. Pam, why not the Igloo approach?
Welcome to the "Sunshine" state!

i didn't mean anything by it. but i did mean right in front of your very eyes. 15 seconds is enough time for some people... less. they have super powers on drugs or so they think.All throughout the south i see it on Cops. be safe is like saying later,be safe on your trip. and i was thinking about cold packs anyway and just saw them online looking for a product description like each pack lowers the temp by so much,blah,blah so as a reference for price... i am hyper vigilant against those type of things for me that's all.

No problem there. About the time you think all is well, you can get ripped. It's all about vigilance & good sense. Had my car stolen out from underneath me once. At the time, I possessed neither of the two qualities. Whatever, I prefer to use the Igloo solution. Hard to screw up there.
Kooz, you have lots of good advice to offer. I only bark at you when you dominate the forum! And then the moderators always pull our barking!

it's all good, man. I forget the difference between a forum and a blog. i should complete my thoughts in one post, you are right, i must admit, i post "my name" too much.

nothing wrong with a little barking

when the barking is moderated, that is.

True. But, sometimes I think the moderators on this forum are afraid of a little "lively discussion".
BTW, what is your recommendation for a UV meter? You seem to have some experience in such things.

megaray and reptile.uv and all of that related uv stuff is using the solarmeter 6.2. it is the only one i know for reptile bulbs of besides a zoomed one. i saw a zoomed meter and it looked like a black solarmeter. mine is green.the 6.2 measures uvb in the "d3 zone" we will say.i don't know anything else except if some guy in egypt measures with a solarmeter on reptileuuvwhatever.com , and i have the same kind, then i can say,"kooz, the sun is strong today" and he won't look at me funny.or if i buy a bulb that says gauranteed to produce such a level- i know if it is. all the work has been done for me, i use the same device to compare.most important i know if i have to buy bulbs because they are all different. why should i buy something like a uv bulb if i don't know if it is working or in some cases a superfreak bulb that is overly strong. i know if it is a good day or time of day to take kooz out for a minute, it seems to work and i don't have to wonder about questions with too many variables, like high room temps and low surface temps with high air temps and vice versa. i am thermoregulating as we speak as the computer is in the coolest room.

BK, Could you consolidate your thoughts into one or two sentences? Thank you!

Ummm, thanks for that advise. However, I don't have a clue what you were trying to convey. Sorry, Guy. Reckon we just speak different languages.
Take care.

simply put- i hate to be someone else's salesman, but if you want to compare notes with anyone- the solarmeter 6.2 is the one everyone uses-the industry standard(i was told). Otherwise i am just a guy with a meter.

I have the Solarmeter 6.2. It measures all the UV in a certain range (280-320 nm) and tells you how much is there (in uw/cm2). It's nice because it tells you how quickly your lights are decaying and whether you need to replace them.

If you already have a 6.2 and want to get fancy, you can also get a Solarmeter 6.4 which gives a trickier reading that tells you whether the UVB output is useful for production of D3. It's more helpful in telling you if the lamp is putting out the right KIND of UVB.

You can check them out at www.solarmeter.com. I own the 6.2 only. It's nice to know that you're getting the most out of your UVB bulbs - and to know that they're actually working.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.0 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, and Tank)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
0.1 Collared Lizard (Rorschach)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Chubby Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)

Thanks to you both for the advice. It's a small investment that I should have made years ago. Simply swapping out the lights every six months isn't good enough technique for sure.

those are the reasons i bought it but i really use it more for safety and placement. for example i have one bulb that is throwing uvb as far as 3 feet on both sides(can't put that in a small cage). most bulbs i have at 12",i have one has to be 16" and still produces 250-275.At 12' it was reading around 500 or something(BAD) in addition my adult female mali won't go near a bulb producing more than about 150-175. while my young egyptian likes it at 275 and will look up at the bulb and arch his back to get closer when it gets weak(he in himself is somewhat of a meter) they are all the same bulb-yet very different. it helps me to decide where to place them.I also rotate them. And then there were the 7 month old 100 watt t-rex producing more uv than the 3 month old 160 watts trex.i was ready to replace the 100's and keep the 160's.and i really am going crazy with the room temps, at least the uv bulbs are not a worry.