# Tips On Moving & A 3 Day Drive



## Desperodo (Dec 12, 2010)

In July (yes, a long time from now), we're moving to Ontario. We'll be driving for 3 days and staying over night in hotels. We drive for around 9-12 hours a day. We have two dogs as well, so we'll be at pet friendly hotels. I'm going to buy something like this (hopefully bigger): http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=2754677 so he can run around the hotel room for hours if he wants (under supervision of course). I'll bring some of his things, water bottle, food dish, igloo, favorite toys & wheel for the play pen. I'm going to take the fleece liner right from his cage and put it in his kennel so it smells like home. 
*Please, please, please answer my questions!*

*Will my hedgie's kennel be okay on the floor?* I will be bringing hand warmers and ice packs (just in case, it can get very hot in the summer here)

*Will he be okay in a kennel for 9-12 hours a day for 3 days and sleeping in it all night?* He won't always be locked up, while we're driving I'm sure I'll bring him out and hold him since I'm not driving.

*When we stop to let the dogs do their business, should I take my hedgies kennel outside as well (leaving him in the kennel of course), or will the new smells bother him?*

*Does the smell of chlorine bother hedgies?* All the hotels we stay at have pools. Obviously not all the rooms smell like chlorine, just the ones really close to the pool.

*Please leave any other tips for moving and driving for 3 days*


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Hi there,

I have a suggestion, instead of getting one of those playpens, maybe you could get a large Sterilite bin that fits the wheel/igloo and dishes, and use that as a cage during the night. That way it will be more likely your hedgie will use the wheel while traveling. And it's easy to transport all his stuff inside the bin.


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## CanadienHedgie (Feb 4, 2011)

The cage should be alright on the floor as long as your watch the temperature. In the winter, the floor of vehicles is usually cold, but you don't have to worry about that. Make sure if the air conditioner in your van is on, that it's not blowing on the floor/feet. You don't want air - warm or hot - blowing on your hedgehog. Make sure you have hand warms - enough to last you for 3 days if you had to use the 24/3 - you never know what to expect. The hotel rooms usually aren't warm enough for hedgehogs. If you can't change the temperature in the room, make sure you have hand warmers in the cage. Put them in socks. You will want to wake up every few hours - how ever long the warmers last for - to put new ones in. You can cover half of the cage with a blanket, this will help keep the cage warm, but still allow air to circulate and to not overheat and get to humid. It's a good idea to keep ice packs as well. I assume they will be in a cooler?

He won't like the idea of being in a small cage all day and all night, but he will have to live with it. It shouldn't do any harm to him as long as his cage is the right temperature, he has food/water, fleece from home, his hide and a toy or two. It would be a good idea to put him in the cage for half an hour a day so he gets use to it - maybe while your spot cleaning, cleaning food/water dishes, etc. - and an hour or so a week while your cleaning the whole cage. This will help him get use to it, realize it's not a bad place and be more comfortable being in it. It will also make him familiar with it when it comes time to move. Again, putting the fleece from his normal cage is a good idea. It will also be a good idea to put the fleece from his travel cage into his normal cage when you reach your new home. That way he'll still have the smell of home. To be even better, put an extra liner under his other one in his cage or half and half of his cage - fold them in half so it takes two to cover the floor of his cage - so you have an extra one that smells like home. Then when you get to your new place, he'll have a few weeks of smelling home. Make sure you use the same laundry detergent as before. Also, make sure there is no way he can escape from his travel cage. You don't want to lose him in a hotel room. Make sure your dogs don't have access to the cage. Make sure the hotel room door is always locked - you don't want someone stealing your stuff, hedgehog or dogs. And last but not least, get the play area - you can buy more than one and attach them - and let your hedgehog run around in it for as long as he wants. Make sure to put the wheel in his play area, toys, food/water and hide. Oh, and make sure you cover the floor with fleece or something. The carpets in hotels is horrible for hedgehogs toe nails.

I'm not to sure about taking him outside. On one hand fresh hair is nice, but on the other I don't know if new smells with upset or bother him. I'll leave that to someone else to answer. If no one answers though, to be on the safe side, I wouldn't. 

I don't know if chlorine will bother him, but I'm assuming it would. When your booking the hotels, ask for a room thats NOT near the poor. It should be easy to get a far room because most people want rooms that ARE close. Their smell is a lot better than ours, so I don't think it would be comfortable to be smelling that all night. Make sure if you go swimming you shower before you hold your hedgehog. Just in case!


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## Desperodo (Dec 12, 2010)

susanaproenca said:


> Hi there,
> 
> I have a suggestion, instead of getting one of those playpens, maybe you could get a large Sterilite bin that fits the wheel/igloo and dishes, and use that as a cage during the night. That way it will be more likely your hedgie will use the wheel while traveling. And it's easy to transport all his stuff inside the bin.


Would I be using the Sterilite bin for his travel cage as well? Like what he would ride in, in the van?


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## pooka dotted (Jan 5, 2011)

Desperodo said:


> susanaproenca said:
> 
> 
> > Hi there,
> ...


 I wouldn't simply because if anything goes wrong or something happens like a car crash thats serious, the ambulance workers are trained to look for pet kennels so a bin might be overlooked.


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## Desperodo (Dec 12, 2010)

pooka dotted said:


> Desperodo said:
> 
> 
> > susanaproenca said:
> ...


I didn't think of that! :roll: Thanks for the tip


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Just a note...within my hotel experience, too cold has been more of an issue than too hot...stupid AC :roll: I would bring a few handwarmers (the ones I use lasted for well over 12 hours). You can always make an ice pack using the ice in the hotel if heat is an issue.

I always panic when we're driving somewhere but my BF reminds me that Snarf sleeps ALL day if I let him, so he should really be okay with being in a smaller area for a few hours.  And he's right and yes, Snarf has been fine, usually sleeping through the trip and transfer to new home and cage and...etc etc :roll:


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Last April I travelled 3 days with 5 hedgehogs from Oregon to Northern Alberta. They were in cat carriers, secured in our vehicle, during the day. I put a hand warmer in with each hedgie. At night I put them into sterilite bins with their food and water. Because of room constraints I didn't give them wheels for these 3 days. We were travelling with our holiday trailer so they spent the night in there with us. I did put fleece covered hand warmers in each bin at night and covered most of the top of the bins, which did have screened lids, just to help keep the temp steady. 

All 5 hedgies made it safely from Oregon to my home. The only issue we had was one got car sick on the first day. 

If you want your hedgie to have room to run at night in the hotel room, you can line the tub with fleece and let them run in there for the night. With the door to the bathroom closed and a hand warmer or two they should be fine, and the tub is easy to clean in the morning.


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## silvercat (Oct 24, 2008)

I've heard about many owners using the tub as a playpen/cage when travelling. Just watch out for heat and make sure the pulg is secure (don't want a hedgie trying to dig in) and covered (mmm shiny object to chew on).

My thoughts - travelling during the day is great. Put your hedgie in a hard sided cat carrier and they'll be fine. Watch the temperature/air circulation. I keep my battery opperated thermoter in the travel cage. No need to take them out during the day. When I do longer drives with my hedgie, I have a soft 1' x 10" cage that has a zip open door on the front. I put that inside, open, the large hard sided cage. Annabell (and Sylvie before her did this to) uses the soft cage as her hidey spot during the drive but can get up and stratch, explore the larger cage & look out the window as we're driving. It gives me security too as there's extra padding in the cage incase of car accident.

On the note of car accidents - I would not advise to have the carrier on the car floor nor to take your hedgie out while driving. The carrier should be securely seatbelted into a backseat. 

In case of hedgie accidents - bring lots of paper towel and a couple "home smelling" liners.


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