Does anyone know how I can evacuate with my bearded dragons?

Question

I know I'm going to have to put them in a smaller terrarium, but does anyone know what I should do about their heat and light sources? (I mean while in the car for 12 hrs, not once I get somewhere with outlets, lol.)

Answer 1

The light for a few hours is less important then the heat. Can you find 2-3 good, stones which will hold heat? Place a bowl of sand in their cage to put a rock in. Heat one, place the other one or two in secure places on your engine so they can heat while you drive. Use tongs to rotate the stones as needed to keep a warm one sitting on the sand. Unless you have or can find something which will plug into a cigarette lighter, it's all I  can think of. Maybe you could use wire to rig up a more secure place to sit the rock(s). Good Luck.

Just had another thought; If you have any small, decorative or otherwise cast-iron containers. use that to put the stones in, or if you have 2 or more, you can heat up stones AND cast-iron so the heat will last longer.

Answer 2

As long as temperatures are not lower than in the 60s it will be fine for as long as a week.  Just don't feed it until you can be sure that the temperatures will stay in the high 70s to 80s.  If it's supposed to be below 70-75, don't feed them a day or two before either because any food left in their bodies will rot.

Also, as with cats and dogs, never leave them in the car alone even with the windows cracked.  Beardies may be from the outback but they hide in much cooler spots (ie under rock overhangs where temperatures could be as low as the 70s) when temperatures reach the high 80s.  They can overheat just as quickly as any other pet.  A cat carrier is a better transport than an aquarium as long as the beardies are not small enough to squeeze through the openings.  If you use an aquarium, make sure that it is *completely* covered for insulation with a light colored towel or similar on the outside.  If any light can get at it, the temperature inside will cook your beardies.  Carriers can also overheat but not nearly as easily as a tank and the extra ventilation helps considerably.

Don't have anything in the carriers/tanks other than newspaper or paper towels (you might want to tape a couple edges so they don't shift around).  Normal towels can trap and injure toes, branches and hide spots can fall or move around, sand could easily be inhaled.  Water will splash/be inhaled and food would get all over the place.

And one last point.  You mention multiple beardies.  Each should be in it's own container-even more important than when they are in their normal tanks.  Even if they are one of the rare groups that can keep from injuring each other, the stress of travelling and a smaller space could cause them to start fighting.  Even without fighting, just the shifting can cause them to loose balance and fall into another and injuries would be likely.

Answer 3

they'll be fine without UV for 12 hours so dont worry about that. heatwise 12 hours is a while u could just keep the car really warm or u could put the tank on loads of those chemical hand warmers. realisticlly beardies are pretty hardy and will probably be fine for 12 hours without a heat source aslong as they dont get too cold