Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I plan on taking my daughter's Leo, Echo, to her kindergarten class in the next week or so for show and tell. I will be there the entire time and no she will not be passed around, nor held by the kids. I plan to show her to them, give a few facts and hopefully Echo will slay a few crickets for them if she's in the mood.

My main issue is about safely taking Echo on a trip to town without too much undue stress. She will be out less than 3 hours, but I want her to be as comfortable as possible during the outing. I plan to take her in the large plastic "critter keeper" that I use as her feeding cage since she is already familiar with the setting. I was trying to figure out a way to give her a warm spot in the enclosure to make her more comfortable. Has anyone ever tried the "hot pouches" that are made for putting in your socks/gloves to generate heat during the winter? I was thinking about placing one under the paper towels in the corner where I will put her hide for the trip. I'll put it in a sock to keep the spot from getting too much direct heat. Do ya'll think this will work?

My other request is that if anyone has any cool facts, etc that I can give these kids I truly appreciate your input. The main thing that I intend to stress to the kids is the amount of time and care that Leos require.

As always, any input is greatly appreciated!
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0.1 Leopard Gecko (Echo)
1.1 Cats (Sunny Bunny & Cosmo the 3-Legged Wonder Kitty)
2.0 Dogs (Gunnar & Ridge)
2.1 Horses (Lakota, Reggie & Tash)
5 Fancy Goldfish

I took my two Leos to my son's preschool for show and tell. My drive to school is only about 10 mins, so the latent heat in the substrate from the undertank heating pad kept it warm enough. I left the Leos in the tank, but made sure to remove any thing that could topple over on them, and their water bowl so it wouldn't slosh around.
I plugged the pad back in at the school, took out the geckos for circle time, explained where they came from and the meaning of nocturnal and cold-blooded, let all the kids gently touch the lizards, then put them back in with instructions to the teachers that the cage would remain closed until I came to pick them up at the end of the day. It all went fine, and the lizards didn't seem to mind.
Hope that helps.

Just like with reptile shows (where they are traveling to be on display) I think your leo will be fine without heating. They can go for days without heat, food, or water -- little camels. When I'm on long vet trips, I use heat pads with my crew. I cover the pads with a few layers of paper towel and stick them to one side of the carrier so the geckos can opt to use the heat or avoid it.

I also would not bring a water dish. Adults only need water every few days anyway. A dish will just spill and create stress.

Perhaps talk about how long they can live, different colors, that they eat scorpions, etc. in the wild, how they hide in rock crevices/underground during the day, how they "lick" the air and people to smell their surroundings, how they shed their skin and why...
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Too many Leos
1.0 feline "Spot"
0.1 canine "Tika"

n/p
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0.1 Leopard Gecko (Echo)
1.1 Cats (Sunny Bunny & Cosmo the 3-Legged Wonder Kitty)
2.0 Dogs (Gunnar & Ridge)
2.1 Horses (Lakota, Reggie & Tash)
5 Fancy Goldfish