10 hr Car Travel

[turning_left]

I'm about to get my first BP and am excited! But the catch: I'm picking her up from a friend who lives about 8 hours away, so that's quite a drive! I've done some reading about best ways to travel with a snake, but I'm wondering if any of you have actual experience with this?

She's about 2.5-3 years old and is very tame. I'd read about putting her in a pillow case inside a tub that she fits in where she can touch the sides - with small holes in the lid. The trick to that is I'm not sure exactly what size she is and may not have time to go check her size and then leave to buy the tub. But maybe I could message my friend and see if she could help me out to figure out the appropriate tub size? I've also read about others that just put the entire enclosure with BP inside in the car and travel that way. What are your thoughts?

Also: How much do I need to worry about heat? It might be 10-12 hours between her leaving her enclosure/having her UTH to me being able to set it back up at my home with her UTH. Is keeping my car cab temp above 75 good enough? I may also need to be careful to keep her out of direct sunlight as that could be too hot?

Thanks for your help!

[jmcrook]

Yeah just bag the snake and put it in a tub out of direct sunlight. Maybe have some newspapers on hand to fill any excess space in the tub if it’s too big. I usually put a thermometer probe in the tub just to be sure of temps


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[Bogertophis]

Personally, I'd bag the snake securely, & put the bag (with a little padding for comfort, like a towel, in case you have to stop fast, etc) into an ice chest to protect
the snake from the A/C that you might want to run for yourself, and from excessive heat (from sun coming thru car windows) that can harm or even kill a snake.

I've moved halfway across country with my snakes this way, no problems at all. If you want the snake to be kept a little warmer, fill a plastic bottle with warm to
hot water and put that under the towel in the ice chest with the snake. If you use a pillow case for a snake bag, the snake will be able to move around some to
choose the extra warmth inside the "ice chest".

Caution about "just bagging the snake & put it out of direct sunlight": when you drive, the sunlight comes into the car from all different angles because
you're moving & cannot mess with the bag while driving. AND I do know of someone who intended to do a good thing, putting their bagged snake on the
floor of the truck ("out of direct sunlight") where it overheated from too much engine warmth rising thru the floor & later died. So PLEASE use a styro-foam
box or ice chest to protect your pets in travel? That's not asking much, is it?

[turning_left]

Personally, I'd bag the snake securely, & put the bag (with a little padding for comfort, like a towel, in case you have to stop fast, etc) into an ice chest to protect
the snake from the A/C that you might want to run for yourself, and from excessive heat (from sun coming thru car windows) that can harm or even kill a snake.

The towel is a great idea. I have an ice chest that would be about the right size, but I'm worried about air. I suppose I could sort of leave the lid a bit ajar to allow for air exchange but keep it mostly insulated? I'm planning to put a thermometer inside so I can watch the temp and make adjustments if anything gets out of whack.

[Bogertophis]

The towel is a great idea. I have an ice chest that would be about the right size, but I'm worried about air. I suppose I could sort of leave the lid a bit ajar to allow for air exchange but keep it mostly insulated? I'm planning to put a thermometer inside so I can watch the temp and make adjustments if anything gets out of whack.

I understand your concern: I went thru an ice storm back in 2009 & to save my snakes, I did as described, using fairly large ice chests (roughly 24" x 12" x 12" exterior or larger) into which I put 1 to 3 snakes each (depending on their sizes) along with a large jar or 2 of hot water (house got quite cold as the power outage went on). The snakes were fine with no openings until the water was replaced about every 8-9 hours, but if you want, you can also put a small wad of tape in the opening so it leaves the tiniest crack for air exchange. I'm with you...very cautious when it comes to my animal-family. This time of year for just a car trip, they're pretty safe, but I'm all for reducing their stress & any risks.