Moving Interstate - Advice Urgently Needed Pls

[donski]

I currently live in Melb. with Jack (16 mth agouti male). I am moving soon (2 mths) to Darwin. I haven't decided how I'm going to get up there either - plane or drive. It might all depend on what is best for Jack.

I am really stuck as to how I am going to transport him. I am concerned about his stress levels if I put him on a plane. I am also concerned though about how he would travel for 3-4 days in the car on the drive up there. I have to stop for breaks/lunch etc. and wouldn't be able to leave him in the car as it would get too hot. Then it would stress him being lugged around with me during driving breaks....

Hmm, probably no perfect way, but does anyone have any ideas PLEASE??? I hate the thought of having to rehome him just cause I'm moving.

I'll check with the vet, but if anyone else can recommend any other resources I can access for information, other than this forum, that would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[Australian Rat Forum]

Hey donski

I'm currently traveling around Australia by car with my 3 rats, all over 2 years of age.

My guys free roam about the car, but our car is a special one with break and gas peddles on the steering wheel. I dont recommend free roaming in a normal car because of the risk of getting under the peddles and being hurt or causing an accident.

If you do drive and take Jack with you and have him in a cage, you can make it cool for him when it gets hot by putting a damp towel over the cage, if you travel with an esky in the car, you can also give him ice to chew on as well as cool fruit and veggies.

I have a small esky with ice in that I use just for my rats, so they have their own ice and cold fruit and veggies. I also keep a bottle of water in there, so that they always have cool water.

Traveling with rats is fairly easy if you dont stress too much about them as they can adapt to most situations.

[Kim]

I was born in the Northern Territory and started my rattery there, so I've traveled with my rats to.

I also use cool fruit, veg and ice cubes, to help my rats when its hot. Watermellon and grapes are really good fruit to use because of their high water content the rats dont get dehidrated.

I also put up a towel over the side window so the sun doesnt shine directly onto my cages.

I also use frozen bottles of water. This only works if you have some way of freezing the water. I normally freeze a couple of bottles when we stay at hotels. Then I put the bottles in the cooler with the ice and the fruit and veg and when it gets really hot I put the frozen water bottle in the cage and that way they can lay next to something cool if they do get hot.

Like Nathan said, rats do adapt to most situations and I've found rats tend to like the warmer weather more then the cold.

[donski]

I still might decide to fly up. Has anyone had any experience flying their rats anywhere before? Any tips?

[Australian Rat Forum]

Both Kim - Bozzy Rats and Tiff - Warm Fuzzies have had experience shipping rats around Australia by air.

So both these ladies could answer your questions.

I'm sure that there are probably other members on this forum who have also shipped rats by air, but as not many members post I am not sure of which ones have.

[Kim]

Hi,

Yes I've flown rats all around Australia, even to the N.T.

You can contact Australian Air Express as they are very good at shipping live animals and ship everything from big Zoo animals to tiny insects.

Animals go on Qantas flights.

Costs for rats can vary between $90 and $170 depending on size of travel container and total weight.

When I ship my rats I always put some dry food mix in plus some watermellon and grapes as well because water bottles tend to leak and this can be bad for the rats.

I also dont like to ship a single rat as its a scary experience for a single rat and can cause a great deal of stress on them.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can tell you about air travel.

[Gothic Shadows]

If you are worried about your rat getting heat stroke there are a few simple symptoms to tell if he has it.

Drooling, lethargy or unconsciosness.

His tail will feel quite warm.

If you see any of these signs you need to immediately cool him by submerging him up to his neck in cool water and you will need to encourage him to drink an electrolyte type drink such as Gatorade or Powerade.

If you dont have those then add a pinch of sugar and salt to some water as that will do the same thing.

Because a rats body temperature is normally around 37 to 38 degrees they can actually tolerate weather temperatures upto 41 degrees.

Its very unlikely that your rat will get heatstroke unless you have a sealed up cage directly in the sunlight.

The things suggested by Nathan and Kim are all very good ways to keep your rat happy on his trip.

Other things to help include....

If your car has airconditioning make sure that you dont make it too cold for him.

Have a bunch of shredded paper in his cage or light material. Although you might think this would make him hotter, he will actually burrow under the paper and it will be cooler under there.

During the hottest parts of the day give him some Gatorade just to make sure that his electrolytes do stay up.

Have a spray bottle full of cool water that you can use to give him a mist of water during the hot parts of the day.

Rats love being misted with water on hot days. Its kind of how my daughters love to run through the sprinkler water.



On the trip there will be a number of rest areas and most of these places actually have water taps so you will always be able to get water. Just remember to let the water run for a little bit first as normally the first bit of water is really hot but once that is gone you will find the water is actually really cold and refreshing.

Car travel with rats is actually a lot easier than people realize.



Good luck and let us know what you decide to do. Also when you do get Jack to Darwin, let us know how he settles in.

Cheers Kris

[donski]

Thank you for the advice. All good stuff.

I am still a bit curious though as to what I would do with Jack on longer breaks during the drive up. If I'm staying at a hotel, I can obviously sneak him into the room for the night, but just say I want to stop off for a swim at Mataranka Falls or leave the car for any length of time? When I'm driving I'll have the air con on, so no need to worry about him then, and I'm certainly not going to leave him unattended in a hot car (which can get up to 50 degrees plus), so I'm not sure what I do with him then? I'm sure you're not really advising leaving animals in cars unattended are you???

So you're saying that flying him up wouldn't be advisable then?

[Leeann]

I haven't sent an animal interstate, but after reading this thread, thought of an idea.

Why not have Jack looked after down here for a short time, while you drive to NT, then have him flown up?
You could have all the arrangements made for his flight, before you leave, that way who ever minds him, will just have to have him at the airport in time for his flight.

[Kim]

donski said:

I'm sure you're not really advising leaving animals in cars unattended are you???

I dont think that anyone here would ever suggest leaving any animal in a car.


I think most of us were just thinking about the car travel part and were thinking that on breaks you would take him out with you.

From your posts I guess you would be traveling alone. So I guess that would make it harder to stop at certain places.

See I have a husband and that makes things a little easier for me as I could get out of the car with a single rat and just wait while my husband went into anywhere that the rat couldnt go into and he could look after it if I needed to go somewhere without the rat.

So that makes it harder for me to suggest what you could do with your rat in that case.

donski said:

So you're saying that flying him up wouldn't be advisable then?

I'm not sure if you were asking that of me or not but what I said was.....

bozzyrats said:

I also dont like to ship a single rat as its a scary experience for a single rat and can cause a great deal of stress on them.

Thats my personal thought on flying a single rat, I personally wouldnt do it, but I know people who have flown single rats.
Its really what you feel comfortable with in the end and if you are traveling alone I guess flying him is the best option for you if you are wishing to stop at a lot of places like restaurants and Mataranka hot springs and so on.

[Australian Rat Forum]

donski said:

I'm sure you're not really advising leaving animals in cars unattended are you???

Get real Of course no one here is suggesting that you leave Jack in the car on hot days.

I take my rats out with me all the time to places. So I was assuming that you would also be taking him out.

When we stop for food, I leave my rats in the car, parked in the shade or where I can see it so that the windows can be down at least half way, I then put a frozen water bottle where they normally lay and some ice cubes in a container so they can get them.

I then take as quickly as possible getting drinks and sandwhiches or other already cooked food.

I've never had an issue yet, of course I never leave them in the car when we stop somewhere for a swim or do something else that will take hours. In cases like that I always take them with me. I have little rat harnesses so that like with dogs, my rats are on leads and so people cant say much to me if its a place where dogs are allowed on leads.



Most of the time though when we stop it is at rest stops so there is no problem taking my rats out of the car, and for lunch we would have got something in the morning that we could eat anywhere.

I've never had an issue traveling hot places like the N.T, Qld or W.A with my rats and I love having them with me and being able to share this experience with them.

Of course everyone is different and maybe this trip isnt right for for you and Jack to take together.

So Leeanns suggestion is probably the best one for you.

Good Luck

~Nath~

[Gothic Shadows]

First of all donski your last comment makes it sound as if one of us or all of us even had suggested that you lock Jack in your car with the windows fully up on a really boiling hot day for hours on end.



If you have to leave him in the car when you stop you can keep the windows down, even just half way and put a towel or something up to stop the sun shining right on him and his travel cage.

If you leave the previously suggested damp cloth over the cage and frozen water, ice cubes, watermellon and gatorade in his cage, there is no reason why Jack wouldnt be happy in the car while you eat lunch or dinner or had a half hour break, as long as the windows are down so the hot air can get out.

As long as you can watch your car because of the open windows, there is no reason why he couldnt stay in the car on his own for a little while.

No one suggested that you leave Jack in a locked up car in the heat for hours on end.

It seems everyone here was thinking about keeping Jack happy during the longer parts of your trip (the actual driving part)

He wouldnt get stressed if you carried him around when you were on your driving breaks. One way you can carry him about is get a light cloth type carry bag, put some cloth in the bottom and then put Jack in that and let it hang down your side, Jack will be happy in there while you walk around, just give him some grapes to chew on while in there.

That way he wont be so noticeable, he will be happy being with you while out of the car and he will be cool in the cloth carry bag.

All we can do is give you suggestions and information, its up to you to work out what you do with that information, of course most of us have traveled with rats before, so we do have the experience.

Nathan is himself currently traveling around Australia with his rats and Kim has traveled to and from the Northern Terrirory many times so is also experienced with rat travel.

Basically I guess it depends on what you are planning on doing on the trip and how much time you expect to stay away from the car and how far from the car you will be when out of it and whether you feel able to take Jack out with you or whether you feel that you can leave the windows halfway down with a towel over them so that Jack can stay in the car.

Of course any animal or person can stay in a car on a hot day if the windows are down even half way so that the heat can escape, and as long as they are protected from the sun and have enough cool water to keep them hydrated.

If you put a frozen water bottle and ice cubes in Jacks cage and then cover it with a damp cloth, his cage will stay cool for a very long time, especially if there is a slight breeze coming in through a slightly open window.

You can also buy grates that you put on your windows so that your dogs have fresh air in the car when you are out, as they keep the window down but the dog cant get out. You can use these if you are worried about just having your window down.

There are also window socks that you can use, which are dark and stay up when the window is down a certain amount. This lets you have fresh air in the car but make it not noticeable that the window is down.

But in the end, like others have said, its up to you and what you feel comfortable with.

If you dont think you can take Jack out of the car when you stop and you dont feel comfortable with the suggestions I've made, then all you can do is as Leeann suggested and get Jack flown down once you are settled in Darwin.

Either way there is a chance of stress for the rat.

Hopefully these new posts have been more helpful in regards to what to do when you stop.



Cheers Kris

[erynne]

I was wondering this the other day actually. My parents live on Brisbane and I live in Sydney (Well campbelltown to be precise) and I am going to go and see them for Christmas and I was wondering if I could take them on the plane with me, say in a small carrier or would I have to baggage check them. I can't imagine that putting them as baggage would be anything less than totally stressful for my boys so then I was considering driving but it's say a 14 hour drive not including stops so that might be just as bad! It looks like I'll just have to leave my little buddies at home and get someone to look after them. any ideas for rat sitters lol.

[Australian Rat Forum]

To travel by plane your rats would go in the cargo hold like any other pet being transported.

Travel by car isnt bad, as you can see by reading all the above posts there are so many ways to make the trip stress free when its hot.

Personally I would much rather travel by car with my rats than by plane, because at least I know how they are being handled and cared for when I have them in the car.

[Kim]

Hi erynne,

I have frequently traveled by car from Melbourne to Sydney and back with rats, thats at least a 10 to 12 hour car trip.

I've never had any problems with my rats and traveling by car, as for them its just the same as being at home in their cages, except there is sometimes new smells and sounds.

It is good if you have taken your rat in the car before though, even if just for a 30 minute drive as that way you will know if the rat likes car travel.

Some rats can freak out but its normally very rare.

I've never traveled by plane with my rats so I dont know how that works, buT i have shipped rats all over Australia, so I know you can do that with Australian Air Express and they can get your rats on the same flight as you.



Kindest Reagrds,
Kim