Pets are an essential part of lives. Some people love their pets even more than their family members. It does not matter how much you love your pet. You need to leave home sometimes because of work or vacations. In that case, you have only two choices, either to take your pet with you or to leave it at home. Both choices have their pros and cons. The pros and cons vary greatly depending on the pet you have.
You can manage to take your leopard gecko with you on vacations or leave it at home. But it is recommended not to take your leopard gecko with you until you need it the most.
Maybe you have to change your home, or you have planned a long trip. In that case, you can take your leopard gecko with you.
Every pet has its different physiological, psychological and emotional needs, and you should apply the same choice to every pet. First, you should understand that leopard geckos are not mammals, and they don’t need frequent meals to maintain their internal body temperature. Leopard geckos are cold-blooded reptiles, and they don’t need to be pampered as they prefer living alone undisturbed.
Can I Take My Leopard Gecko on Vacation?
If you plan to travel by aeroplane or ship, you should check their guidelines if they allow reptiles or not. Most airlines and ships don’t allow live reptiles to travel, and it is not a good idea to sneak your gecko to the plane. You can travel by car if you want to have the company of your beautiful lizard.
It would be best to observe your gecko’s behaviour before deciding to take it with you on vacation. Some reptiles are sensitive, and they don’t bear the change in the environment. In addition, reptiles are customary to the climate and surrounding they live in.
It is not easy for them to get habitual in the new environment. If your gecko is so sensitive, you should better leave your gecko at home. However, if you have previous travelling experience in which your gecko remained perfect, you should travel together.
How to Safely Travel With a Leopard Gecko?
Firstly, you need a travel crate that is fully ventilated and spacious to make your leopard gecko at home. You need to get your gecko habitual to the crate before the travel not to get stressed. At least a week before, let your gecko spend some time in the crate to get habitual.
Following are the necessary guidelines you should follow to take your leopard gecko with you.
- You should have a sturdy, ventilated and spacious travel create for safe travel
- The bottom of your travel crate should be lined with grippy material to hold the ground strongly.
- As reptiles are cold-blooded animals, you should warm the crate if necessary.
- Your beautiful lizard should be habitual with the crate.
- All the essentials, including food, warming gadgets, etc., should be packed.
- You should not set the container free in the car as your lizard may get injured.
- You should not stop the care frequently; try to have as minimum stops as you can.
- Never take your gecko out of the crate during the journey unless it is an emergency.
- You should be vigilant to check for any signs of sickness before and after the journey.
How To Feed a Leopard Gecko While on Vacation?
You should prefer feeding your gecko before the start of the journey. Usually, an adult gecko once fed need to be fed after two or three days. During this time, you can reach your destination; therefore, you don’t need to feed your gecko during the journey.
After reaching your destination, you should continue feeding your gecko the same as you were feeding at home.
Geckos are not travelling animals. They don’t get excited about travelling. If you want to travel for a day or two, it is entirely safe to leave your gecko at home. In actuality, you can take an extended vacation of about a week, and your gecko will not bother you.
Unless its water bowl and food bowls are full and temperature is optimum. Therefore, an excellent choice would be to leave your gecko at home if you plan to have a short tour of one or two days or an extended tour of a maximum of a week.
However, there are certain precautions that you should follow before leaving home. These are as follows.
Suppose it is not advisable to leave your gecko alone at home. There may be a power drop in the house or some other problem, so it is better to leave someone who can care for your gecko. If you plan for a week vacation, it is mandatory to leave someone to take proper care of your gecko.
Followings are the guidelines for you before leaving for vacation and your gecko sitter for taking better care in your absence.
- You should feed your gecko before leaving. Leave the water bowl full and guide the sitter to replace the water daily.
- Guide the sitter to feed your gecko according to the same diet plan you are following.
- If you are using a warming pad, it is ok to let them on. But if you are using manual lights, it is not good to leave them on because geckos don’t need to warm daily. They get warmth after a day or so. For timer lights that turn on and off according to the schedule, you should let them work as it is.
- Check the mat and lights daily if they are working correctly. Make sure everything else in the terrarium is OK.
- Guide the sitter to contact you if anything wrong happens immediately.
