8 Hour Car Ride

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lolanu

The Clueless
Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
154
Location
Billings, Montana
I am going to pick up either 1 to 4 chinchillas (the suspense is killing me) from Christine at Twilight Chinchillas this Saturday, are there any suggestions on how to keep them cool in the car along with AC? The trip is from Billings, MT to Spokane, WA, so obviously it will be pretty toasty and long...
 
The a/c is the biggest thing to keep them cool. Make sure it's reliable. If I'm going on a long car ride I keep the chins in a larger carrier that is big enough for me to keep a chiller in. I bring a cooler with frozen water bottles and spare chillers just in case.

Also try to make sure the carriers are not in direct sunlight.
 
Didn't think about the cooler, thank you. My knuckle head just thought "I can't take frozen water bottles..." And my dad got a new exhaust system on his car and did some work to it only a week ago for this trip, the AC shall be relied upon. :) I was also thinking of covering the back side windows with blankets.
 
I keep the air on in the car at all times when traveling with chins in warm weather. I keep it at 72 degrees. I use our big sun shield that covers the windshield. I open it up and lay it over the carrier. This keeps the carrier covered at all times when the sun keeps shifting in the back seat.

The water bottles are a great idea. Could be any plastic bottle frozen in the fridge. Cheaper then the cold packs and more durable.
 
What kind of carrier are you using? Babies/young ones can escape through impossibly small spaces. The front seat is probably cooler than the back seat so I would keep them up front. I am along the way so I will PM you my phone number if you need help or want to say Hi to a fellow chin nut. I am North of CoeurD'Alene on I-90. Four of my chins are from Christene, she has beautiful animals.
 
I am using a rabbit carrier and several cat carriers, if more than one is picked up. The bars are small, and none of the chins should be young enough to wedge through them. I'll bring something to cover the fronts though, just in case. The rabbit carrier has a top ventilation, so I will put the smallest one in it.
 
I recently took Sebastian with me on a 6 hour car ride (each way) about 3 weeks ago in 90-degree weather. I kept the a/c up high the entire ride, and blocked the windows where sun was coming in on the seat. He was fine, but I wouldn't want to do it again in this weather unless there was another family emergency, which this was. I didn't want to take the chance of leaving him at home in case we had to stay longer than planned.

You should be just fine. Remember, when you get them we want pics!!
 
Of course :) One of my friends may be getting her first chin from Christine as well, I will have her join this forum. There is so much good information on here. You are all great! I'm glad I found this.
 
Does Christine know your original chin has pyometra & pneumonia? That increases the risks of cross infection to the new chins.
 
I recently made a 9 hour drive one way to pick up a chinchilla. Between the car's a/c, frozen water bottles wrapped in fleece (I had extra frozen bottles in a cooler), and a fleece blanket blocking the sun on his carrier, he did just fine all the way from Nashville, TN, to Raleigh, NC. :)
 
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