Moving

[Zephalia]

Received a phone call last week which resulted in me accepting a new lease for a 3 bedroom townhouse, pet friendly with a fenced back yard. I'm beyond excited and managed to sublet my place over the weekend so now I can just focus on packing.

I had to accept the new place without seeing it but I was told it is newly renovated and did a drive-by later that day and it looks great from what I could see through the windows. I did not get a good look at the bedrooms however as they are upstairs.

My mind immediately goes into planning mode for the chams. Right now I'm in a small 2 bedroom and I gave up my Master bedroom for the chameleons. I'm thinking 1 bedroom for each of the kids but really, one will be for their clothes and bunk beds and the other will be a play room with their toys because they insist on sleeping together and since they are young I don't see an issue with it. Saves me from having to purchase a second bed right now anyway! I figure I should probably take the Master bedroom this time but I'm on the fence about that. I may or may not. It really depends how the living room works out.

If I have the room, I am going to set up the cages and free range in the living room so that I can just open the doors to their cages and they will have a tree/vine system that wraps around the room. This place has laminate flooring so I won't have to cover carpet like I have had to in the past. Easy to clean.

Since my children are with me half the time and their playroom will be upstairs, there is a good portion of time where there is not much traffic at all in the living areas of the home which is why I'm leaning towards keeping them there. It will give me the chance to set up their free range to extend onto the patio as well in the summertime.

Does anyone have thoughts on the above mentioned? Also, if you have any tips to moving the chameleons, I would appreciate suggestions.

Thanks guys. Exciting time for us.

 

[xcrystalx]

congrats on your new house!
hope the move goes well

i dont have any experience in moving chams but i would put him in a well vented box with something to hold onto like a towel and put some heat packs in there.how far aways do you live from your new home.

just a suggestion but i good idea would be to move everything apart from your chams and there homes 1 day and the next day just move the chams so you have the whole day to sort there homes out etc.

 

[Zephalia]

congrats on your new house!
hope the move goes well

i dont have any experience in moving chams but i would put him in a well vented box with something to hold onto like a towel and put some heat packs in there.how far aways do you live from your new home.

just a suggestion but i good idea would be to move everything apart from your chams and there homes 1 day and the next day just move the chams so you have the whole day to sort there homes out etc.

Thank you! I live about 20 minutes from the new place. Right now it's -30C outside and in three weeks it will probably be still around -20C (although hopefully warmer). I was thinking of sticking them each in a shoe box with some holes punched out , towel sounds like a good idea and then a heat pack beside just for the drive. It can still be very cold just getting in and out of the warmed vehicle.

The enclosures may prove to be more difficult since they are pretty large and I don't want to disassemble them. I'm thinking that I will have the guys take them on the truck and box up the chams. They may be in there for a couple hours unfortunately. I will have to be out of my place and into the new one all on the same day, all in one morning actually. I don't have that much stuff so that is ok. When the guys come to start loading, I will box up the chams and then take them in my car to the new place while they unload everything. I'll just immediately put them back in their cages once they bring them in.

 

[xcrystalx]

they should be fine in a shoe box.my husband picked sully up 2hr drive away and he was fine and was also in a shoebox when he arrived just very thirsty.he had to have a heat pack tho as its like 8c here.do you have anyone helping you move?
ive moved 6 times and im only 27.yeah 6!!! lol.i know how stressful it is but it must be even more when you have chams too.so happy for you and hope it goes smoothly xx

p.s ill be looking forward to seeing the new free range when its done x

 

[Zephalia]

they should be fine in a shoe box.my husband picked sully up 2hr drive away and he was fine and was also in a shoebox when he arrived just very thirsty.he had to have a heat pack tho as its like 8c here.do you have anyone helping you move?
ive moved 6 times and im only 27.yeah 6!!! lol.i know how stressful it is but it must be even more when you have chams too.so happy for you and hope it goes smoothly xx

p.s ill be looking forward to seeing the new free range when its done x

Yes, I have some family helping me move. Thank goodness. I wish I had only moved 6 times. Not counting all the moving I did as a child (which was a lot), this will be my 10th move. I'm about ready to settle in somewhere. lol

 

[Deevo]

I recently just moved into a new apartment 2 hrs away and had to move my cham with me during the winter.

I got a tall but fairly short in width cardboard box (not too big, you don't want him to stress out) and put a vine inside with a fake vine. I then got two of those hand warmers you use in your gloves and put those on the bottom of the box with some moist paper towels on top.

Make sure to poke holes into the box. I would also do this as your very last thing that you move. Have his box ready and at the last minute put him inside and close the lid. It will be dark and he will fall asleep. Then you can put all his supplies into another box and put his enclosure in the back of your seat or something. Have the car comfortably warm and keep him in the box on your lap, nice and steady. My cham fell asleep within a few minutes but was moving all around at first.

 

[Jordyt]

Manitoba advice

Hey congrats on the move.

As you know I live close by to you, so I understand the weather issue. I had to take my Cham to the vet during the fall, which may not have been as cold, but still not warm.

I filled up a latex glove with hot tap water and put it on the bottom of a critter carrier. They I got her one a fake plastic vine and put her I'm the critter keeper on the vine. They I wrapped it in a towel, for warmth and so she didn't freak out.

Warm your car ahead of time.

That's all i have.

 

[Zephalia]

Thanks for all of the tips/advice everyone. The move happened this weekend and went very well on that end. I boxed them up and ran to the car which was warm, then ran in to the new place with them. It was -51C Saturday morning so I had them wrapped between the vehicle and the house. Everyone was healthy and we unloaded the enclosures first.

I stuck them in the basement, thinking I was wise because it's more humid in a basement, well heated in the winter, cooler in the summer, out of traffic areas, lots of room. Boy I didn't think that one through! There is 1 electrical outlet in the basement. One socket is being used for the laundry machine. That means I have ONE socket.

Being in a pinch Saturday with moving, I stuck one cage on the washer, one on the dryer and one in between, hooked up all their lights (6 spots for 6 plugs on my power bar) and that's where they have been since. I didn't have an extension cord so I couldn't set them up where I wanted them because it was across the room from the plug.

So this weeks project is getting the extension cord and shelving unit and setting them up properly. However, humidity is clearly an issue here. With several mistings in the day, I could not get the humidity over 20%. With the extreme cold and the fact that this place has a system to remove humidity from the house, it's nearly impossible. As I mentioned, I didn't have an extra plug to use the humidifier so I need to do that as well. It's apparent I'm going to have to run that thing day and night and right over the cages for it to be effective.

On the plus side, it's been cooler in the basement and I didn't have the lights on my little Jackson's girl for part of Saturday and her colours were much more relaxed. Which means I had the temps too high for her. I was at recommended temps but she wants it lower so that is what she will get. The male is enjoying it a little warmer. Adjustments in a new home are a pain, hopefully I'll be settling in here for a while!