4 month old red foot tortoise

Question
QUESTION: Hi I currently live in Michigan and I am moving to Texas soon. I am going to take my tortoise with me and I was wondering what is the best way to keep him comfortable during the trip. I am going to be driving down in a moving truck and the trip will probably take about 17 hrs. Will he be able to go with me? Thanks

ANSWER: My plan for this sort of thing is to carry the tortoise(s) in clean coolers with old towels, in a car warmed up nicely before I put them in it. I carry some chemical warm packs and a digital thermometer with a high/low alarm.

When you stop, cover the cooler and bring it inside with you and let it wander in a secure, warm room (bathrooms with a tub full of hot water, for example). Let it eat, drink, and maybe even give it a good soak.

It really is not a big deal- just keep it from getting too cool for too long and have a back-up plan in case of emergency (like my warm packs).

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again and thank you for your advice. I just have one more question. what exactly is a chemical warm pack and where can i get one? also where can i get a thermometer with a high/low alarm? Thanks again

Answer
Chemical warm packs are used by outdoorsmen to warm their hands or feet. I like the larger 'foot warmer' packs, but whatever works! You can also use any of a dozen other portable heating options- first aid heat packs, battery powered heating devices (like hunters socks), etc.

Thermometer- some of the digital cooking thermometers have settable alarms. Just look at the specs. I found one with a probe on a metal wire that works great for cooking and for transporting my herd (of course, cleaned well between uses.)

Don't sweat it a lot, just make a plan for short cold situations (gas stops, etc.), and an emergency plan for a longer-term shortage. I found that the coolers I used held the heat nicely for stops of up to about a half-hour with no other steps, and a chemical warm pack dropped in for a couple hours.

If we had gotten stranded, my plan was to use the chemical packs and my own body heat inside a warm blanket (part of my car's emergency kit) to keep them warm.