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I'm driving across the country w/ my snakes

J

Juxtaposition109

New member
Hello,
I was asking before about driving my snakes across the country with me. So now I'm really going to do it. I have a couple of 34 quart plastic tubs w/ locking lids that I figured I could put a couple of hides in for them and maybe a small plastic bowl w/ a little bit of H2o for them. I have soldered a bunch of holes in the sides and in the lid so they should have plenty of air. I know I shouldn't feed them for at least a week before I take off with them in the car. My only concern is that I'm going to be driving across the northern US and my car is old so if I break down I'm afraid they may get really cold. My thoughts are that if I have some of those hand warmer packs and throw a couple in one of the hides if need be that they should keep the snakes warm if needed. Does this sound like a good strategy or do you all have some other thoughts? Also is a 34 quart tub to big to transport them in? I would love to use a smaller one but I was thinking that it would give them some room to roam for the four or five days I will be on the road. I'll put some newspaper as substrate and have the UTH's to plug in under them for when I stop in a hotel. Anyone who has driven cross country with your snakes please give me your 411. Thank you and have a good one.
 
Hi!!

I can actually give some personal experience on a similar situation :)

I recently purchased seven loverly snakes from Rebecca down at Triple R Corns. I live in hick central way up in north central BC. We don't have fedex or any of the fancy shipping methods up here, so I arranged a bit of a relay for them.

Rebecca packaged them all up in little gladware sandwich containers (which they had been living in anyway) that were full up with fluffy aspen for them. They were then packed into an insulated box and taped up all nice and neat. My stepdad picked them up on Monday morning, bright and early!! They stayed in that box untill late on Tuesday when I finally got them back to the place I was staying at in Kelowna, where I opened them up and made sure they were all okay. I gave them water at that point since we were staying put for a few days, but they stayed in their shipping containers in the insulated box as I had no way of heating them at that point.

REbecca told me they would be fine for a day or two without water if need be, while we were on the road, and as long as the temps weren't over 100 or below 0 they would be quite fine!

Friday I removed their water, retaped the box, and put them in the van for the ten hour trip home. They stayed there actually untill the next evening, when I was able to unpack them properly and settle them in their new homes.

Here's my thinking on the subject, smaller is probably better, more secure for them, and less getting tossed around. just add lots of aspen, I would ditch the hides unless they are lightweight, for the same reason, if they shift or get tossed you don't want someone getting pinched. I would also not leave water in there, it'll just spill and get the bedding all wet. Wet chilled snake probably not good.

I wouldn't worry too much about them getting cold, if you are comfortable in the temperatures, it will be tolerable for the snakes, your car, and hopefully wherever you stay along the way, will be heated. They'll have empty bellies so you don't need to worry about digestive issues.

When you stop for the night I would give them their water bowls then, they'll be more active in the night hours anyway, and then remove the bowls while you are driving.

I'm sure they'll be fine :) Good luck!
 
A good way to control the temps if you run into a problem is to buy a few hot and cold packs that are used to ship snakes all year. They work for two or three days at a time. Many of the large reptile suppliers and shipping supply web sites sell them and their cost is fairly low.
 
Yes, I agree with Trina. No objects in their container while in the moving vehicle. If you had to stop suddenly, make a sharp turn, or get into an accident they could get seriously injured by sliding or flying hide/bowl.
 
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