Moving With a Skink

[MaddyKay99]

I am a college student and I have been away for the past year, my sister has been taking care of my 3 year old, male, Indonesian BTS named Loki but now I finally have a house and can move him out with me. I wanted to jump on here and get some advice both for travel and for decreasing the stress and trying to get him a little more confident/comfortable (I'll explain more below)

Firstly, the drive is about 6 hours from where he is now to my new place and we are going to be moving him in February (can't wait any longer because my sister is moving so won't be able to care for him). I live in Washington in the USA and will be transporting him across the state and outdoor temperatures for that time will be around 32 F/ 0 C. My plan was to put him in a small travel container (about 2x1 ft) and have an electric heating pad to add heat. I would put the heating pad on the lid so that there is no way that he could burn himself on it. I will also put a small towel inside the travel container and most likely wrap the container in a towel. Does all of that sound okay? I really don't want him to get too cold/ sick / overly stressed.

And then for decreasing the stress when moving in. He has a very large, custom built enclosure 6x2x2 ft and when nobody is in the room he will use it. However the problem is that when I am home for breaks and in my room (his enclosure is in my bedroom) he will stay hidden in his favorite rock cave, not even coming out to eat. He will be out very occasionally but not with the frequency of when I am not home. My sister says she will check in on him during the day when I am not living here and he will be out basking or exploring the cage most every day. He has never been the most confident/social lizard but the first two years of his life, he was totally okay with me being in the room and he would let me handle him. Now if I am in the room he hides all day. My sister doesn't like handling him so he has barely been handled the last year

That was a lot of backstory but long story short, he will be in my room in the new house (it is the quietest/least trafficked place he can go) but I want him to be stressed out as minimally as possible both from the move and from me suddenly living in his room again. Any tips for moving a lizard and also getting them more comfortable with people being in the room?

[Janella]

Hi there, so I would put either a snuggle safe disc wrapped in his fleece cover or a towel inside with your skink so it has something warm to lay on. Some people will also use none scented rice sacks. Other people have used mitten and foot warmers that you use for winter. All work really well. I have personally never heard of using an electric heating pad inside the car. I would have a towel at the bottom of the carrier, then just a loose fleece or towel to borrow snuggle in, and lastly one to wrap the entire carrier in. I wouldn't feed your skink for a minimum of two days prior. As for the location of the enclosure. All skinks are different and some prefer to be handled and be around their people and other don't. You will just have to keep slowly working with you skink and see how it does again. Good luck moving.

[splashy07]

Reptile shippers such as Reptiles 2 You and Reptiles express sell shipping boxes and heat providers. This would be your best option. I've shipped cross country in all kinds of weather and have never had a problem using these containers.