# Travel Questions



## Hawkstorm1622 (Jan 11, 2016)

I have a few questions about travelling with a hedgehog. 

1.So, I told my small group about John, my hedgehog, and I would like to take him to youth group one night with me. Would this be fine? It's only an hour and a half, and he will only be handled by me.

John's decently socialized, in my opinion. He's great when my dad and I hold him, and he's fine with being around people. Being crowded around, however, he's not a fan of, from what I can tell. I would make sure that, at most, he'll be held by me, if I do take him out.

My birthday's later this week, and I'm hoping to get a travel carrier, so I'll use that if I get one. If not, that leads on to my next question...

2. Could using a large shoe box with some large-ish (but not large enough to use as footholds) holes work as a travel carrier? I know a legit carrier would be preferred (obviously), but I'm curious about this. 

3. For a heater (as it gets cold where I'm from and I want to make sure John's warm when I travel), could I just fill a sock with rice and heat it up? I would probably just keep the sock out of the cage while I'm in the car, and heat it up and stick it in the cage at church (as there's a microwave there). I would just need a sock (would a fuzzy sock work? or would I need a regular sock?) and rice, right? And how long should I heat it for?

Thank you all so much for answering my (multiple) questions!


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

It should be just fine to take him with you. The occasional outing is fine so long as you're able to provide for his needs while you're out and about.

You will need a travel carrier before you take him anywhere. If there was a car accident while you're out it will protect him and make it easier for emergency workers to recognize that he's there so they can rescue him too. It will also keep him safe in the event the vehicle stops abruptly or has to make a sharper than normal turn. While I'm on this topic, a travel carrier is something you'll need anyway. When you visit the vet, you'll need to have him in one to keep him safe in the car and from other animals once you're arrived at the vets office. 

I imagine a baggy of rice could work. You just need to make sure he can't tear it open and that there's enough fabric between him and the rice to avoid burns. I wouldn't know how long to heat it for. The little hand warmer things you find in the camping section of stores are also popular for temporary heating. That may be easier. You'll still need to wrap it in something to protect your hog from it.

Will your destination be warm enough for him? If not, will they be willing to bump the heat up a bit while you're there? It wouldn't hurt to take your cage thermometer with you so you can keep an eye on his carriers temperature just to be safe.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Another issue is if he doesn't like being crowded by people going to youth group may not be a good idea. They are interesting creatures and people are curious about unusual things and will no doubt crowd around him. You have to be able to be in control of the situation. 

I'm going to assume by youth group, you are referring to a church group, if not I'm sure the idea will still apply. Never assume that it's ok to bring any animal anywhere. You would want to run the idea by the pastor/priest/preacher/rabbi... Whoever is in charge of the group. They would have to take liabilities into account.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

For heating, I would avoid the rice. Rice microwave bags release moisture, and you don't want a damp hedgie out in the cold. You can get disposable hand/foot warmers in stores, especially this time a year. They usually have them in Walmart & other similar stores in the outdoor/sports section, and outdoor/sports/hunting stores have them as well.


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