Suggestions for moving up north with a ball python?

[vmachina]

I'm a college student and am planning on flying up north (Michigan) to my new flat (from Florida) I need to get there by Jan 4 . One plan is to fly on my own, and ship my bp to a friend that lives there locally, but I'm quite nervous about shipping my pet in such cold weather. I bought some heat packs to test but am not too confident in them. I'm willing to spend up to $400 total on transporting me/my bp.

Another plan is to get a one-way car rental (the most expensive) or even take a bus ride with my bp if I need to. I've also found out about Delta dash during some googling, however I'm not a certified reptile shipper, and not sure if I can get a vet appointment by then.

Anyone have any suggestions on what I should do in this situation?

[melcvt00]

What about the option of his living with someone else temporarily to give you more time, and potentially ship him in the spring?

[Neal]

Okay, so the cheapest option is to ship him Fedex Priority overnight. If you don't feel confident, maybe find somebody in the area who can do it for you and just give them the money. You could drive up there with him, but no idea how much that will cost. The bus ride is going to be a long haul and I'd personally rent a one way car before I did that.

Delta Dash is great, however it's more than it would be to ship fedex priority overnight. Delta Dash usually runs around $100 and is the way they ship large constrictors or venomous reptiles.

I would try to find somebody that has experience with shipping hang on to him for a few days then ship him up to you when it warms up a bit. This will give you time to acclimate your enclosure to the new weather and dial in your adjustments better.

[cletus]

I'd do the one way rental. You could def do the rental and a hotel one night for 400 bucks.

[Calider]

I live in northern MN, very near the Canadian border, and people move reptiles here all the time. People who do not know how to live with subzero winters often believe that there is no way to safely transport a reptile in the cold, but it isn't true. You can move reptiles around safely when it is -40 degrees if you are smart about it. For a ball python, as long as it isn't a giant female, here is what I've done between myself and family and friends over the years, we are talking moving upwards of 100 reptiles, and never had a single mishap.

Get a large styrofoam cooler and heat packs. Hand and toe warmers WILL work safely in this application. Adhere the heat packs to the inside of the large cooler. Get a smaller foam cooler or an insulative container of some kind just large enough to hold the snake and its bag. The bag is necessary. Set that container inside the heated cooler. Put the snake in. Do not put an airtight seal on the smaller container or the snake will suffocate. If the temp is lower than -20, you will need to seal the larger cooler if traveling any significant distance without heat. Use your best judgement on how strongly to seal the cooler, whatever you do, do not take the top off until the travel is done. An exception to this would be if the travel is longer than 20 hours, in which case you may need to replace heat packs.

There are tons of articles on google from pros all over the world on how to ship snakes in cold weather. The reason most sellers void their live arrival guarantees during winter has nothing to do with the actual cold weather travel. It has to do with crazy things like the shipping truck breaking down on the freeway for 6+ hours in arctic temperatures, or careless buyers letting the package sit on the doorstep and freeze... Stuff that isn't an issue when it is 75 degrees outside.

[vmachina]

Update: I ended up using fedex overnight with an insulated box I made myself (cut up 4 inch thick styrofoam blocks...kinda overkill but better safe than sorry ) with a single heat pack, since I was shipping from 80+ degree weather. Asked fedex to hold him at a shipping hub so he wouldn't have to be left out on a door step to freeze and my friend picked him up perfectly warm and safe. Drank water, pooped, and ate as soon as he got out, apparently, and then tried to escape his temporary tank, so health seems to be perfect too

Thanks guys!