Hand warmers = DEAD SNAKES ~ Please Read

Please do not ever under any circumstances ship snakes with hand warmers!!

I recently entered into a trade for a fairly high dollar snake and the other party agreed to ship first, unfortunately he didn't put me off a week to get proper 40 hour heat packs to ship the snake in and instead used two hand warmers :(

2 hand warmers in a 7x7x6 box with 2 small holes for ventilation = death

Hand warmers burn hotter than 40 hour heat packs and in a small space they will remove oxygen faster than the box can pull in air through the ventilation holes.

The results are predictable, please do not ever use hand warmers!

I do not want this to become a bashing post, the guy who shipped to me was quit tore up over this, it was a costly mistake that I hope others won't make, hopefully this warning helps that cause.

Thanks for bringing this to people's attention. It's a shame that gorgeous snake was lost. Hopefully some people can cross post this around to spread the news. It was an innocent mistake but it could have been prevented.

Regards,

B

:-/ WAs wondering who this was when I saw the post on facebook. Sorry Jerry. :(

Thank you Jessica

If my post saves one snake it will have been worth it

Thanks for the info I was wondering about hand warmers as a back up for heat if I lost power this winter. I usually do SO I will make sure they are left outside my enclosures

The little 7 x 7 boxes are not big enough for any heat pack IMO. Just not enough space to dissipate the heat. I only will use those in the summer when heat packs are not needed. The 12 x 9 boxes are much better when using a heat pack. Sorry to hear about the snake.

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Originally Posted by J.Vandegrift

The little 7 x 7 boxes are not big enough for any heat pack IMO. Just not enough space to dissipate the heat. I only will use those in the summer when heat packs are not needed. The 12 x 9 boxes are much better when using a heat pack. Sorry to hear about the snake.

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Interesting,
I've shipped a bunch of 7x7 boxes with 40hr heat packs and had no issues, we place 4 holes in our boxes and have been told even on cold days the snakes arrive at a good temperature.
Thanks for the input John, I'll have to rethink using 7x7 boxes in the winter.

i sent out a snake not long ago using hand warmers. snake arrived fine but my friend who received the snake warned me about using them. i have since retired the hand warmers and will only use shipping heat packs. i will also consider not using the 7x7 boxes as that makes sense. thanks for the warning.
adam jeffery

I don't know why anyone would ever use hand warmers. This has been brought up on the BOI numerous times. It's a huge no no!!

Too hot much too fast. They cook the snake. Then they cool down much too fast. If the snake survived the intense heat and lack of oxygen, it will then freeze to death.

Proper 40 hour heat packs designed for shipping animals are the ONLY heat packs that should ever be used. Period. They cost a few cents each and take a few days to get to you when you order them online. Why risk using anything else?

I'm so sorry this happened Jerry :(

So unfortunate, I am so sorry for your loss :(. I am very glad you made this thread, hopefully others are aware of these problematic hand warmers.

That is unfortunate, sorry for your loss. :(

sorry for your loss but appreciate the heads up

Aww that's too bad it didn't survive the trip. :(
I used a hand warmer pack to bring a little guy back from an expo in October but I didn't have the tupperware container directly on the heat pack. I put them in a large rubbermade and then put a towel over them and then the container with the snake on top of that. I didn't have any problems but it was only a 3 hour drive. I'm gonna be moving this winter and I was planning on doing the same thing for the move.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by J.Vandegrift

The little 7 x 7 boxes are not big enough for any heat pack IMO. Just not enough space to dissipate the heat. I only will use those in the summer when heat packs are not needed. The 12 x 9 boxes are much better when using a heat pack. Sorry to hear about the snake.

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I agree. I've used the hand warmers on many occasions. It's all about how much room is in the box, how close the hand warmer is to the snake, and of course, making sure there isn't TOO MUCH heat. If he had only used one, everything probably would have been ok. Just have to think ahead, that's the most important factor in avoiding a catastrophic shipping event. Sucks that it didn't make it. No matter how many times I ship, I worry EVERY time.

Oh my gosh that is terrible. I didn't even know about the hand warmer issue until a few months ago. I'm glad you brought this up, and I will have to keep the size of the box in mind as well. Scary...

:gj:

Good Job making this post. As a new breeder/shipper, I want to make sure that my babies arrive at the location in the BEST condition. I am in the process of getting FedEx Certified, and this is good to know that way I know what not to use and what can be used when shipping a Ball in the cold months.

Thanks again, and awesome post! :gj:

Thanx for sharing. Sorry for your loss.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by RyanT

I agree. I've used the hand warmers on many occasions. It's all about how much room is in the box, how close the hand warmer is to the snake, and of course, making sure there isn't TOO MUCH heat. If he had only used one, everything probably would have been ok. Just have to think ahead, that's the most important factor in avoiding a catastrophic shipping event. Sucks that it didn't make it. No matter how many times I ship, I worry EVERY time.

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Why don't you use 40 hour heat packs instead?

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Why don't you use 40 hour heat packs instead?

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Not to mention when I have shipped, I tape the wamer to the bottom of the top piece of StyroFoam, that way it doesn't come in contact with the snake and it doesn't get tossed around potentially touching the snake in the bag. I use a standard "Perishable" insulated box, inside the box, I use Styrofoam on all sides and top, then I put newspaper inside, the snake goes in the reptile cloth bag, then a little newspaper on top, then I tape the cold pack or heat pack (I ALWAYS use 40hr) to the bottom of the top piece of Styrofoam and put a small little hole on each end of the box and thats it. Never had a problem and the people I have sold to tell me that they are impressed by my shipping. :D I learned everything about shipping from YouTube. Justin Kobylka is VERY thorough in all his videos! I'm in the process of getting FedEx certified, but for now I just use allproshipping.com.