General Care Discussion :: newspaper or blanket??

[daniella]

So, sorry for talking about traveling again, but i'm really worried. I'm going to be outside for a few minutes, i'm just worried he's going to be too cold (i live in nyc..have to walk to get on the train..just worried it'll be too much for him) I'll be gone for 10 days so I really cant leave him here either. The website said use newspaper, while someone told me to use a blanket. His carry tank is pretty small, hes only a little over an inch. I was thinking about putting two washcloths in there since I really don't have a blanket thats small enough to fit..or is newspaper better? I'm so worried he's gonna get sick or something, the train ride is about 8 hours until i get home. I know i have to wet him down every once in awhile..but any other tips?

[jenaero]

how long is he going to be packed up? I've packed mine overnight with dry dishtowels. If it's cold out, the container and towels must be dry.

[TheComputerGremlin]

I've read that if you are traveling for a long time in the winter, you should put the container in a styrofoam box or cooler with air holes of course so the heat will be retained. I don't think wash clothes versus newspaper matters much, besides, the newspaper before there's print on it is better but you have to find it in a store. I personally would do wash clothes. Or not take him at all.

[daniella]

would he be okay alone for 10 days? I feel like I'd be worried sick. There is a feeder fish that he hasnt tried eating yet, so maybe he'd eat that. I just cant imagine not feeding him for 10 days. And would I keep his light on?? He'll be packed up from about 10am to 11pm.

[hdaisog]

Go to the store and buy a timer for the lights.

Do you have a friend who could "watch" him and come over every day or every other day to feed him and make sure he is ok? If not, there is probably a pet sitter that does reptiles in NYC. The ones here charge like $15 a day. I wouldn't leave him completely unsupervised for 10 days.

Make sure your intake guard on your pump is secure. Zip ties work really well. And leave the number to the local Herp vet for whoever watches him.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Oh yeah, the pet sitter's here charge like nothing to just check on and drop some food in. Esp since they would be doing nothing but checking in every couple days. Here's a few I found on the web: http://www.katieskitty.com/ , http://www.debbieshomeandpetcare.com/main.php , http://www.peterspets.com/ , http://www.petaholics.com/ . We found a lady on the internet to take care of our cats, she did such a wonderful job, she even emailed us the status of them after each visit. Well worth the money. And she took care of them in 3 day intervals over two weeks, so we only paid for 4 visits. Our cats have an automatic feeder and water dish and a huge litterbox, so they didn't need daily attention. And if not, do you have a friend/professor/neighbor that you can talk into it? You can offer to pay them too. Though the benefit to a sitter is they are usually licensed and insured, so if something happens, they will take your pet to an animal hospital.

[florzinha]

I have left my turtle at home for 10 days. What I did was:

- Bought a timer for the lights

- Bought an automatic fish feeder that threw her pellets once a day

- Asked a neighbour to check on her every now and then to make sure that the electricity did not go off or if there was a problem

- Before leaving, I made sure that there was no way she could get stuck around the rocks in the tank, changed the water and gave the tank and the filter a good clean.

- Bought 20 live fish in a pet shop and put them in her tank - in case the feeder stopped working or ran out of pellets she could eat the fish (I know, I feel horrible about this too but she loves them and it's good to feed them with live fish every once in a while)

When I came back she was happy as Larry.

[hdaisog]

I think you did the right thing. It worked well. That was nice of your neighbor to check in on her. This was a better decision then trying to take her on a train for hours.