Moving house with a hamster

[Lils36]

I have an 8-month-old hamster, George. In a few months, I'll be moving house. The trip will take about two hours. I've never travelled with a hamster before and was just looking for advice on how to move with a hamster.
I have a small travel cage for George, that I put her in when I clean her cage, but after ten minutes, she gets really stressed.
Do you have any tips for keeping her calm when travelling?

[Ria P]

Hello and welcome to HC!

Two hours isn't long and she'll probably go to sleep. As long as she has plenty of substrate with a lightweight hide and some hamster mix scattered about she should be fine in her travel cage. A small piece of cucumber would keep her hydrated should she get thirsty.

[Petite]

Might it be an option to move him in his current cage? If he is somewhere familiar, he might be more likely to sleep through at least some of it. (On the other hand, if his current cage is something like a detolf, I can understand why you wouldn't.) What cage is he currently in?

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by Petite

Might it be an option to move him in his current cage? If he is somewhere familiar, he might be more likely to sleep through at least some of it. (On the other hand, if his current cage is something like a detolf, I can understand why you wouldn't.) What cage is he currently in?

Moving in a permanent cage isn't a good idea unless everything that can fall over has been taken out.

It's surprising how many things come loose or move when driving over bumps, braking etc. I collected a few rescue hamsters in their cages but now always carry a couple of transport boxes in the car.

[AmityvilleHams]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Moving in a permanent cage isn't a good idea unless everything that can fall over has been taken out.

It's surprising how many things come loose or move when driving over bumps, braking etc. I collected a few rescue hamsters in their cages but now always carry a couple of transport boxes in the car.

And even if everything else is taken out, you still unfortunately have a chance of a hamster getting slammed against cage wire if the breaks are slammed on or anything else happens which can lead to serious injury or worse.