It's been a while!

[WhompingWillow]

Hey everyone! It's been ages since I've posted I've had a pretty crazy but overall good year, first with work, then with moving out of state. We moved from Indiana to northern Minnesota and are now much closer to family.

I'll tell you, moving 17 snakes and a couple of other reptiles (plus cats and dogs) 10+ hours away was an adventure we hope not to experience again lol. But everyone made it and we are mostly settled.

Now that things have calmed down I hope to be a lot more active again in the forum. No recent snake pics, but our new house has a dedicated reptile room (yay!). We're still getting it put together, but it's coming along. The nice thing is that ambient temps are no longer a problem, but we've been battling really low humidity. Misting frequently seems to help, but I'll probably look into trying another large humidifier again.

I hope everyone's been well, and I look forward to getting reacquainted!

Some photos of the snake room!

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[wnateg]

Those gladiator shelves are the ones I use too. I was overly cautious and secured them to the wall with these: https://www.amazon.com/Furniture-Pro.../dp/B07R8HY6HR

I'll have to move at some point, and I am not looking forward to it.

[OkamiFlautist]

Welcome back! I can't imagine moving that many creatures... I'm moving next month and dreading moving my 4 cats and 1 BP!

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[Bogertophis]

Hey, it's great to have you around again, we missed ya! Glad you're happy with the move, I know it's a real hassle. I moved cross-country a dozen years ago
with a year-old dog, 15 snakes & small colonies of rats, mice & hamsters.... We even stayed in hotels along the way, but I only declared my dog (the only
thing I couldn't hide & they were never the wiser, lol). It took a while for my dog to want "a ride in the car" again... Nice for you to be near family now.

[MarkL1561]

I’m going to have to move pretty soon, hopefully at the end of this semester. I’m expecting to have to move pretty far away which has me concerned. The move up here was around 4 hours and that was difficult, I can only imagine moving cross country with all my pets (7 atm). Do you have any tips as far as moving animals or moving in general? How did you keep your enclosures safe from damage? How did you fit everything in a moving van and not damage anything? When I moved up here my stuff BARELY fit and I’ve acquired more crap since then lol Also, I’ll have to tow my car with me which should be a blast. Someone should make a moving with reptiles thread on here.


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[Bogertophis]

I’m going to have to move pretty soon, hopefully at the end of this semester. I’m expecting to have to move pretty far away which has me concerned. The move up here was around 4 hours and that was difficult, I can only imagine moving cross country with all my pets (7 atm). Do you have any tips as far as moving animals or moving in general? How did you keep your enclosures safe from damage? How did you fit everything in a moving van and not damage anything? When I moved up here my stuff BARELY fit and I’ve acquired more crap since then lol Also, I’ll have to tow my car with me which should be a blast. Someone should make a moving with reptiles thread on here.


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There have been threads about moving with reptiles here. I can't speak to moving your enclosures, but snakes travel very well with minimal preparation.

1. Make sure they haven't eaten for at least a week or two, so you don't have them defecating in their travel bags.

2. Bag each snake separately in a cloth snake bag or pillow case & close securely. (I hate trying to untie cloth bags & have never had any escapes with my method: first I seal with a wire twist-tie, then fold that part of the bag over on itself & wrap with a strong rubber band. Take a few extra twist-ties & rubber bands along in case.)

3. Use thick styro-foam shipping containers or "ice chests" to transport the bagged snakes, & keep their temperatures from wild fluctuations enroute; don't crowd or overlap the bags inside, & put only snakes of similar size & weight (bagged) together in the same 'ice chest'- otherwise you run the remote risk of a heavy snake sliding on top of a small one & causing harm. Remember that both cold & sun/heat can kill exposed snakes: I never travel even a short local distance without packing my snakes this way.

4. If you might not remember (or have a chance) to open the ice chest every 8 hours for fresh air, either poke a few small air holes in the styrofoam, or put a small wad of tape (or chewing gum, lol) in the opening of the lid so it doesn't quite seal tight.

5. Personally, I felt better checking on my snakes when I stopped for the evenings, & I found all were calm & sleepy, & most took a drink of water when I offered. I had NO issues (illness or injury) during or after my 3 day move with any of my snakes.

6. Keep in mind that when you carry an ice chest/styro-foam box into a hotel room for the night, no one ever thinks it's anything but food & beverages for your trip.

7. I never left them in the car for the night, always took inside my rooms. If you need more warmth, heat packs used in shipping can be used, or just a water bottle full of hot water will keep them comfy for 8 hours or so. Modify as needed for temperatures where & when you're moving, but prepare just in case for delays too...never know when you might have traffic or a flat tire or other vehicle trouble. Overheating kills snakes if you're stuck without cooling-think ahead.

[WhompingWillow]

I’m going to have to move pretty soon, hopefully at the end of this semester. I’m expecting to have to move pretty far away which has me concerned. The move up here was around 4 hours and that was difficult, I can only imagine moving cross country with all my pets (7 atm). Do you have any tips as far as moving animals or moving in general? How did you keep your enclosures safe from damage? How did you fit everything in a moving van and not damage anything? When I moved up here my stuff BARELY fit and I’ve acquired more crap since then lol Also, I’ll have to tow my car with me which should be a blast. Someone should make a moving with reptiles thread on here.


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We were lucky in that we had a full service move, so the moving company dealt with packing up the enclosures and all the fixtures, decorations, etc. (Although evidently the person who did the survey of our belongings for the move did NOT tell the moving company about all of our reptiles and enclosures. They were understandably upset.) Most of the (empty) aquariums were packed in "dish pack" boxes. The 40 gallon tank was custom crated.

As for the actual snakes, we packed them individually in snake bags and then divided those among styrofoam catering boxes with holes punched in them, Chef's Caddy brand. We used 4 in total. The tortoise, bearded dragon, and gecko were placed in shoebox plastic containers. We were fortunate that the weather cooperated so that we didn't need to use heat packs, but we had a few on hand just in case. There was a several day delay between when we had to pack up the animals and when our moving truck arrived, so the reptiles had to hang out in their traveling digs in a small room with a space heater.

Cats were placed in two separate dog crates with a litter box in each. Dogs were mostly well-behaved lol. My husband packed everybody into our minivan and it was pretty tight. He drove straight through.

The biggest thing I can say to help is just advance planning and planning for everything that could potentially go wrong.

[jmcrook]

Do you have any tips as far as moving animals or moving in general? How did you keep your enclosures safe from damage? How did you fit everything in a moving van and not damage anything? When I moved up here my stuff BARELY fit and I’ve acquired more crap since then lol Also, I’ll have to tow my car with me which should be a blast.

The last two moves I’ve made were 18 hours and 9 hours respectively. Both driving a 16’ Penske truck towing my car behind it. Heavy items go in first to prevent the truck from swaying. In my case that’s my art studio which takes about 1/4 or more of a 16’ truck and includes two large flatfiles, heavy boxes full of copper engraving plates, tools, framed artwork, etc. Pack everything tightly, use furniture pads, and strap everything in about every 1/4-1/3 of the truck or as needed.
Didn’t have a single thing budge either of those moves. I also will generally put as many enclosures as can fit in the back of my car that’s being towed (1-2 4x2x1’). Insulation foam is your friend, as is stretchable cling wrap on a spool. Step up your Tetris game and you should be good.


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[Aerries]

I cannot imagine that long of a drive but we have 34 animals that we are going to have to move here in the next few years and we’ve already discussed that we need a separate uhaul for just the enclosures alone and the racking systems and cages totally not looking forward to that day hahah.


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