General Minimum supplies for evacuation?

[BlueBadger]

Having to leave town due to a hurricane, and obviously need to bring my two young guinea pigs with me. Unfortunately I'm also evacuating relatives with special needs, so I'll be short on space (due to medical equipment) and as a result possibly also short on time for cage maintenance.

Any suggestions for a travel-size low-maintenance setup? Is there anything among the guinea pigs' usual supplies that they could do without for a few days? I have a pet carrier for the trip, but will a laundry basket suffice as a temp cage since they are still young and small? Or any other ideas? I know it's not ideal but I'm having to compromise for the safety of everyone.

 

[Soecara]

If you have a c&c cage you can flat pack it. Get some zip ties, take the connectors out of the grids (put them into a bag and take them with you if you can but you don't need to if you use zip ties) then zip tie the grids together and fold them accordion style, that way they take up very little space. If you can't fit the coroplast even if you fold it instead take a shower curtain or pick up a shower curtain when you arrive at your destination, you can even get some pegs and peg the shower curtain up the outsides of the grids to contain loose bedding in a real pinch. Loose bedding will be lower maintenance for the short term, but it takes up a lot of space so you would need to pick that up once you arrive if you choose to do that.

Keep them in the carrier for the trip if you can. Try to take some hay with you or at least make sure you will be able to get some when you arrive wherever you are going, you may also want to consider taking a zip lock bag with some pellets.

 

[stray hares]

Firstly, good luck and stay safe.

If you're going to be short on space, and really, this is an emergency and only for short term, I'd house my piggies in whatever they could securely be housed in (I always have smaller store bought cages on hand for such situations, usually medical, not so much natural disasters, but you might not have one available currently).

I'd bring hay, a water bottle, suitable pellets would be awesome of course because if you can't get fresh veggies for a while they might be the main source of your piggies' vitamin C. If you have vitamin C supplements I'd take them as well. I don't know how badly your town is expected to be affected by Irma, but your first priority should definitely be making sure everyone is safe and healthy. Puppy training pads covered in something to prevent chewing (even newspaper I imagine in a pinch, but I'll try to think of something better) make for useful disposable and easy to replace bedding. If you're little ones are in a smaller space their bedding will need to be replaced more often, so you'll need something that is easy to replace since you'll be time poor.

Good luck again!

 

[BlueBadger]

Thank you both so much for these great suggestions! I'll look for a smaller cage, since I doubt there will be enough room where we're going for their full setup (otherwise flat packing it like that sounds like it'd work very well). And bedding was a big concern so it's good to have some options in case supplies are hard to find.

 

[Saylavi]

I use a pop up dog crate from wal-mart when I travel short term. It's just like a pop-up laundry hamper, but the front/top zippers shut. It pops/folds flat the size of a dinner plate and expands to 2'x3'6". I can't find the one I got on the Walmart website, but it's almost just like this vvvv

https://www.walmart.com/ip/SportPet-Pop-Open-Kennel-Multiple-Sizes-Available/5192526

mine was cheaper and much more basic.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Sounds like you've got a lot of great suggestions already. I'll just add my two cents worth. Good luck with your temporary relocation. I hope you and your family stay safe and all is well when you return.

 

[scoottie]

So far I will be staying put

 

[bpatters]

Stay safe!!

 

[wigglemish]

I'll be honest, I have no experience with this sort of situation. I just wanted to send you lots of luck and well wishes, I hope you guys will be very safe and it will be over quickly for you.

 

[scoottie]

It looks like the hurricane will be making landfall Monday at 2am whether I will be sleeping who knows.

 

[lisa325]

I Just wanted to wish you well, I hope she weakens and the impact on you will be minimal. Stay safe

 

[Beatrix187]

Stay safe <3

 

[CrystalCavy]

Other people covered my suggestions, so I guess all I can say is stay safe. Good luck and I wish you, your family, and your piggies well.

 

[BlueBadger]

Just wanted to update that we made it through okay and arrived safely home. Changed a heck of a lot of puppy pads, but they worked great.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and well wishes!

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Glad to hear all is well, BlueBadger!

I'm very happy to hear that you and your furballs are ok!

 

[lisa325]

Wonderful news!!! Happy you're all home safe and sound