# Moving with Hedgie/Motion Sickness Help?



## seacanekb (Sep 17, 2009)

Hi There,

My boyfriend, our hedgie Miki, and I will be moving about 4 hours away in a couple of months (aka little climate change issue). Miki is not a stranger to travel, as she often stays with my parents who live about a half hour away when we go out of town. When going to her 'Grandparents' we pack up all of her necessities, and transfer her to her carrier (a medium sized, hard plastic storage box with a locking lid that has 12 2-inch wide holes drilled into it that allow for lots of air) complete with a fleece liner for her to snuggle into. We then buckle her (her carrier) into a seat in the back. As the drive isn't long we have never experienced any car sick issues nor have we felt the need to include her food/water for a such short jaunt.

However, since the drive to our new place will be quite a bit longer, we were wondering if anyone had any recommendations for transport? Would it be best to keep her in her main cage, (which is essentially a larger version of her carrier but with all of her regular items in it and obviously more ventilation holes [the top is typically off but can be put on for travel]), or might she be jostled around too much? We are taking her to the vet a bit past her annual check-up date in order to insure she is in tip top shape as close to the move as possible (she's never had any issues, knock on wood, and the vet, aside from finding her to be rather grumpy [she's not too keen on anybody but my boyfriend, my Mom, and I], he always says she's exceptionally healthy). I know with dogs and cats it is sometimes recommended by vets to give them a tranquilizer prior to something traumatic like a plane ride or long car trip. Is this something that can happen with hedgehogs? We just want her to be as comfortable and happy in the process as possible.

For reference on her general demeanor: Miki is roughly 2 1/2 years at this point, and my boyfriend and I have had her since she was a couple of months when we acquired her from a local breeder. Her habits are normal in terms of eating, sleeping, wheeling, digestion, etc. She's always been a bit on the grumpy side, but after a bath or later in the evening she's a bit more willing to cuddle. Just for reference, she also has her fair share of toys, constant access to her wheel/food/water obviously, and her cage is made of a giant clear storage box lined with interchangeable fleece liners. She also has a litter bowl making use of a brand of eco-friendly, recycled paper litter that, if we're lucky, she uses 1/2 the time.


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## GoldenEyes (Nov 4, 2011)

No need for a tranquilizer at all, she might be sick but if she is used to car rides I doubt it, most likely she will sleep the whole way. She wont need water or food in her carrier, which is what I suggest you put her in or else I worry she could get hurt in her actual cage and its just safer if something unfortunate happens.

We have traveled a maximum of 3 and a half hours with my Baby Girl and she wasnt sick, she just slept the whole way there. The reason why I say dont put water or food is its just going to spill and going 4 hours without water isnt a big deal for her, shes normally sleeping all day anyways and doesnt drink anything lol.

Shes fine trust me  ALTHOUGH I would bring some paper towel, and maybe make a stop halfway there to check on her, if she puked clean it up and keep a closer eye on her


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## seacanekb (Sep 17, 2009)

Thanks so much for your info  If it is indeed that easy I will ease up on my concern slightly  We're in Florida, so she certainly will not get cold during the drive haha, so it was just extended motion time I was concerned about. During the day when we want to spend time with her but she's not really awake yet, we'll gently place her in her carrier with the lid off and let her sit on the couch or bed next to us so she still has something to snuggle into but the proximity is closer. At times she'll be there for a couple of hours, so again it shouldn't be too strange for her to be in there. We even know she likes it because even at night when she's awake and we take her out and bring the carrier near us, she'll crawl over to wherever it is and attempt to lift her little bootie into it (of course, Mom & Dad help her in this effort  ) 

As far as stops, we tend to stop half way to use the facilities, stretch our legs, or gas up anyways so that should not be an issue either.

In a couple of months when we do make the move, I'll update you all with a a picture of our hopefully happy, healthy hedgie in her new home (albeit, despite the scent outside her cage and slightly different lighting arrangement, will probably not feel much different to her  )


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## coribelle (Jan 20, 2012)

Totally unrelated, but:
Where in FL do you live/where are you moving to?
Simply curious as I live in Tampa


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## KatelynAlysa (Nov 25, 2011)

This may be helpful to you, I got the link from Kalandra
http://mihog.org/travel.phtml


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## seacanekb (Sep 17, 2009)

Thanks so much for the additional help via the webpage KatelynAlysa! I read it over and shall keep it bookmarked  I'm assuming your username is your first/middle name? Mine is actually Kaitlin Ann (although I go by Kait), so we kind of match 

Coribelle: We currently live in South Miami, but, we will be moving to Eastern Orlando. We'll be closer to your neck of the woods, but still probably about an hour and a half to 2 hours away. Always good to know there are fellow hedgie lovers around though! Out of my own curiosity- is your vet closer to you or a bit over toward Orlando? We haven't found/picked a new vet for her yet and would appreciate advice!


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