Travel Tips

[Deleted]

need to spend easter weekend with my sister and she's okay with my bringing up my two fuzzies.  she's never been exposed to their awesomeness and kinda thinks i'm weird. will be a two night trip. looking for some best practice tips and advice.

(1) accomodation: the drive is two hours and i bought a travel carrier that's going in the back seat next to my son. is it okay to have them sleep in the carrier for two nights? it expands to 19" L X 21" W X 12" H. they'll probably end up pooping in the carrier and i don't want my sister's first intro to be awful smelly, can i line the entire thing in plastic and wipe it down before getting to her? is there a better way to travel with them?

(2) food: i have a cooler to put their food in, bringing just whole prey so it lasts longer, is it okay to delay the heart and organ meals by a couple days? especially since they'll just be getting additional mice?

will also pack two marshall playpens, playpens aren't secure enough to leave unattended right? would it be better if i just collapse and bring thier cage?

will bring thier favorite balls and teaser toys.  am i forgetting anything?

[Deleted]

I hope that you all will have a fun weekend. Traveling with ferrets can be like traveling with newborns, there's just so much planning involved. Everyone thinks I'm weird about my ferrets, but my sister has a pet pig, so who's going to decide?

This is what I use for traveling, and puppy pads are a great help.
www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=16725

I'm not a Mentor, but I'm sure they will tell you it's okay to delay the organ meal, until later in the week.

As for playpens, does your sister have animals? does she have small children? If she does, and they aren't use to ferrets, I would bring whatever is the safest thing to have your ferrets in.

As for bringing toys, ferrets in a new place will be all about exploring. If you can let them explore, while you supervise and ferret proof, that will occupy and entertain them. I would bring their blankets, so that they have familiar smells at nighttime.

am i forgetting anything?
Don't forget a camera, it sounds like you will get some great pictures (and hopefully post some) (dance)

[nancyl]

I regularly make 400+ mile trips with mine when I go down to visit Joan. The ferrets will generally sleep the greatest part of the trip. I usually just bring mice with me, along with some meats that Joan can't get access to. Plus, of course, she feeds raw and we pool resources.

Now, to your question, that size cage should be fine for them to sleep in as long as they have adequate time out of it. You can try the plastic liners but if I were to try it the little suckers would just shred it. Puppy pads are a great idea if they're used to them so it's not some new, nifty toy to destroy.

I wouldn't bother with toys (unless someone has a special toy they won't be happy without) because they'll be far more interested in the new place.

Do make sure the space you let them out in at your sister's is ferret proof or take a playpen for them. Have fun. They will.

[Deleted]

When I moved cross-country I brought my little guy with and was really unsure of how to handle the pooping situation.
My dad helped me out by drilling a couple holes in a litterbox-sized tupperware and the cat carrier he uses, and bolting the "litter box" into the carrier. If you can access a power drill it was really easy!
I stuck him in there with his hammock, food and water bowls and he was self-sufficient. I of course made sure he got tons of time outside of the cage when we stopped each night, but it really wasn't a problem that he was in such a small cage because all he does in his cage is sleep, eat and poop--even in his massive cage, haha.

He was super happy to explore a new place

[Sherry]

I don't travel a lot with them, but if I need to take one to work with me, I have a small cage that fits intact in the car, and a smaller litter box goes in as well. Use the playpens when there, just make sure that they a)won't jump it/climb it/burrow under it, and b)that the room they are in is ferret safe, with a door that closes and locks "just in case"

[unclejoe]

We've traveled with 2 in a carrier about the size of yours. We hang a hammock in it, and put a litter box and blamkie on the bottom. In motels, we close them in the bathroom with the carrier door open, if possible, and put the litter box in a corner. Out of 23 ferrets, Abita is the only one that has scaled a Marshall's playpen, and she had help using a wine rack that was too close to it.

On the road, they fall asleep after 10-20 minutes in the car.

[Deleted]

Thanks everyone for the tips, will pick up some puppy pads tonight and test them out. will build a portable poop box this weekend too. i've left the carrier open in the living room for the last few days and they've been pretty happy hiding stuff in there.