Long Distance (car) Travel w/chins

Hello folks,

My girlfriend and I are moving out of state and traveling ~900 miles via car in the near future. We plan to split this trip up into two days to cut down on sustained road time. We currently have two chins, one male who is 7 years old, and one female who is 5-6 years old. They are caged separately.

We do not plan on using standard carriers, but rather two small Marchioro cages so they've got a little more room and air. We are going to use their fleece houses inside the cages so there's no risk of anything heavy moving around while driving, e.g. wood houses. We've also purchased window shades to keep the sun out of the back seat, and we just had the A/C serviced so climate control won't be a problem.

We will be spending one night in a hotel and will bring the chins in their cages indoors with us. I was thinking of letting them out for a bit, but I'm concerned about cleaning chemicals used on the carpet and in the bathroom, so I might just keep them in the cages.

Personally, I feel like I've thought of everything, but life has taught me that's rarely the case. The purpose of this post is to seek any advice from you experienced chin owners/breeders, especially from those who have had to transport chins to shows and new homes. I'd be lying if I said I'm not worried about this move, as my chins are my kids and it would break my heart if they went into some sort of "travel shock." (is that even a thing?)

Any advice and/or recommendations are greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!!

Oh dear I really wish I could help. I bet you must be terrified. Maybe get some fleece pee pads? Or fleece cage liners with puppy training pads? Wish I could be more help but I never had to move our chins. Anyways please let us know how the move went! I might be in the same situations in few years and already dreading it! (giving up my chins for adoption is just not even an option!)

im not sure letting them out is a good idea or not. Moving them to a larger cage would be one thing, but letting them run might cause problems. They will be in a new place with tons of unfamiliar ppl and sounds. They could be scared pretty easily. Letting out to run might only increase that.

A couple things. First, I would not move them in a large cage. The reason people travel with smaller cages is so the chins won't injure themselves. It also makes it a lot easier to keep their cages/carriers out of the sun when they are smaller.

Second, I would NOT let them run in the hotel rooms. Cleaning chemicals, dirty people, places they could escape to that you cannot tear apart. Trust me, my chins haven't had out of cage time in years and they do fine. Yours will survive for a couple days. Plus, unless you plan on going around picking up every little piece of poo, hotels are going to get prickly about it being in their room and you may end up with an unwanted charge on your bill. Been there, done that just from them kicking it out of carriers. Be sure to put down a sheet or something in the hotel to rest their cages on to cage all of that.

Your chins should be fine even if you drove the whole way in one day. I used to travel 1200 miles each way in a weekend hauling 30 or 40 chins and all they did was sleep.

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful replies.

Aleksandra, we are definitely lining these cages with fleece and will put a fleece house in each cage so they have a hiding spot. I'm definitely with you on adoption never being an option--they're a huge part of my life.

Gods, you make a great point and I'm definitely not planning on letting them out now.

Tunes, your wise advice is always so helpful, thank you very much. You've definitely helped put my mind at ease, and I'll be sure to follow your advice about not letting them run in a hotel.

Mine have been all over the place, they regularly go on 5-6 hr rides to go camping, make sure you have them in carriers and not cages, its safer and more secure for them to travel that way and also if you run into car trouble and they have to either go with you walking or go in a tow truck you can do it. Give them a hanging toy, a food bowl and fleece, offer water bottles when stopped, have extra fleece to keep them clean and they will be fine.

Last August we moved from Southern California to Aurora, Colorado. It was almost exactly 1000 miles. It was 104 outside when we finally had everything loaded and put the chins in the back of my mom's van. We put frozen tiles beneath their cages and a layer on top, too. Plus, mom had her AC on full blast the whole way. Due to the top speed of the Uhaul, it was a 24 hour drive and we took it straight through. The chins had hay cubes and chew toys in their carriers. We gave water at every stop. The 37 chins all made it to our new home just fine. Keep on mind, the chins and their stuff should be the last things loaded and the first unloaded.

Tickle & Cuddle,

Thank you both so much, I definitely appreciate the sage advice.

We plan on carrying a cooler with extra frozen tiles on hand, plus some frozen water bottles just in case the A/C doesn't seem to be keeping the temp below 75 degrees. I don't think it will be a problem though, as we've had it serviced and we've tested it out with a temperature gauge in the car.

We always have extra fleece liners on hand, so those will get changed out. We'll also keep a small offering of hay and pellets in the cage at all times, and change it out for some fresh stuff - likely botanical hay - in the evening when we settle in at the hotel.

As for the water bottles, I've heard that you shouldn't have them on the cage at all times because the car vibrations might cause some leakage. But I'm concerned about the fact that one of them might be really thirsty for a drink, and I'll have no way of knowing until we stop. Wouldn't a little bit of leakage be better than a thirsty chin? I know they don't take in much water per day, but it's another one of those details I worry about.

Thanks again!

There is only one bottle I found that does not leak and its the 4oz critter canteen-problem is they are ALL supposed to be spring loaded at the ball, 50% seem to be and 50% aren't, so I had to buy like 8 of them to get three good ones, they used to be avaliable at petco/petsmart they stopped having them, you can get them online or maybe at a mom and pop pet store-I got a couple from that source. The regular bottles don't just leak a bit, they soak the chin bedding.

http://www.petguys.com/-045125619500.html

ticklechin said:

There is only one bottle I found that does not leak and its the 4oz critter canteen-problem is they are ALL supposed to be spring loaded at the ball, 50% seem to be and 50% aren't, so I had to buy like 8 of them to get three good ones, they used to be avaliable at petco/petsmart they stopped having them, you can get them online or maybe at a mom and pop pet store-I got a couple from that source. The regular bottles don't just leak a bit, they soak the chin bedding.

http://www.petguys.com/-045125619500.html

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Thanks Tickle, I'll take a look. If I stick with my usual bottles, I'll just do as you guys said and make sure they're offered water at each rest stop.

Dessy traveled 1000 miles in her travel carrier and did great. I kept some fleece over the top to keep her out of the sunlight, but open at each end to make sure she had air flow. We also kept the entire car at about 65. Not the most comfortable thing for us, but she seemed to enjoy it. Dessy wasn't a fan of the little carrier, but once she settled down she slept through most of the drive.

At the hotel I did let her stretch her legs in the DRY tub. That's when I cleaned out her carrier and offered water. Food and chew sticks were always available, as was a lump of fleece to cuddle with.

In the end she came through fine.

Thanks again everyone for the great advice! We made it to our destination without any complications. The chins were a little stressed, but they slept pretty much the whole time. Now that we're in our new home, they're a little more skittish than usual, but I'm sure they'll settle down once we've completely settled in and are back to a normal schedule.

Again, thank you all. This is such a great community.

Wooohoo! Great to hear everything went fine!

Happy holiday weekend!

Michellemazz said:

Wooohoo! Great to hear everything went fine!

Happy holiday weekend!

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You too Michelle!