Hurricane Florence

[alicesfalling]

Hi everyone. I live in the "Cone of Uncertainty" (aka Raleigh), NC. We are expected to start feeling effects of Hurricane Florence by Thursday of this week. Power outages are likely and severe flooding is possible since the storm will be moving slowly after hitting land. Hopefully that doesn't happen, but as my family and I try to get ready for the storm, I seem to the only one concerned about Clara, our juvenile bearded dragon.

So I know she won't digest well without her light, but how long can she go without food, and how much can she safely eat without her lights? We have a huge container of crickets and some greens but I don't want to make her sick by feeding her food she can't process. Thoughts?

I plan to line her tank with towels and put a blanket on top since there's no lid, either that or stick her under my shirt and carry her around most of the day. She loves snuggling. And if I put my robe on top of that, she will have even more warmth. If we don't have power, it will probably get pretty warm and humid in the house so she won't freeze. Thank God it's not winter. Those are my thoughts, any other ideas for warmth would be appreciated.

The thought that scares me most is possible flooding. I've never experienced more than little flash floods and I don't know what to expect if it happens. I have a small cricket cage i can line with towels/blankets and carry her in if I need to. But I've never traveled with her and I'm so afraid of her getting hurt or sick or something because of the change of environment and being moved around so much. Has anyone had experience with traveling with a bearded dragon? Keep in mind this will be a grab and go trip, not a well planned out vacation.

Any ideas would be helpful. It's hard having a human kid, a husband kid, and a lizard kid to take care of. I love them all but Clara is the most vulnerable, she is completely dependent on me and I'm so scared of doing something wrong and her getting hurt. Anyway, done with my overprotective parent ramble.

If you read all this, you get a gold star. Thank you.

Toni

 

[PatsyB]

I would get a large rubber made container and put stuff in it for her, extra lights, food, blankets, a leash if you have one. Get it ready in case you need to evacuate fast. This way if you are to evacuate, you have stuff for her plus the container can sub as a temporary enclosure for her. She's going to be pissy but she's going to have to go without food for as long as it takes for you to be able to let her bask, either under lights or under the actual sun. Fill her up now while the storm hasn't hit you yet and just make sure you stop feeding at least 2 hours before it's expected to hit. Hot hands are good to wrap in a towel and and keep her warm. Even better are the reptile shipping heat packs that go for 24-48 hours.

Please be safe, this storm looks like it's going to be a bad one.

 

[PatsyB]

I wanted to add. Powdered food that gets mixed with water is a great thing to have on hand to feed in an emergency. Things by Repashy like grub pie or Veggie Pie or even Pangea for crested geckos is good. Also make sure you have some gallons of fresh water for her too as well as the rest of your family.

 

[Lindsey-Star Duhe]

I actually take my dragon camping all the time. He is a juvenile as well. Like Patsy said, a tote and hot hands are great tools. UV and heat are the two main things and both can be had in the sun which typically will come out after the storm. If you’re without power for awhile, this will be your best option. Like you said, body warmth will help as well, we are good dragon temperature.
I know I’m late to the response, but I just saw it.