Question for people that have shipped their snakes on airplane, or driven.

[ocean girl]

So I posted a while ago that we are moving to Ottawa in August. I can't decide if I should have the snake drive with us (takes about 9 days) or, ship him air Canada Cargo.
If I ship him, I will have a friend look after him for 9 days and ship him on day 10 so we will be there when he arrives. Problem is, I will have to get a smaller plastic container to keep him in at the friends house, that she can just get rid of when she ships him cause I can't ship the tank.
So, my question, how big of box for a 2 and a half foot snake, and, should I put a disposable heat pad in the box. How do they breathe through the box and foam padding? How hot does the disposable heat pad get?

[adamjeffery]

if you will be in a car driving you can take the snake with you but you need to understand some things.
1. if using a heat pack remember that heat packs use oxygen to activate so the enclosure must be ventilated really well
2. never even for minutes at a time leave your snake in the car by itself. cars get very hot inside and can kill your snake in minutes under certain circumstances. if your going into a store or something then keep the snake in a back pack on you at all times.
3. never keep the snake in the car where its getting hit by direct sunlight.
never stick it on the dash it gets very hot there.make sure the snake has not fed for at least 3 days before the move, your snake will get stressed so its best not to have a regurge on top of that.

if you are a very diligent person then i would drive. if your even the slightest bit absent minded or lazy then i would ship the animal if its legal for you to do so. make sure your friend is versed in proper shipping techniques and even pay for freight ahead of time so your friend does not purchase the wrong type of shipping.
good luck
adam jeffery
if i think of anything else i will edit my post