Travel Dilemna

Question
I bought a Chinese Water Dragon 2 weeks ago.  Seems to be adapting well, but I struggle with the humidity consistently falling to 60-65%.
Anyways, I have to go out of town tomorrow and will be back on Monday. The person scheduled to come by and care for him will not be able to.
I will be driving 6 hours tomorrow needing to make at least 3 stops for meetings that will last at least 30 minutes each.  Would the dragon be better off to make the trip with me or to have me load it up with food and be left alone for 4 days?  I am new to reptile ownership and really want to do the best thing.

Answer
Hello Jeff,

People with reptile hobbys are always saying "If you own a reptile, you can not go on vacation"

Reptiles depend on you quite a bit.
And with a person other then their owner feeding them can stress them.

For his UV lighting you need to get a power outlet timer. Sold at pet stores, but more often its cheaper buying them at places like Home Depot, Lowes or another home improvement store.

Travelling with him will be very stressful and not advised.

For water you need to take out his large swimming dish and replace it with 2 or 3 small dishes. Place a home made water dripper on the top of the screen. (a bottle or plastic container with warm water and holes poked in the bottom of it, for water to drip out into the dishes and in the cage for humidity)

Food is difficult, lizards can go quite a long time without food, but it is very unhealthy and stressful. Does your water dragon show any interest in vegetables or fruits? How about worms? Or does he only like crickets as of now?

It would be most helpful if you have somebody that can come and take care of him whiel your gone. A family member, friend, neighbor etc.

If thats not an option then is there anybody around you that can watch him? Veterinarian offices sometimes will take care of them until your gone. Some pet stores will do so. (usually all these places charge you with a small fee) A pet sitter would be best.

Maybe an ad on craigslist or something similar looking for a pet sitter.

Or better yet, see if you have a Herpetology Society near you. Often times Herp Society members are happy to sit for your lizard with or without fee.

You need to become a member and contact somebody near there. Here is a site with Herp Societies listed by area.

http://www.anapsid.org/societies/

(scroll down on the link for the listed areas)

If I have your area I may be able to look up somebody who will be happy to look after him. Especially if you are in California, I know of a lot of people near there who have years of experience with Chinese Water Dragons.

Let me know
Good luck
Yexalen