A couple months ago, Daddy had a job a few hours away from our home and we all decided to go and have a mini vacation. Since it was very spontaneous, we didn’t have time to find someone to watch our pets. It was the first time I had taken Ink and Dreamer on an overnight trip, and I was pretty nervous. But I learned a lot from the experience.
What I Brought Along
A Travel Cage: We bought a smallish bird cage. It was 17 inches high, 15 long and 13 wide, which is much smaller than their normal cage. But it was the best we could manage to take into a hotel and to transport in an already full car (remember we have eight people + two guinea pigs). The cage came with two wooden bars and two feeders.
Food & Water: Their diet consists of a mixture fruits, vegetables, and some kind of protein blended together and then frozen in cubes. Since it was the middle of July and very hot, I wasn’t sure how we’d manage to take two nights worth of food with us and keep it fresh. We ended up filling a mini cooler with ice and keeping the food in that. It worked very well. Along with their food, I have a sugar glider calcium supplement that I sprinkle over top.
Sugar gliders are very sensitive to chemicals and can’t drink chlorinated water. Because hotel water is heavily chlorinated, I brought a bottle of filtered water along.
Treats: I took a couple strawberries and some raisins along for a fun treat. 😉 I put pieces of the raisins in little foraging chests and then hid them in their travel cage.
Toys: I brought my glider’s favorite balls, the foraging chests and one other small wood&plastic toy. It was about all that the cage space would allow, but they loved playing with them all.
(Note: when we were house hunting this past week, we brought the sugar gliders again. This time I was much better prepared and took along a lot more toys and fun things for them to play with. They looked much happier and more at ease).
Other: I brought their nail trimmer, some pumpkin puree (in case they got constipated), two bonding pouches and a fleece liner for the bottom of the cage.
Traveling
I have five younger siblings, so it’s needless to say that our minivan was very full of children, stuff and food. *laughs* I was sitting next to my baby brother at the time, with an empty seat beside me. I kept the cage there (‘cause the trunk had my sister’s guinea pigs + cage there) and held by gliders in their bonding pouch for the drive. (If you do that, make sure to put a piece of apple in with them so that they can stay hydrated).
Vacationing With Gliders
The trip lasted two part and one full day and two nights. During the day, I left my gliders asleep in their travel cage (IN THE AIR CONDITIONED HOTEL ROOM. DO NOT EVER LEAVE YOUR GLIDERS ALONE IN THE CAR). I normally play with them for a while before I go to bed, but I didn’t those two nights because I didn’t want to stress them out unnecessarily. (Have I mentioned my younger siblings who also love to touch them?) If it had been a longer trip, I would have taken them to the bathroom and played with them there (after closing the toilet lid and eliminating any other possible dangers).
What I Learned From The Trip
Traveling with any animal, let alone one that is as needy as a sugar glider, is stressful. On the whole, I would say that my sugar gliders did very well and I would take them with me again on a short trip. (Please note that a longer vacation would be a different story and would require more planning and preparation!)
In the end, you know your suggies best. If traveling would stress them out and be harmful to their health, find someone capable to babysit while you’re gone. If you feel comfortable taking them with you, by all means do so.
~Hattush
Have you ever traveled with sugar gliders? If so, what did you find helpful and what would you advise against? Have you traveled with other animals?
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