:important: Guinea Pig Transportation "Train" Needed: Indiana to North Carolina

[sophistacavy]

I realize that this sounds like a bit much of a distance for a piggie train, but if we involve an adequate amount of people who are reliable, responsible, and trustworthy enough to be parts of the train, then it won't be too much of a stretch for anyone to drive.

Here's the situation, and shadows_gold, you're welcome to add to this of course, as this is a joint effort of sorts:

Shadows_gold's cavy Savvy just recently had an accidental/surprise litter of four wondefully, irrisistably cute babies. And, I'm interested in adopting one of them. However, shadows_gold is in Monon, Indiana, and I'm in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville and Indiana are actually almost directly above one another (not bordering, of course, but you can sort of draw a straight vertical line that would connect the two).
Accoridng to mapquest.com, the driving distance from my exact house address (which I'm obviously not going to give out on the net L0L) and Monon, IN (in general, not to any specific address, I don't think shadows_gold would put her address in public on the net either) is a total of some estimated 575.88 miles. I chose shortest time versus shortest distance. The estimated time the trip would take, total, would be 9 hours 19 minutes.
Here we face our first major problem: having a guinea pig in transport for that amount of time.

I've come up with the idea of having this whole ordeal take an extended amount of time if needed, so the piggie woudn't be in motion 24/7. One part of the train could take the piggie to their home for a rest, and then continue the journey the next day. And this would be repeated until the end, especially when the previous or upcoming journey is a long one.

I believe that we should have a total of like 6 people (including me, so me plus 5 other people, involved in this). 9 hours divided by 6 people is only like 1.5 hours (1 hour, 30 minutes or 90 minutes) per person, once again including me. Contact would need to be made between each two people who will be meeting each other, so each person knows where and about when to meet at. Every person involved needs to have a "travel cage" for the piggie. Info on commercial cages can be found on this site's homepage, down at the bottom on the right where it says "The Old Way". You should try to find the largest commercial cage that will fit in the part of the car you ride in. NOT THE TRUNK, OBVIOUSLY. Nor the bed of your pickup truck. As I said, it must be inside the car where people ride. If your "trunk" area is a part of the car that people ride in (not the trunks where you have to get out of your car to access it), then thats ok.
Minimum cage size for one guinea pig is 30"x36". So, it will be difficult to fit a cage that size into any kind of car, but if you have seats that can be moved, then you can make more than enough room for this cage. 36" would fit in anybody's vehicle, because thats the length, so the 30" wide (which is still a very small size) would be the biggest challenge. SUV's are probably the best bet, although since not everyone has an SUV (such as myself, I just have a regular ol' sedan). (continued next post)

[Shadows_Gold]

I would love to help out in the ride there but I have no car at the moment.

[starshine123102]

I wish I could adopt one of your piggies too seeing as I'm starting my search for a second pig. I live about 15 hours away though. That might be a bit much.

[sophistacavy]

All anyone with a sedan has to do is move the passenger seat up all the way.
If you have a GPS system, than all this would be that much easier for you. I have a GPS system, but of course not everybody does. If you don't, you can still be a part of this train, you would just need to use mapquest.
I will need people from:
1. Asheville-close to Black Mountain area (this would be me)
2. Tennessee (113.8 miles) (see below by Kentucky, same info applies here)
3. Kentucky (231.9 miles) (maybe 2 people or so, I'm not sure how much time that many miles takes, it can't be more or less than 1.5 hours though)
4. Indiana (possibly up to 2-3 people) (212.1 miles)
5. Ohio (60.5 miles)

Whew! I don't quite know how we're going to do this, but this is just an idea of mine. If you know of any rescues that do piggie trains in those areas, than please let either me or shadows_gold know!

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread, so thank you for your help/time!

[guineapigluver1]

I'd love to help, but I live 2 1/2 hours away, and I don't know if my mom or dad would be willing to drive.

[dra&pigs]

I'd love to help...but considering I'm in NY, I'm pretty sure there isn't a place for me to transport. Good luck!

[5guinea5pig5]

Where would the Ohio stop be in?

[mamazul]

I live in South Eastern Ohio and may be able to help.

[sophistacavy]

Thank you everyone who has replied so far!

I am going to go back to mapquest now, and copy & paste the directions here. I'm not at all familiar with the areas mapquest says on the directions, thats part of the reason that I would completely depend on my tomtom gps thingie for xD
If you're familiar w/ Ohio, then maybe you'll get it better than I get it.
Hang on a sec.

EDIT: Okay, here we go:

1: Start out going NORTHEAST on CARDINAL CREST LN toward POPLAR CREEK DR. 0.0 mi

• Map

2: CARDINAL CREST LN becomes POPLAR CREEK DR. 0.1 mi

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• Avoid

3: Turn RIGHT onto INDEPENDENCE BOULEVARD EXT. 0.1 mi

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• Avoid

4: INDEPENDENCE BOULEVARD EXT becomes INDEPENDENCE BLVD. 0.6 mi

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5: Turn RIGHT onto RICEVILLE RD. 0.4 mi

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6: Turn LEFT onto LOWER GRASSY BRANCH RD. 2.2 mi

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7: Turn LEFT onto TUNNEL RD/US-70/BLACK MOUNTAIN HWY. 0.5 mi

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8: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT. 0.1 mi

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9: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto PORTER COVE RD. 0.1 mi

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[: Merge onto I-40 W (Crossing into TENNESSEE). 113.9 mi

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: Merge onto I-640 W/US-25W N/TN-9 S via EXIT 393 toward I-75 N/LEXINGTON. 6.9 mi

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: Merge onto I-75 N toward LEXINGTON (Crossing into KENTUCKY). 238.8 mi

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13: Merge onto I-275 W via EXIT 185 toward AIRPORT (Passing through INDIANA, then crossing into OHIO). 24.2 mi

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: Merge onto I-74 W via EXIT 25 on the LEFT toward INDIANAPOLIS (Crossing into INDIANA). 84.7 mi

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: Merge onto I-465 N. 23.8 mi

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: Take the I-865 W exit, EXIT 25, on the LEFT toward I-65 N/CHICAGO. 0.0 mi

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: Merge onto US-52 W. 17.0 mi

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: Stay STRAIGHT to go onto I-65 N. 36.5 mi

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19: Take the IN-43 exit, EXIT 178, toward WEST LAFAYETTE/BROOKSTON. 0.3 mi

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20: Merge onto IN-43 toward BROOKSTON. 17.4 mi

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21: IN-43 becomes US-421. 8.2 mi

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22: End at Monon, IN

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Estimated Time: 9 hours 19 minutes Estimated Distance: 575.88 miles

[sophistacavy]

Originally Posted by Shadows_Gold

I would love to help out in the ride there but I have no car at the moment.

Oh hey thats ok, yeah don't worry about that. We can probably get someone to go to your house (or should I say you can probably get someone to go to your house, as it is your house L0L).

[sophistacavy]

Ick!!! None of the links work!! Sorry about that, go here instead if you want images:



The map should give some of you a better idea of what area all this is in.

EDIT: Can a MOD please hurry and remove my address from the link and ASAP???!! I didn't know it would do that, my address is NOT in the URL....don't know why it showed up on here..

[Ly&Pigs]

It's honestly not really feasible to try to transport a guinea pig that far of a distance. I'm not just saying this, I'm speaking from experience. If you want to get another cavy, I suggest finding one in your area. I'm sure Shadow will have no problem finding people in his/her area to adopt the pups he/she has.

[hueyeats]

I also second with the thinking that so many people & so many different smells plus handling may be too much for a little piggy?? Would it not create undue stress for the poor little one?

How about transport the piggy by flight? Is that not feasible?

[Caviekisses]

Plane transportation is not advised because of the stress. I would advise using a smaller cage though because it will need to be seat belted into the vehicle transporting it.

Good luck.

[Shadows_Gold]

We have decided not to do it. She will be looking into a rescue near her and I'll be keeping two of them and my friend has picked the other two for herself. Thanx everyone!