Taking a betta on the road

[redoctober]

I've seen a few people discuss taking their bettas home from college but no one's actually mentioned details. In a few days we'll be leaving and Red October is going to have to come with. We got him a critter keeper and we were going to put some new water mixed with some of his old water and a tiny bit of salt (maybe). Problem is its a 9 hour drive on mountain passes (colorado) and we're concerned hes going to get bashed around/cold. Anyone ever done this/have any ideas? Thanks!!!

[Juneii]

I have about an hour's drive back home so it's not to bad. What I do is keep Neptune in a medium sized container and suspend the container in the car to dampen any jerky stops. I generally just wrap up the container with a dark cloth and put him in a bag and hang it from the clothing hook in the back seat. Neptune falls asleep when it's dark so he's not quite as freaked out if anything sudden happens. Every once in a while I open the lid so fresh air could get in.
You can possibly do the same but with a larger container. And drive carefully. For warmth you can use heatpacks, it will keep the container fairly warm.
Not saying that my method is right, but from what I see Neptune seems fairly unstressed by the move.

[MMK]

I have several bettas. I kept the cups they came in, so when I had to move they all went into their cups. I didn't get a cup with one of my guys, so I just got a small jar and poked holes in the lid. I then got a shallow box and lined it with a blanket. From there, I wedged blankets between each cup so they couldn't fall over or knock against each other. I just put that in a nice heated car and off I went!

Try not to put your betta in too much water while traveling because they will just slosh around more.

[kfish]

I just transported mine home from college on Wednesday. It's only a two hour drive, with no mountain roads just mild hills, but I drive a car that hits every little bump like it's a massive pot hole.

I put him in a little 1/2 gallon tank (filled about halfway, maybe a little less) and put that in a plastic cooler filled with towels so the tank couldn't move at all. I drove alone, so I strapped the cooler into the passenger seat really tight and cranked up the heat like mad (I was roasting!).

He didn't seem stressed out at all afterward and built me a nice big bubblenest as soon as he was back in his real tank.

I figured that a lot of betta fish get shipped as air mail and make it fine and probably encounter way more bumps than what a car ride gives.

[nomoretickets]

i drive 3 hours home in a drag racing car. just put the bettas in their original cup or i guess a small kritter keeper will work. just make sure its undecorated as stuff might fall. the cups are nice because you can secure them in a cup holder so they dont tip over

[ilovebunnies]

Sounds like quite the adventure! lol
You may want to consider bagging your betta instead of putting him into a container. The plastic will be softer than the container if he hits the walls. Make sure to seal air in the bag, but be sure to leave it a little soft so the CO2 has somewhere to go. Or, if you are worried you could stop at rest stops and open the bag for air exchange too. Also, I would put the bag in a box or cooler to help keep warm and protect your fishy (as kfish suggested) and strap the box somewhere secure if you can't hold it. And make sure to keep the car warm!

Good luck! ;)

[dramaqueen]

Originally Posted by redoctober

I've seen a few people discuss taking their bettas home from college but no one's actually mentioned details. In a few days we'll be leaving and Red October is going to have to come with. We got him a critter keeper and we were going to put some new water mixed with some of his old water and a tiny bit of salt (maybe). Problem is its a 9 hour drive on mountain passes (colorado) and we're concerned hes going to get bashed around/cold. Anyone ever done this/have any ideas? Thanks!!!

Some of those passes are real doozies, too. I've been over several of them myself.

[MrVampire181]

What passes? Some of them are cold and if a sudden storm comes in poor fella will freeze....trust me I get stuck in those passes at least once a year...darn Colorado's bi polar weather. Pack like you're shipping him, get a heat pack (20 hour) from a Sports store:

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=35196

[StarSpun]

Heya!

We actually RV (fulltime) with our Betta, Fishwish. I put him in his original cup for the times that we are driving. I check the temperature often with a temp gun....and we usually keep the RV toasty (also travel with a cat, a cockatiel, a bearded dragon and hermit crabs! Ha Ha!).

If we are traveling in cold weather, I sometimes plug my little Hydor flat heater into our inverter (you can get them for cars too, just plug em into the cig lighter) and put it close to his cup. We've been over quite a few bumpy roads and Fishwish has been fine. I swear sometimes he likes the crazy ride. I fed him a couple of blood worms during a bumpy ride once and he had a ball chasing them around with the water sloshing, haha!

At that time the water had spilled a bit which was why it was sloshing. I find the less room the water has to travel, the calmer it is. Fill it to the top and make sure you have airholes. I always open the container once in while, but I'm sure it's not all that important if you have airholes....

Good luck!

[redoctober]

thanks to everyone's wonderful suggestions. We ended up putting Red October in a critter keeper (we tested out a bag the night before and just didn't feel too comfortable with the idea) we hit a major bump leaving our town and sloshed the poor guy around but that was the only eventful thing that happened. He stayed on my lap for the first 4 hours then my boyfriend and I switched driving and he stayed on his lap. I think the bodyheat coming off of our laps really helped. His temperature was almost too hot at times.
So no...he didn't freeze even when we got in a little storm...he just seemed fascinated by what we were doing. (btw Mr. Vampire we're Coloradoans born and bred so we're quite used to the passes that was never the concern lol)