Tips on Moving Noodles?

Hi, Reptile-Loving Friends!

My partner and I will be moving homes in the next month and I'm looking for any advice to ease the stress of the transition on our reptiles (our doggo will be quite happy, as now she has a backyard with a doggie door). We've moved all of the reptiles with the exception of one before but I also wasn't educated enough at the time to think about what kind of additional stress this was putting on them. The move is super close -- a 10 minute drive maximum. We have a 1.5 month old BEL, a 1.5 year old Banana, a 12 year old Normal, and a 10 year old Leopard Gecko. All are healthy and happy in our current home.

My questions:

• We're going to transport in separate pillow cases inside plastic tubs. Should I wait until all the temps/humidity are where they should be in the new house before taking them out of their pillow cases or is it better to let them start acclimating immediately?
• We were planning on moving our 12 yo Normal to a different (but same sized) enclosure because his is over 20 years old and starting to show signs of wear. Opinions on moving the old enclosure into the new house before transitioning or just do it in one fell swoop? We've had him for many years and he is generally quite hardy but he does have a tendency toward hunger striking (he did just eat last week, so that's a positive)!
• Is there an amount of time we should wait before we offer food? Not sure if this is similar to bringing home a new bp and letting them settle in for ~a week.

Thank you guys for all of your help! Any advice is much appreciated!

/chris

This is a bit late, but I hope you'll check back to see this reply.

1) I would advise you just put them in their enclosures and open the pillow cases. Let them come out in their own time. It, to me, isn't worth keeping them in their pillow cases tied up while waiting for the temperatures and humidity to hit the mark. Just keep an eye on your husbandry and make sure there are no complications, make sure things DO hit the mark.

2) For your handsome wild type boy, I would suggest you just get the new enclosure setup in your new home and get it ready for transfer. Perhaps don't wash his hides (this time, while he acclimatises) so there is a familiar scent there. You could even take some of his current substrate and transfer it over. It's not worth putting him through the stress of moving, leaving him to get comfortable in his current (old) hide and then putting him through another move. Just get the move done in one foul swoop, leave him to get acclimatised and enjoy his new pad, keep the handling to a minimum.

3) Treat them as if they're a hatchling/new arrival and as you suggested, leave them alone for a week. If they seem comfortable and are going by their business as usual, you can offer them food.

Best of luck with your move.

I'd agree, it would still be best to wait a week before offering food. Your snakes will KNOW something's different & may be distracted or even a little spooked, even with
only a 10 minute drive.* (lucky you!*) Unless you have a BP that's NOT been eating, then the "change of scenery" has been known to spark an appetite...silly sneks! So
trust what you see also...if they seem to want food. Sounds like a good move for you all...happy landings!

Thank you, thank you! We just settled in and I’m glad I read this before heading to the store to grab rats. I’ll be waiting until next week to feed and will keep you updated. Thanks for all the well wishes :)

Thank you for the update! I'm glad the move went well and I hope your cold blooded family members are doing well. You'll have to give us some pictures of Leonard, Edward, Bartholomew & Alfredo.

Also, I'm interested in seeing Zooney, that sounds like an awesome breed. :)

All of the animals ate on first offering in their new home, yay! Thank you for the advice!

Pictures of the babes:

Alfredo (2 months, 141g)
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2.57.29_pm.png

Bartholomew: (1.5 years, 851g)
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...1.41.48_pm.png

Edward (12 years old, really big :P)
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...1.59.46_pm.png

Leonard (12 years, little :))
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...1.59.10_pm.png

Zooey (almost 9 years, 65 lbs!)
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...1.59.32_pm.png