HotHands

Hey guys. Tried to search for this but didn't turn up anything.
I bought a snake last week and the seller and I planned to have her shipped out Wednesday, but the temps were colder than either of us felt comfortable with. So we waited and he shipped her out yesterday. I picked her up this morning and her box was warm and she's alert and a-ok. But I noticed he had used 3 HotHands instead of a 40-hour heat pack.

I was always told NEVER to use HotHands for shipping. When I asked the seller about it, he told me that he uses them because the 40 hour packs have burned through bags and deli-cups. I guess I understand his reasoning, but at the same time, if she'd been delayed, it could've been a dangerous situation for her.

Thoughts?

I've actually wondered this myself. I don't know the difference between the "40 hour packs" and the "hot hands". To me, they seem the same, but 1 is just larger than the other.

I'm interested to see if anyone can chime in on this - good question!

Never use Hot Hands. They burn too fast, too hot, and displace oxygen just as quickly. They get much hotter than shipping packs. Not to mention, they don't last as long. They won't last 24 hrs, that's for sure. Most won't even last 12 hrs. Hot hands are typically meant to put in your gloves for snowy weather.
And unfortunately, many snakes have overheated in boxes with hot hands.

A reptile shipping pack should not get hot enough to melt or burn a bag. I'm really doubting that breeder's word.



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The hot hands burn hotter than the 40 hr so his logic is nonsense. He's trying to save a few bucks / hassle of buying and having legit shipping packs delivered to him. They definitely don't reach a heat to melt anything or (burn?) through a bag. I'd be hard pressed to believe a hot hands would even get hot enough to melt a deli cup but they definitely get hot enough to cook a snake or suffocate it by using up all the oxygen in the box. 40 hrs are made for shipping tropical fish - the whole design of them is to hold a nice even warm temp that is good for tropical animals and consistent over a long time.

Since they're not readily available everywhere, it's a good indication of whether you are dealing with a shoddy breeder or not. Cutting corners at the risk of killing an animal to save probably 5-10 dollars in shipping to get the right packs is behavior not worth supporting further. I'd probably post it to the BOI as well.

Thanks guys. This is about what I thought. I've used HotHands while hunting and if they don't go dead cold in a couple hours, they're uncomfortably hot. I just don't trust them.

I don't want to be confrontational, as everything went well except for this one thing. But I may post an info thread on the BOI though, just in case. I know I would've liked to know before I paid that he'd be shipping this way.

That's a lazy, cheap shipper. Glad the snake is Ok.

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I actually received a snake once where the shipper used foot warmers. (same thing as the hothands but shaped like the sole of your foot so they fit inside your shoe.) They were ice cold by the time the package got to me too but at least the snakes were okay. It looked really odd to see a pair of foot shaped heat pads inside the package with the snakes.

You have been fed a line of lazy bullshids. The other folks responding here have nailed it. The burn hotter, and for much less time.