# Rats moving cross-country!



## nklthendricks (Sep 1, 2013)

My husband and I are moving cross country from California to Arkansas in November. Our two boys are, of course, coming with us. The question is how do we get them there :/ I would prefer to fly with them as in-cabin pets but I can't seem to find any airlines that would allow that. United, which sounded like my best bet, doesn't allow rats. I don't want to check them in as cargo even though I've heard some good things about doing so. I'm scared of anything happening to them while they're out of my sight and there will be some extreme climate changes, so I would prefer to just have them with me at all times. Will any airline take them as in-cabin pets?

We really weren't planning on making the drive cross country, although we've done it before to get out here in the first place. It was a five day, four night trip. At that time we didn't have the boys. We would be willing to make the trip back by driving but we'd be hard pressed to shorten it any. Would this be safe/comfortable for them? They would travel in a carrier between us and of course we would provide food/water/bedding changes. But would the jostling of the car be too much for them? Also, in the evening we would be stopping at motels. Are there any motels that would allow rats in the room? So far, I haven't seen any and I don't think sneaking them in would be such a hot idea. Not to mention, they're used to their three level cage. Would five days of being in a carrier stress them out too much? If we had to, we could set up the cage in the motel for the night. But again that would mean finding a motel that would be fine with all this. 

Please help! We need to start making arrangements a.s.a.p. and the travel method of our boys will determine how we should plan from here on out.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

A member on here, Voltage, recently flew her rats successfully across America using United: http://www.united.com/web/en-us/content/travel/animals/petsafe.aspx
I doubt you can get an airline to take them as carry-on, as rats are considered pests by the vast majority. I think this would be the best bet.

If you decided to drive, you would have to stop about every two hours to water them, as opposed to keeping it in the cage where it could leak and lead to illness. You would also have to find hotels that either wouldn't notice them or would allow them in; ideally you would want to be able to let them out and run around in the bathroom or something (if you place a towel down, you could shake it out outside and leave nary a trace). The jostling wouldn't be wonderful, and the main concern would be keeping them cool and dark. The carrier should probably be a bit bigger than the typical one, but I don't know.

Here's a good article: http://www.rmca.org/Articles/moving.htm for driving.


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## nklthendricks (Sep 1, 2013)

Thank you for your response  I didn't look into their petsafe program until now but I think that this would be our best bet after all. Driving and stopping, while we would do it we had to, would just be such a hassle/stress to both us and the boys.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Good luck! Here's the other member's thread, since she had to use a special container: http://www.ratforum.com/showthread.php?98770-Moving-in-a-week-need-rat-transportation-advice-help!


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