Moving with my Reptiles

[NYDragon]

Hi! I'm going to be moving in June from New York to Florida. I'll be driving down but I'm not sure exactly what I need to do to make the move go smoothly for the animals. I have a beardie, a corn snake, a king snake and a western hognose (and a few dogs). The aquariums will be going in the moving van. I was going to put the beardie in a cat carrier. And the snakes in pillow cases inside containers. How should I provide heat for them all? Also, how many days can they stay like that? I'm thinking it will be a two day drive but if the moving van doesn't show up on time, it might be longer. Any advice would be great! Thanks!

Erin

[WingedWolfPsion]

They should be fine that way until you get there, I would think. You could try giving them a drink of water in the evening, especially the beardie. Make sure you put something absorbant in, in case they pee.

You can use shipping heat packs or hand warmers to keep them comfortable. A very important consideration is that you can NEVER leave them in your car during the day time, not even briefly--any bit of sun will spike the temperatures so high, so fast, you could lose them in a very short time. If you have to take a rest stop, crack your windows, and park in full shade, and keep it short. Don't go in and have lunch for a half hour. Take thermometers with you, so you always know what temps you're dealing with in your vehicle! It's going to be HOT in FL.

[Ham]

I would put the snakes in sterilite tubs with airholes, and on stops at night put water bowls in with them so they can drink, just dont let them get too cold. Hand warmers under the tubs can help with that, or heat in the car from the air conditioner. Dont let the beardie get his legs twisted up in the bars on the dog carrier, he could break his toes or even legs, you may want to consider a plastic tub with airholes for him too! And dont feed any of the reptiles for a number of days before hand because you dont want the snakes regurgitating because of stress and cooler temperatures will cause the food to rot inside the snakes and even the beardie, so let them clear out their stomachs before the move, the beardie has a faster metabolism than the snakes though, so just stop feeding a day or two before for him, but again make sure he is hydrated, give him a bath the day before you leave. I would soak the snakes beforehand as well...

[j_h_smith]

You have been given good information in the previous posts. The one thing that no one talked about is your stay in a hotel/motel during the trip. You may have some trouble finding a hotel/motel that will allow you to house the animals in the room.

Shop around to see if you can find a location that will allow your little ark a port to stay in over night.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

[ladywhipple02]

I agree with a lot of what's been said. I've moved about six times with all my animals, the last time being the longest distance with the most animals (from Indianapolis to Cincinnati with 13 animals). It was two days after New Years and one of the coldest days of the year.

I put all the snakes in snake bags, the geckos and beadie in their own plastic containers, then put them all into boxes that were insulated with styrofoam---just like shipping them

Due to the length of the move---having to tear down the cages and racks, then rebuild them by myself---they were kept this way for about 36 to 48 hours. Before I moved them into the car, I made sure it was nice and toasty. They made the drive fine, and I haven't experienced any problems from them.

With the summer coming up, the only thing I would change is making sure the temp in your car isn't too hot.

Someplace I went for some good information was www.shipyourreptiles.com. They even sell packages for shipping critters that are really convenient... and you know they work because people ship their animals with them all year long.