Question: Moving FB Newts?

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kelieee

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Hey guys, I have two Fire belly newts :) and im moving tomorrow. i had originally planned on having my boyfriend drive the newts to my new place (which is 4 hours away) in about two weeks when he moves. unfortunately plans got messed up and i now have to bring them with me tomorrow so the trip is happening a little sooner then expected. I'm sure there are threads already on here somewhere regarding transport of newts but I don't really have a lot of time to get the little guys ready for the trip so i figured I'd just ask you guys again :)

Since they are going on a four hour drive what do you guys think the best way to transport them would be to keep them happy and safe? i love the little guys and couldn't bare to see something bad happen to them because of the move. And also what do you guys think i should do to move the tank. Should i keep some of the tank water and bring that with me? Any suggestions would be helpful :):)
 
Put them in a clean tupperware with a little bit of tank water. If it's warm there, you might want to put them in a cooler with a frozen bottle of water.

If you have a filter in the tank, you'll need to keep the media wet (in a bucket of tank water is the best, but a tupperware if you don't have a bucket), but otherwise you can discard most of the water without doing too much to your cycle.
 
I would suggest a small cooler with some ice to keep everything cool. Get a plastic container with plenty of paper towel soaked in some water from their tank. Similar to if you would ship them.

Transporting a tank with water is usually a pain and can be quite messy. I taped plastic all around the top of the tank, I left around 1/3 of the water. Make sure the plastic is tight along the top, otherwise the water will find ways to escape and ruin the cover you made and leak all over the floor.

I only moved 15 minutes but this seemed to work really well.


Good luck!


Mitch
 
I agree with the other advice. I want to caution you, however, about putting the container on the floor of the car (especially in the front seat) as it can be considerably warmer there. I would keep them in a tupperware with holes in it on a bed of soggy unbleached paper towels and put that in a cooler with an ice pack. They'll be fine.

Good luck,
Dana
 
Thanks so much guys for your help :)
 
I am also moving with my two newts and came on today to look up information regarding this venture. My issue is that it's not simply a few hours in the car, rather 3 days, as I'm moving from Chicago to Tucson. Anyone have experience with longer moves with newts. My plan is as follows:

I bought two 36oz plastic deli containers with holes along with a styrofoam lined reptile shipping box, basically one of the kits from shipmyreptiles.com. I plan to put paper towels at the bottom of the cups and add two inches of water from their tank and do daily water changes when we stop for the night. Does this sound doable? My major concern is the sloshing that could happen as we drive, is there a way to help reduce this?

Thanks in advance.
 
Don't bother with actual water from their tank. Just damp paper towels. Less shloshing AND less inconvenience. Bring along a supply of clean paper towels and dechlorinated water (bottled spring water may be convenient). Each night when you stop, change them to clean damp towels. If you bring along an extra deli container, this will be easier, as you just move them to the other container. A 36-oz container seems larger than what you need, I'd go with something smaller. They don't really need room to move around much for just 3 days.

I'm not familiar with the boxes from that company, but I assume there is somewhere that you can put ice inside? I would actually go with a regular Coleman cooler, rather than a lined box, as I'm not sure how the box will stand up to ice. And you also need a layer of "something" (like bubblewrap, for example) to keep the deli cup(s) from sitting directly on the ice or ice-water.

If you want to be really fanatical, you can tape a thermometer onto the top of the deli cup to keep tabs on temp. I assume you will bring the box inside with you when you stop to eat, etc? Can't leave it in a hot car, even with ice inside.
 
Jennewt said:
Don't bother with actual water from their tank. Just damp paper towels. Less shloshing AND less inconvenience. Bring along a supply of clean paper towels and dechlorinated water (bottled spring water may be convenient). Each night when you stop, change them to clean damp towels. If you bring along an extra deli container, this will be easier, as you just move them to the other container. A 36-oz container seems larger than what you need, I'd go with something smaller. They don't really need room to move around much for just 3 days.

I'm not familiar with the boxes from that company, but I assume there is somewhere that you can put ice inside? I would actually go with a regular Coleman cooler, rather than a lined box, as I'm not sure how the box will stand up to ice. And you also need a layer of "something" (like bubblewrap, for example) to keep the deli cup(s) from sitting directly on the ice or ice-water.

If you want to be really fanatical, you can tape a thermometer onto the top of the deli cup to keep tabs on temp. I assume you will bring the box inside with you when you stop to eat, etc? Can't leave it in a hot car, even with ice inside.
Click to expand...

Thanks for laying it all out for me. This method seems much easier than the huge undertaking I had imagined and planned. Great idea about the thermometer, I am just that fanatical that I will be implementing that as well.

I will of course bring the little guys inside with me everywhere we stop, but the reality is that we also have 2 dogs traveling with us so we won't be going inside anywhere to eat, most likely.

Again, I thank you and the newts thank you for this invaluable advice!
 
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