Away for the weekend advice

[alainamarae99]

Hello all! I just got my first bearded dragon about a month ago and haven't had previous experience with handling them before. I am a college student and am planning to go home this coming weekend (Friday-Sunday) and am wondering about the best plan of action for care. My bearded dragon is approximately 3 months old, is currently in a 40 gallon tank, and will only eat live crickets. I have no one to take care of him while I am gone and as seeing as he is so young and hasn't eaten anything other than crickets I hesitate to leave vegetables in the cage, as some discussion pages have suggested. As of now I am leaning towards taking him with me when I go home. The drive would only be about an hour and I would buy a completely new set up for when I go home. Is this the best course of action or what would you all suggest? Also, if I do buy a new tank does it need to be a 40 gallon tank or would a smaller one suffice for a few short days at a time and what would you suggest for transportation? Any advice is extremely appreciated because I am reading a lot of contradicting information!

Thanks!

 

[BeardedHippy]

hi, just to clarify, are you going on friday and returning on sunday? even though they need regular feeding at that age, changing its routine for a few days is probably better than the stress caused by moving it about and into new tanks. I would give a good feed before you set off on friday and leave a bowl of veg well soaked in water. Leave it in the cool side of the tank and it should be good still come saturday. It may not eat the veg but then again it just might, even if its just a nibble or 2 its good. Presuming you dont get back too late sunday give it a good feeding at least 2 hours before lights out to give time to digest. Your beardie will not starve or suffer over such a short period of time, moving it about might stress it out and put it off its food anyway. If you were going away for longer periods of time you will have to find someone willing to feed it or indeed take it with you, but stress is a factor you should consider.

 

[alainamarae99]

hi, just to clarify, are you going on friday and returning on sunday? even though they need regular feeding at that age, changing its routine for a few days is probably better than the stress caused by moving it about and into new tanks. I would give a good feed before you set off on friday and leave a bowl of veg well soaked in water. Leave it in the cool side of the tank and it should be good still come saturday. It may not eat the veg but then again it just might, even if its just a nibble or 2 its good. Presuming you dont get back too late sunday give it a good feeding at least 2 hours before lights out to give time to digest. Your beardie will not starve or suffer over such a short period of time, moving it about might stress it out and put it off its food anyway. If you were going away for longer periods of time you will have to find someone willing to feed it or indeed take it with you, but stress is a factor you should consider.

Yes I am leaving Friday mid morning and will be returning Sunday afternoon. Thank you so much for the advice!

 

[Lindsey-Star Duhe]

I have been traveling with my dragon regularly and he has 2 tanks 30 miles apart. I’ve been traveling with him since I got him in June when he was 6 weeks old. He loves the car ride. I have a leash for him and use it in the car for his own safety. Also, he has a cat carrier that we use rarely, because he prefers his leash and scenery.