Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a serious dilemma coming up: I keep a leopard gecko in my room at college, and our winter break is coming up. This means I will be going home (across the country) for at least 2 weeks, away from my gecko. I am trying really hard to find someone to feed him and look in on him during this time, but there's a possibility that I might not find anyone by the time I leave next week. Is there any way he can survive these 2+ weeks with only limited food and water?

The power will stay on, so he will have his heater and a light on a timer, so everything else will be like usual. I can leave a bowl of mealworms when I leave. The only problem is that I assume the water will evaporate or be drank after a few days.

Another unfavorable option is to ship him home, which I don't want to do because it's a huge hassle where I am, and it's an even bigger risk to him during this time of year with the weather (I'm assuming).

It would be ideal to take him on the plane with me, but the airlines have said no. Has anyone ever been able to sneak one onboard? Would this be a bad idea?

Please don't think that I'm being cruel. You can call me irresponsible for being in this position, but please understand that I care a lot about my gecko and I want make sure he's okay to the best of my abilities (I missed a flight last year when I found out I couldn't take him on a plane).

Thank you for all your help and advice.

Look up a reptile babysitter. Check with your local pet stores, some of them will babysit for you. I personally would hate the idea of leaving my herps with a pet store, but considering leaving it alone for 2 weeks would be insane. It might cost a bit of money, maybe $5-$10 a day.

Anything could happen in 2 weeks, a lack of water being the worst that could happen. I would say a healthy gecko could go a month, maybe two, without food and one week without water before there is a possibility of it dying. In anycase you would be starving and dehydrating your gecko even if he did live. Then there is a possibility of temperature fluctuations... The list goes on and on. If leaving it alone becomes your only option I would give it away or sell it, otherwise there is a 50/50 chance you may cause serious damage or kill it.

Are you 100% sure the airline won't let you take him on? Here in Canada they let you take small animals on, so long as you are not leaving the country. If you do ship it make sure you ship on a plane that has a heated cargo. You can also ship with heat packs and insulation.

Don't try to sneak him on. If they catch you who knows what would happen to your gecko. Plus you might get a heafty fine and probably wouldn't be able to go home that day.

Lisa
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0.1 Hypo Leopard Gecko
0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko
0.1 Blizzard Leopard Gecko
1.0 Albino Pacman Frog
1.0 Lovebird (Tony)
1.0 Elkhound Cross (Otto)
0.1 Malamute Cross (Paris)
6.0 Bettas

If you really can't find anyone to take care of him, I'd suggest shipping it to yourself. There are a few good pages for shipping in cold weather with heat packs if you do a google or yahoo search. 2 weeks is just too long to go without care.

As a side note, I lost 2 baby blizzards last year while I was on vacation for a week, somone stopped in thursday to feed and water, when I came home saturday the thermostat went crazy and the temp was 115 in their cage. One little guy lived, but he drank water like crazy when I got home. Moral of the story: A lot can happen in 2 days (hell even overnight), so 2 weeks is definitly too long.
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Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
www.MilwaukeeReptiles.com
Leopard Gecko Care Sheet

Also try vets. My vet will board animals as well. It's expensive, but at least you know they are experienced and fully prepared. Maybe you could find someone on this board who lives close to your school and wouldn't mind checking in or boarding him for awhile. Expect to spend some money. And I'm sorry, but I do have to say this situation could/should have been planned for earlier.
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1.0 Blizzard Bill
1.0 Pastel/Jungle Leopard gecko from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino Hypo (Cloud)
0.3 Normal/Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Goldie (now w/SD), Freckles, Pepper)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.0.2 Corn Snakes (MIA)
RIP Peaches, Ghost

I'm not sure if this is a possibility for you, but the same thing sort of happened to me about 7 years ago. My family and I were going to Florida on vacation for a week (I live in Buffalo, NY) and I have a now 14 year old, 6ft iguana. And at that time I was only 16 (my parents weren't about to let a 16 year old stay home alone for a week), and no one that we knew would watch him for us, even though he's more tame than the family dog or cat that we had found sitters for.
Well, to make a long story short, we called the vet that we take my iggy to for advice, and she said that she'd be more than glad to have him stay at her office for the week. So, that's where he stayed for a small $15/day fee.
I would try calling local herp-specialists or vets that take herps as patients. I would strongly advise not leaving it alone for any extended period of time. I once was hospitalized for a week, and my frog that had food and water while I was gone died during that time because of a temperature issue. It's not a wise thing to do at all. You wouldn't leave a cat or dog for a week or 2 weeks, the same applies for reptiles.

I would have to agree with the above. If you have a good herp vet, take him there. POSSIBLY a local humane society or shelter that is knowledgable in reptiles. If you do take it to a shelter to babysit for you make sure they know you are coming back for him!
-Beth