Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
I'm taking a rather long trip as I move for my new job from upstate NY to Cali and I've gotta take my 2 year old ball python with me along with some other stuff, and since I'm driving please give me any possible info or suggestions on how best to do this without stressing him out like crazy. I've got a smaller aquarium I'll leave him in in the car and monitor the temperature of (don't worry, nothing stupid like leaving him in the car to bake etc... will be done) but as I stay in hotels along the way how best (and most covertly) can I take him around in the most comfortable way? Ideas for what to keep in the aquarium? In some sort of transport carrier? I need ideas and good advice and good things to avoid on this, please help!

Thanks.
-Eli

Your best bet is to put him in a bag (preferably a snake bag but a pillowcase works too) while you're driving, because if he stays in the aquarium he'll slide around everywhere. Keep the car fairly warm orrrr get some travelling heating pads from a reptile store (LLL sells them) and use those to keep him warm while you're driving.
For the hotel, I'd get a tub of the right size (say 32 qt for a 2 y/o ball?) and put in some ventilation holes, put down some papertowel, and viola! You have a container that the hotels probably won't object to. Just carry it in empty like it's a storage bin and then set it up with the heat pad once you're in the room. A tupperware dish works as a waterbowl. Tah dah!

~jenny
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"The python has, and I fib no fibs,
318 pairs of ribs.
In stating this I place reliance
On a seance with one who died for science
This figure is sworn to and attested,
He counted them while being digested."
~Ogden Nash

jenny.thegreenes.org

"If you're happy and you know it,
Bomb Iraq!
If you cannot find Osama,
Bomb Iraq!
If the terrorists are frisky,
Pakistan is looking shifty,
North Korea is too risky,
Bomb Iraq!

I heard that pillow cases / snake bags are fine, for up to a certain threshold (like 8 hours or something) but i'm gonna have the guy with me for prbly round 5 days. I need something less temporary, or so I assumed. Would he really care? I'm liking the ideas you guys are coming up with for temp habitats, but are styrofoam containers / pillow cases really going to be ok? Sorry, just call me paranoid. Perhaps some of you have done something similar before? And ifso lemme know how it went.

Thanks much again!

I suggest keeping him in the pillow case during the drive itself, but once you bed down for the night, put him in a storage container around the same size used typically for racks (sweater boxes or shoe boxes, depending on size of the snake). Give water and bring a regular human heating pad for heat over night (just slip under one third of container, set to low heat setting and leave it on over night. You can buy these with 2-3 settings, just get the ones without the auto shutoff feature).

You won't need anything more fancier than this for a week of travel.

I also suggest don't feed your snake a good week before you leave, maybe even two weeks, to ensure he has nothing to digest.

The pillow case/snake bag keeps him feeling secure and protects him from sliding around during regular driving. Put him away was direct sunlight or AC vents so he doesn't get too hot/too cold..if the interior of the car is constantly between 75-85F he should be fine without additional heat/cold.
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PHLdyPayne

Whatever you keep it in don't put directly on the floor board of your vehicle it can get very hot.
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Vince Pramuk

I usually use one of those styrofoam coolers to transport my snakes. I just line it with towels or newspaper so the snake doesn't slide around, and put the snake in a bag inside the cooler. That way I don't have to keep the car temp uncomfortably warm (for me). I've always thought the vibrations from the car might bother snakes too, and being inside the cooler might help with that as well.

Hope this helps,
Shelly

And keep him out of the sun . if the sun shines right on him or a bag he will get to hot . Thanks David of DS Reptile Rescue

Any possibility you can either have someone ship the snake to you once you get there or you ship it to someone already out there - avoiding the whole cross country bit all together?
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Tosha
JET Pythons

I always assumed it was safer to drive with him than ship him back out to me, is UPS really more trustworthy than me? I know they can overnite him but in what kind of temps etc...? I'd just trust myself more... well myself with the advice of you guys =)

I agree with Tosha, and am surprised that others didn't suggest shipping.

5 days is plenty of time for something to go wrong. Too hot, too cold, gets loose in the car (happens more often then you'd expect) and a million other things we can't predict.

People ship reptiles all the time, very expensive and rare ones. If "big breeders" (I hate that term!) trust the carriers, I think it would be a safe bet that average joes like us could also.

Save the potential issues, that could range from nothing to disaster, and ship him. Legally, of course.

Joel
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0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Corn Snake
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Blood Python

Alrighty. But if I do this, gimme the rundown on the package and who to use and if any crazy forms need be filled out. I'm leaving on the 4th of June and want everything in order before then. What sort of packaging? Isn't he going to freeze in the plane? If i put heatpacks in and it's not *too* cold all the time isn't he going to cook?

So then i ask you all:

How does one ship a snake?

You need to be a verified shipper to ship Delta or FedX and that would take longer than you have. Maybe someone eles knows another way or you could find someone to ship it for you. That maybe why no one suggested it earlier. I would just take it with me you shouldn't have any problems. Just remember to hot is usually worse than being a little cold.
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Vince Pramuk

A question.....is it a well established snake? If so I'm with Vince on this, and the guy who suggested the cooler. Don't let it overheat. They can withstand much cooler temps than people give them credit for, with no ill effects. Don't feed before you leave and you won't need to worry so much about belly heat either. They will do well for a week in no more than room temps. As for keeping him at a motel or whatever, just take the cooler in as is. Good luck and let us know how the trip went.

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

If by well established you mean i've raised him and had him around me and he knows me well and likes his environs then ya. So the verdict then would be a cooler (small styrofoam one) with some bedding and him *in* a pillowcase (why do I feel like I sound like i'm kidnapping someone here hehe...) for the duration of the trip? I can only assume i've gotta drill air-holes in the styrofoam container for him.

Thanks for all the advice so far, and keep it coming!

-Eli

LOL it does sound like a kidnaping, doesn't it? If he was tied in a sack the whole ride I would say the cooler lid might not even be necessary, weather permiting. You can let him out to stretch his legs, in the room, when you stop for the night. Basically, I think, for the few days he'll be in the car, if it's comfortable for you it'll be tolerable for him. Again, good luck.

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

Well then it's decided: pillowcase and styrofoam cooler it is! Thanks to you all for your info, I'm sure him and I will have an interesting trip to Cali indeed where I'm going to start my first job out of college at Dreamworks (being an adult is scary). If any of you go see Madagascar 2 with your kids down the line, look for "Eli" in the technical directors section for lighting and say "I helped that kid get his python cross country in a sack".

Thanks so much again!

-Eli

Good luck! Let us know how your trip goes.

ship it Fed-X or DHL