Reptile & Amphibian Forums

For those concerned with the temps. our pets experience while shipping, would'nt it be cool to have your purchase shipped with a min/max thermometer? They are only about $10.00 or so which would be negligeable compared to the cost of some of the reptiles shipped. Another thing I was thinking about is, I think it would be a great idea to design a low cost min/max therm. especially for shipping. Maybe something like the stick on ones for aquariums, but with some way of retaining the min. and max. temp.
Just a thought!

A friend of mine designed a temperature data recorder for that exact purpose. You could set it to log a temp every five minutes ten minutes and so on. You then just plug it up to your computer and download the temps for the whole trip. Cool idea and it worked great but he didn't figure there would be much of a market for it.

Hey George,
Those are actually quite commonly seen in laboratory equipment catalogs. They're used to monitor various types of equipment (incubators, autoclaves, water baths, etc.) for quality assurance/quality control.
Glenn

That's actually a pretty neat idea. If someone is really concerned about the temps or just for data purposes, it's a pretty good idea.
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A thermometer that would tell the temperatures that the snake experienced during shipping would be nice, but I'm not sure what practical value it would have. I guess if one learns that the snake experienced extreme cold then one could be particularly wary of certain diseases. What I'd really like if I were going to ship or receive snakes is something that could regulate the temperatures during shipping. A battery powered thermostat that would control heating and cooling sources would be ideal. I have a couple of ideas, but I'll spare you a long explanation. The contraption would likely cost several hundred dollars, but for an expensive snake, the reduction in risk would be well worth the cost.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

Hey Bill,
Yes, that is another cool idea! The min/max therm. (much less expensive) would not only let the buyer know what temp. extremes their reptiles experienced, but could also inform the entire shipping community as to how well their packing procedures are actually performing. With feedback from buyers and a database, you could eventually really get to know how packages are doing during their commute. Package size and type, temp. at shippers and receivers location, time in transit, heat/cool packs (number, type, and size), and # and size of airholes in packaging would be some of many variables of course.
Glenn

Yes, I see where you're going. You're not using the thermometer to benefit the particular snake being shipped this time. You're trying to gather data to understand the shipping process as practiced these days and make general improvements. That's a great idea, and I misunderstood where you were going with it.

Thanks,

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

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