What do you do when you go on vacation?

[DragonRain]

Right now we have two adult leopard geckos and an egg in the incubator due to hatch any day now. So with any luck, by the time we're ready to go on vacation we'll have the two adults, a hatchling that's a few weeks old, and quite possibly more eggs in the incubator.

We're trying to plan a vacation for some time this summer. We'll probably be gone for around 10 days and won't be leaving for at least a few more weeks (no set date yet).

This will be the first time my fiance and I try to go on vacation together...meaning that one of us won't be staying behind with the pets.

What do people normally do with their geckos when they go on vacation? I can't decide if it would be best to leave them at home and pay someone to come look in on them, have a pet sitter take them for the time we are gone, or try to take them with us.

I can see pros and cons to each. I've never had to deal with this situation before because normally my fiance and I take separate vacations while the other one stays home to watch all the pets.

So what do other people do with their geckos when they go on vacation? I'd really like to be able to go on a trip with my fiance for once. With all our pets though, I don't know how we're going to work things out.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

People who have reptiles breeding usually do not take vacations during the active part of breeding seasons, unless they are willing to lose eggs and/or babies. Adult geckos are fine to leave at home but not the babies. Someone would have to come in daily to feed them. If you tried to take them with you, hatchlings are so vulnerable to many outside factors, and maintaining a controlled environment for a vacation is difficult at best.

Unfortunately, this is something that people generally don't think about prior to making a decision to breed geckos.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Like dogs & cats, you train a close friend or family member to feed them and scoop their poop out once a day.

 

[DragonRain]

Yeah...well it's something we've thought about except for that my fiance unfortunately has a very unpredictable work schedule and there's no real way for us to know too far in advance when he can get time off. Usually if we try to take vacations at all it's during Christmas time, but this year it just happened that he can take time this summer.

Like I said already I'd like for it to work out, but with all our pets we've never had it work out in the past and I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't work out again. We have quite a few other pets other than the geckos to worry about as well.

Whatever we decide we will of course be keeping the pets best interest at heart. If that means not going on vacation this year, than so be it.

 

[artes]

I would start training a trusted friend now. Show them feeding schedules, tell them how to care for hatchlings/monitor the incubator - teach them everything you would be doing if you were at home. If you start training said trusted friend now, they'll have a handle on it before you leave.

 

[TranceZ]

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[PaladinGirl]

I would say your best bet is a friend or family member who:

A) Likes reptiles--no wait, not just likes..LOVES them.
B) You've known forever.
C) You trust 100% with your very own life.
D) Will be receptive to an intense, prolonged training session on how to take care of your geckos.
E) Knows how to read and follow instructions because not only will you fully train them and require repeat demonstrations to assure you that they know what they're doing, you will also heap upon them a large packet of care instructions that you typed up and put in a 3-ring binder with each sheet inside a page protector.
F) Has a high tolerance for annoying people because you will be calling them every few hours.

Okay, so that's just a dramatic version of what I'd do, but actually not too far off..

I will have the same problem as you at some point in the future, as we haven't had a family vacation since I got my geckos.The thing that's going to be most difficult for me when the time comes is finding a way to actually enjoy myself on the vacation, lol! I don't think I could ever fully trust anyone else with my geckos' care. My most suitable option is to have my mom come stay here, as my in-laws freak out about reptiles. As tempting as it would be, I wouldn't take them with us because I'd just stress out constantly wondering if it's too much stress for them!

Anyways, I hope this helped.

 

[artes]

I only go away for one night when I go anywhere. I would say its because of my pets, but honestly, I'm not a vacationer anyway. My pets just give me an even better reason to stay home! ^_^

 

[Mel&Keith]

You don't have very many geckos so anyone you trust to actually come over and feed them should do fine. We have a friend that we pay to come and check on everything every couple days when we're gone. All they really need to do is make sure nothing has gone crazy temperature wise and make sure they have food and water every couple of days. If you expect eggs to be hatching set up tubs or tanks so all the sitter has to do is transfer from the egg container to the tub/tank.

 

[DragonRain]

Thanks for all the suggestions

 

[LeoMerlin]

Yep, sounds like a good idea to have a really good friend or family member that can tolerate reptiles and "train" them to take care of your pets for you. I was gone for a week and my mom took care of my guy for me (since I live at home wasn't too bad a deal). But I've also had to have my neighbors come and take care of them, they didn't mind, they thought he was adorable, and did just as I asked. So having great neighbors, and family and friends goes a long way