Long car ride for my ratties...?

Question

I'm moving from MN to Colorado Springs. This means a 14 hour or so car ride. And I'm bringing my two male rats with me. Will they be fine as long as we don't blare any music and keep everything calm? There cage is HUGE so they will need to be in a smaller one for the trip. I'm going to put a lot of bedding in there, and distract them with some food here and there. That a good plan?

Answer 1

yes they will be fine  

Answer 2

As C stated, they'll be fine. Just some more input:

As you know, a smaller cage is needed.  If you stop suddenly, you'll want them to only have a small ways to go rather than across a large cage or with a long fall.  PetSmart does have some larger cages at a decent price to travel with.

Don't put a water bottle in the cage. This drips all over with each bump.  Grapes are a great idea to keep your rats hydrated.  Every two hours take a break and offer some water and food.

You don't need a ton of bedding, it's just more that can fly out of the cage when they move or when the car stops.  Just a nice thin layer will be fine. We put a piece of fleece in as the bedding. It's absorbent and comfortable for them.  As you should be stopping every two hours or so anyway to offer the food and water, just take out any solid "raisons" you find. =)

All in all, your plan sounds fine.  Good luck to you and a safe move!!

Answer 3

They will definitely be fine. Just buckle the cage, so it doesn't go flying if you stop suddenly.

Answer 4

yes rats love to travel, so it will be perfectly fine. make sure that whenever you stop you give them some kind of fruit that retains a lot of water like watermelon, grapes, or apples so they can get some water. you can put a little bit of water in a bowl in their cage, but the water bottle will leak. you can also put food in their cage for when you get hungry.

Answer 5

I recently moved from Chicago to Denver and did the road trip with my two rats.  I put them in their much smaller baby cage (some crappy thing from Petsmart) for the trip, as their Rat Tower would be too enormous to keep them in.  I put in their favorite hammock, water, food, and a chew toy.  That cage also nicely fit in a uhaul box with the lid open, which protected them from outside light and noises.  It also kept their bedding from getting flung around.  I ended up stopping for the night halfway through, so I could let them out a bit and play with them.

The important thing is to keep them cool and calm.  No super loud music, make sure the AC is on while you're traveling, NEVER leave them in the car alone for any amount of time (stopping for gas with the windows cracked, is fine, but that's about it).  Cars get very very hot in the summer and you don't want your rats to get ill.  I also put a towel over the top of the cage to keep direct sunlight from hitting my girls, plus it helped keep them calm.  I also strapped the cage in with the seat belt so keep it from moving around.

If you are going to go the whole 14 hours without stopping, I'd make sure you take breaks to maybe let them stretch (be careful that they don't get away).  Feeding them grapes is also a good idea as it will help keep them hydrated.  Overall, 14 hours in a crappy cage/environment shouldn't kill them (providing you protect them from the heat).  It will stink, but once you get to your destination, quickly get them back in their home and they should be fine.

As side advice to you, bring books on tape/CD.  Nice way to kill time in the car.

Hope that helps and good luck with your road trip!

Answer 6

Rats do pretty well with car rides, so they should be alright. Make sure you buckle the cage in tight and keep good air flow in the car. Water bottles tend to drip during car rides, so either keep a small container under them, or take the bottles out during the ride. You can put pieces of fruit in there to keep them hydrated when you're moving, and replace the bottle whenever you stop at a rest stop. If you're going to be stopping at restaurants on the drive there, either go in very quickly to get the food and eat in the car, or go through the drive-through-you never want the leave them in the car alone with the air conditioner off for more than five minutes, and whenever you do leave them in there, open the windows a crack to let the air flow.

Have fun with your trip :D

Answer 7

They'll be fine! As long as the car ride isn't all jumpy causing them to bounce around. You should either hold the cage, or securely strap them into the car seat with jackets or somehting in front of the cage to kind of hold it in.

This was just a suggestion pulled from common sense. I think you should look at an answer that has more detail and expierienced words in them, Good luck and I hope that this helps!

Answer 8

That is a awesome idea! I would sit with them though so they dont get scared!