Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Every year at Christmas I go to visit my relatives in Staten Island, NY. It is about a 11 hour drive from where i live and i always end up bringing my leo and my american toad in the car, then they stay at the house for a week. I bring them because i cant find anyone to take care of them and i dont trust anyone anyways. I have 2 styrofoam coolers that i put them in and i set it up as close as i can make it look to there habit at home. With my leo i have a have half rocks/half water cage at home so, for the car the i place a 3 inch layer of the rocks in the bottom and fill up 2 cottage cheese contaniers with water and stick them in with the rocks. For my toad, i have a bark set up with a small tupperware container that i fill with water, which he loves for his set up at home. I fill up the cooler with bark and put in the water dish, and his hiding place for the road, but it looks exactly like his home cage. The main problem i thought i would have the first year was the cold tempatures, but i had no problems as long as i didnt let too much heat escape the car. my leo seemed a little stressed, (he didnt eat the first two days of the trip) but after that he was fine and normal. My toad had no problems at all and acted normal the whole time. After the car trip they stay at my grandparents house for about a week so to get to my main point, Has anyone else done this, think of doing this? Am i doing something wrong? Does it sound good what im doing? Please give me any hints, tips or feedback because i wanna make this the least amout stressful for both of my pets.

Wow sorry this was long but thanks for reading it,
Joe

Hi Joe,

When you transport reptiles and amphibians its best to put them in small containers without anything heavy that is going to move around. I think the styrofoam cooler with rocks in it is much more of a risk than the cold for your leopard frog. If you have to stop quickly or if the box tips over the rocks could easily crush the frog. Putting the frog in a small deli container with some moist paper towel would be much safer, same with the toad. I've always just had a friend stop by to care for my animals while I'm away, but I know that feeling of distrust. Its hard to let go of them for a week and leave the responsibilities to someone else but its much less stressful to just leave them in their normal surroundings than to take them on a car ride in a foreign enviornment. Good luck,
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Devin
devin@amphibiancare.com
www.amphibiancare.com
3.2 Dendrobates tinctorius 'Dwarf French Guiana'
1.1 Dendrobates tinctorius 'Powder Blue'
5.1 Mantella aurantiaca
2.1 Mantella crocea
1.0 Ceratophrys cranwelli
1.0 Bufo americanus
0.0.1 Salamandra salamandra
1.0 Ambystoma tigrinum
0.1 Chamaeleo calyptratus
0.1 Phelsuma dubia
1.1 Uroplatus ebenaui
0.0.1 Chrysemys scripta
0.0.1 Chrysemys picta belli
1.0 Terrapene carolina triunguis

Thank you very much but my leo is 3.5" and he would be very cramped up in a deli container. Also, is it ok for them to have no subsrate or water source and just be on paper towels for a whole day?

Thanks again,
Joey

Just feed them prior to leaving and then make sure they have water and leave them home. A week is nothing and they should be fine. They are more likely to die of stress from an 11 hour drive than from staying alone for a week. Andy
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Andy Maddox
AIM: SurfAndSkimTx04
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

All they need for a week is heat and clean water, are you sure you can't find anybody to change the water every other day?

If you do wind up taking them, transport them on MOIST papertowls, and preferably some moss. I wouldn't even try to feed them for that week. Captive herps are usually overfed anyway, a week off will not hurt especially during a time of extreme stress.
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

I would make every effort to leave them home. I have left my frogs for two weeks, although I did have someone to change their water bowls every day. You could look into paying someone to do that, if nothing else works (I had to shell out $10 to my sister but it worked.)
I would think that the stress of travelling that long would be too much trauma for them. Not to mention any odd airborne bacteria they could pick up. Maybe you could even ask someone at a good local pet store to "kennel" them for a few days while you go?
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*~Ginevive~*

For the 2-week period I was gone, I did have my frog-sitter feed them midway through the 2-wks. I told her over the phone how many crix everyone needed, and everything worked out!
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*~Ginevive~*