# 8 hour car ride for a week long stay at my gmas



## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

The week after Christmas my family and I will be going to Mississippi (my aunt is getting married!!!!) for five days. My boyfriend will be staying with my 2 dogs and cat but I want to bring Prim because he doesn't know how to take care of her and I want to make sure she gets handled enough and everything, also everyone wants to meet her! Usually when she goes in the car just around town she rides in my lap and sleeps. I assume, since the trip will be during the day, she will do the same on the way there? I will, of course, bring her travel carrier in case we need it. We usually keep our car pretty warm, but I will have her fleece pouch in the car as well as her fleece blanket to make sure she doesn't get cold. I'll pack paper towels incase she goes potty or anything like that too. Is there anything else I need to prepare for the car aspect of the trip?

We will be in South Mississippi for about a week. I am either going to take her 55gallon storage bin that she is in now or a 40 gallon aquarium (I know it's not ideal, but it's what we have) depending on how much space we need for luggage. Obviously I will take oodles of food, I always take extra food when we travel with animals unless we, for some reason, have to stay longer than originally planned. I will be taking several of her fleece liners, her food and water dishes, her wheel of course and thermometer. I will also take some of her fleece blankets and extra sleep sacks and the blue surgical towels that I use to clean up her messes. My grandmother has space heaters and window units that can heat the room Prim is in but I will still bring some hand warmers and such, just in case. Am I missing anything?

I've never traveled with her, except for just around town so I'm kind of nervous and terrified that I'll forget something. There isn't going to be somewhere that I can go and buy extra things where I will be, at least not easily. It's over an hour to the nearest pet store, so I want to be as prepared as possible. Any suggestions for the car ride itself and things I need while we're there are more than welcome.

Thanks so much!


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

Also, should I bring a jug of water from home? The water there sometimes tastes a little funny, do you think she would care? lol


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## cardiologineer (Sep 29, 2012)

JulieAnne said:


> Also, should I bring a jug of water from home? The water there sometimes tastes a little funny, do you think she would care? lol


I'm not an expert on the other stuff, as I've only taken Zannah a few hours away (and just kept the car very warm and had her in her cat carrier seat belted in with a bunch of fleece and she just slept the whole time). 
But as for the water, I'm pretty sure she'll be fine, as long as the water isn't bad quality. The water at our house tastes pretty odd, so much so that we had to get a water filter for us to be able to drink the tap water. But other than tasting weird, it's not bad quality. I'd had Zannah home for a few weeks before the water filter arrived and she didn't mind the funny taste at all and drank plenty. So if the water is fine to drink but just tastes funny, it's probably fine. If you don't know what the quality of the water is or if you know it's bad, then probably should bring a jug. Or if you want to play it safe, you could do that too (but I would doubt she'd have a problem).


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

The quality is fine. We've been drinking it for 19 years and are fine lol. As for buckling her in, we won't have room to do that. Ever seat will be filled lol and my nephew's car seat takes up a lot of space lol.


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## cardiologineer (Sep 29, 2012)

JulieAnne said:


> The quality is fine. We've been drinking it for 19 years and are fine lol. As for buckling her in, we won't have room to do that. Ever seat will be filled lol and my nephew's car seat takes up a lot of space lol.


Ah yeah, then it should be no problem, pretty much the same situation here (until we got the water filter) and Zannah wasn't picky. :lol: 
And yeah, I had tons of space to buckle her in and all that, so I can't really be of much help there, but good luck.


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

Thanks! I'm used to traveling with dogs, and all you need for them is leash, bowl, food and maybe some toys lol. Hedgies require a little more stuff and I want to make sure if I need to get anything I have plenty of time to do that.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Personally I'd take a jug of water, just in case. A water change can upset some hedgies' tummies, so I always took bottles of Lily's water with us to the cabin, or when she was being pet-sat at someone's house. I would think the storage bin would be easiest to take, even with the bigger size - you could put all of her stuff in it anyway, and it'd be lighter than the aquarium. 

For the ride, it's really best if you can put her in the carrier for the ride, even if you can't buckle her in. Hard-sided carriers give the most protection if you guys get in an accident, and if you end up unable to get her out of the car or warn paramedics about her, they'd be trained to get animal carriers out anyway. No one would notice her in a little sleeping bag. If you want, for temperature, you could keep her thermometer up front with you instead of with supplies, and use it to keep track of temperature in the carrier and make sure she's staying warm enough.


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

Oh that's a good idea about her thermometer. I didn't think about that. Unfortunately we probably wont have any room for her to be in her carrier but obviously ill try to fix her a spot if I can. Well have 5 people in a 5 person car and all the luggage that will end up piled in every nook and cranny but I will of course try to fix her a spot. And I will bring a jug of water with us


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## Domi (Sep 26, 2012)

When we're travelling by car, I give him a bottle with warm water to his carrier. I check the thermometer constantly and he's more boiling (I'm exagerrating, he was OK!) than hibernating. 

We had a problem with water on the cottage. It's healthy also for babies, but it tastes completely different at home, so he anointed with that every time he wanted to drink. So I gave him some bottled water.


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

We keep our car pretty warm, we also keep our house pretty warm but I'll def. keep the thermometer handy since it's really hard to judge exactly what the temperature is. The other reason I like to keep her in my lap is so she can use my body heat to stay warm.... also... she's SO CUTE! lol (ok mostly it's b/c she's cute.... but the body heat is a good excuse lol). I'll rinse out our last milk jug and fill it with water.

Anything else I need to take?


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## Domi (Sep 26, 2012)

You'll be so nervous that you'll forgot HER at home! :lol:  :ugeek:


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## JulieAnne (Sep 3, 2012)

Hahahahaha! That would be hilarious.. and horrible... haha. I am kind of nervous to take her on such a long trip. She has only spent the night at my boyfriend's house once while I was house sitting and that was only 30 minutes away from my house and only for like 2 days.


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