General Care Discussion :: Travel and turtles

[sarahji]

Hi all,

I have two little baby RES's, I live alone, and I have to take a one-week trip across the country.

I bought an automatic feeder, a power strip that turns the lights on and off at preset times, and a Python so I can thoroughly clean out the water before I go.

But I'm still worried that the automatic feeder doesn't work perfectly, and that if there are leftover pellets at each feeding, it will sully the water and be unhealthy for my little guys while I'm gone (not to mention how messy they are when they eat... I normally feed them in a separate little tank).

My question for you guys is: which would be healthier for them and less traumatic? Would it be better for me to take them with me to California? I still have the little plastic deathtrap containers they came in that I could carry them with me in the plane in, but that sounds pretty stressful for them. (I was thinking I could maybe get a cheap little tank off craigslist to keep at the house in San Diego to put them in while I'm there...)

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[sarahji]

Ok, looks like taking them with me isn't an option... I'm flying Delta and they say "exotics," including reptiles, have to go in the cargo hold. That would be baaaaad news. Still, I'm wondering what I can do to make their lives as comfortable as possible while I'm gone....

[BiteyBits]

Do you know anyone who would be willing to turtle sit? Or at least check on them a few times while you are away?

[Mickey]

Try checking CraigsList under Services/Pet. There's a ton of pet sitters that will sit your pets in your home or some times theirs for a nominal fee. Also check with area kennels. I've boarded my turtles along with my dogs. I just took a rubbermaid bin with all their gear. It was very cheap to board the turtles.

[sarahji]

ahhhhh I didn't think of that! Looks like there are some who are licensed and bonded, so presumably they won't steal my (admittedly worthless) stuff...

[marisa]

I'm sorry to hear about your mother.

Yes, try to find someone who can take care of them while you're gone. Since they're small, it's possible a temporary set-up could be created at the home of the person watching them. If you're still planning to use the feeder, test it until you're sure it's working correctly.

[TheComputerGremlin]

You can also put a few feeder fish in to tide them over. I would definitely play around with the feeder. Worst case scenario, it will feed too much or too little, and for a week, that shouldn't have too much affect on their health. As long as they are getting some type of food source during the week, they should be fine.

As for the water, turtles can live in absolute muck, so don't worry about the tank. It might be terrible when you come back to clean it, but your turtles shouldn't have any health concerns from it.

As for the pet sitter/friend, even if they can show up 2-3 times during the week, that should be sufficient. If you can board them, all the better. My turtle just spent a week at our house when we were on vacation and got her pellets every other day from the pet sitter that was caring for our cats. She also still has two fish swimming around with her if she had gotten hungry.