Portable heating options?

[xFenrir]

I've been asked for the Chordata section of my Biology class next week if I wouldn't mind having my boa Satin make an appearance. She has done great during other educational showings and a lot of people expressed excitement at the idea so I agreed. My plan was to bring her in a Sterilite-esque tub with a layer of aspen, but she will be with me for around 2 hours. We'll be indoors and the temps are probably ~65, so do you all think I'll need some sort of additional heating? I was trying to think of something I could bring along that won't get too hot (I've got these hand warmer packets that were given to me over the winter, but the packaging says they get up to 140F so I don't want to use those), and I have heard of people using plastic bottles filled with warm/hot water wrapped in cloth (socks, shirt, etc.), but I feel that those will cool down too quickly. I could keep filling them up though.

Any suggestions, or should I stop being such a mom and not worry about it since it will only be ~2 hours?

[CptJack]

a water bottle filled with really hot water and wrapped up for insulation will actually stay warm for 8+ hours in even pretty cold temperatures. ESPECIALLY inside a sterilite bin.

[xFenrir]

I happened to be going through Wal-Mart and found these heatable clay packs for joints and stuff. They're non-toxic, biodegradable, latex-free and environmentally safe and comes with a nifty cloth cover! I figured this would be great to use since it's pretty flat, it's reusable and I don't see anything that would harm my snake as long as it's heated properly. Since it does say on the packet that it can reach temperatures of 160F and that the pack will continue heating for up to 3 minutes after taking it out of the microwave, I'll be testing it out this week to see how long to heat it/wait for it to cool to around 80-90F.

[bcr229]

Hey thanks! Let us know how well they work. I need something for when I need to take a snake to the vet - the drive can be an hour each way (assuming no traffic problems) and their waiting room is fairly cool.

[xFenrir]

Update for those curious about the ThermiPAQ clay heating pads: gave it a test run today to see how it works. I must say I'm rather pleased with it! Placed the clay pack in the little cloth sleeve that comes with it, folded it in half and heated it for about 1.5 minutes in a ~750 watt microwave. Immediately after removing it the pack the temps varied: the folded side ranged from 102-122F and the outer side ranged from about 98-105. Put it unfolded in the 10gal Sterilite bin I bought and let it sit for about 15 minutes: temps measured 90-100F overall on both sides. 45-50 minutes in and the temps are all around 90F. Keep in mind that this is WITHOUT insulating the heat pack any further (wrapping it in a towel will be my next experiment), WITHOUT insulating the bin (I had originally planned to put a thin layer of aspen down for bathroom needs, but it's going to stick all over the terry cloth-like cover for the pack so I think I'll use a towel to cover the bottom) and in a room around 68-70F.

More experiment results to come!