# Traveling with a new hedgie



## dangitsjill (Apr 6, 2009)

This summer I will become the proud owner of a baby hedgie. I still attend college and have a seven hour drive from my house to the campus.
I am trying to figure out which would be better....should I buy my hedgie while still at home and have him be with me for a while and then do the long 7 hour drive, or go to a breeder on my way to campus and have him in the car for shorter. I found breeder only an hour away from my school, but I would not have bonded with my hedgie and would kind of just be picking him up and continuing on the road...


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

You could still do the second option pretty easily, I think. Just plop hedgie in a cat carrier for the rest of the trip, then get him settled into your dorm once you got there. Then he only has to get used to the dorm room, not get used to your house first, then get moved again a few weeks later. Plus, a hedgie could probably do a one hour ride without needing any checks, especially if it's during the day and the hedgie is sleeping the whole ride (this depends on the hedgie, though). For a seven hour drive, you'd want to stop every two hours, at least, to check on him/her, and make sure he/she hasn't thrown up, or pooped, and maybe to offer some water.


----------



## Zalea (Sep 12, 2008)

I did a six hour car ride with my little guy when I picked him up, so an hour would be fine. My only concern would be the cage set up. If you go to the breeder's on the way, the cage won't be set up by the time you get there and you'll have to take the time to do that while your hedgie sits in the carrier. You might wait until you get to campus and get settled in before getting your hedgie; since it's an hour drive it shouldn't be hard to head over there from campus (I drive 45 minutes to school daily so I'm pretty used to travel like that, which makes an hour seem like nothing so sorry if you're not used to driving that far it's just habit for me to think it's nothing). If you don't have a car you can always get a friend to take you.

Also, you might want to wait until you find out more about the housing situation. Are you going to be in a dorm? If so, do they allow pets? Will you have a roommate? Will the roommate have any objections/possible allergies? Time should also be a consideration. If it's your junior or senior year you'll probably be swamped and may not have time for the hedgie. And if you like to party/have people over, it may not be the best time to get a hedgie.

Just a few things I figured I would mention. If you have all that sorted out and are sure it's a good time, an hour's drive would be fine so that the hedgie can just settle into one place instead of settling in then being uprooted later.


----------



## mon_petit_hérrison (Mar 31, 2009)

When I first got my hedgehog I had to travel six hours to the breeder and (obviously) six hours back home. The breeder put her in a cardboard box with lots of holes on the side. In with her was some bedding and a blanket that she had been sleeping with so that she wouldn't be too scared. We drove straight home without opening up the box because the breeder told us that we didn't want her to associate our smells with the scary sounds of traffic and such. Once we got home we had to set up the cage and get everything ready for her so we left her in the box until it was all set up. Then we took her out and let her relax in her new home until we started interacting with her. She seemed to travel just fine like that, we could hear her moving around a little, but she didn't seem too freaked out in the dark of the box. 

Hope that helps some!


----------



## dangitsjill (Apr 6, 2009)

Thanks for all the help.
As for the concerns, I am living in a house next year so I don't have to worry about the dorm.
And I've already OK'd it with my three roommates and my landlord and they are all excited about a new hedgie coming to live with us.
None of us are partiers so that won't interfere with our new friend and my schedule isn't busy at all so he will have lots of love and attention from me


----------

