Traveling with a newt

[rinaann]

I am going to be going cross country with my new newt that my boyfriend got me. Its horrible timing, his grandma is having surgery and she is not doing well so we are driving from indiana to arizona.

any suggestions on how to travel with a newt? I have never done it before any help is appreciated!

 

[misslyss]

Hey, I just recently went on a pretty long road trip with salamanders and even picked some up on the way home!

What I would suggest is putting your sally in either tupperware or one of those critter keepers and then putting the cage in a large purse with either an ice pack or frozen water bottle. You could even do both and switch them out when they melt depending on if you stop at a hotel for the night or not. As long as the temperature doesn't go above 70 or below 50, they will be o.k.

The purse will act as a cooler and also allow you to bring your salamander with you into stores or whatever, since leaving them in the car is a big no no. Its pretty low key too, and I doubt anyone will know what you're carrying inside!

For substrate I would use something simple like an inch or more of coco fiber and some moss. Definitely nothing that is going to slide or poke your salamander on turns and sudden stops.

Good luck, hope this helps!

Alyssa

 

[deliriah]

Not to mention a newt in your purse is way cooler than a silly chihuahua!

 

[RobM]

Is it necessary to take it with you? how long will you be gone for?

 

[rinaann]

We are moving back. We were planing on moving back in a month, but now that this has happened with his grandma we are having to go sooner. =/

 

[Azhael]

I only have experience with shortish trips, 3 hours tops. What i do is put them in a small tupperware (or one of those plastic recipients from take away food), with moist paper towels as substrate. Make sure you have ventilation on the container. Place the container inside a bigger one, where you can either put a wet towel or a bottle of ice or whatever to keep a generally cool environment. Make sure the car doesn´t get heated up (these days air conditioning is rather good). If it´s sunny, prevent the sun fro reaching the container by means of putting a cloth over, even a short time of sun can be fatal.