Snake Sitters

[jsmorphs2]

Anyone used one before? Experiences?

I'm trying to plan our honeymoon and NONE of my friends/family are comfortable watching our collection for 5 or 6 days. Plus, I'm REALLY paranoid something bad will happen when we are away and the "sitter" wont know how to handle it.

I'm going to ask some friends at the next Wheaton show what they do when they travel. I tried two pet sitting places and the first said I would have to bring the snakes there...really?!...I said HECK NO to that!! I just left a message with the second place.

I have to figure something out though

[CoolioTiffany]

How long will you be gone?

If it's not for very long, then I think the snakes will be fine on their own.

Just remember to spot clean & scrub dishes. Since snakes can go a while without eating, I'm sure your snakes will be fine if you're not going to be gone for long.

To be honest, I don't trust anyone with caring after my snakes. So if I know I'll be gone a while I won't go to where ever I was going to because I know I'm the one responsible for caring after them and they are 100% dependant on me.

[shescountry89]

Yeah, it's incredibly hard to find people to watch your collection. Trust me. I actually "reptile sit" quite often for customers at my store, currently am. I will be at the wheaton show this weekend if you would like to chit chat about it! Depending on how far away you are from me, I wouldn't mind helping you out at all!

[musicalKeyes]

There's a good possibility I'll be at the Wheaton show as well, and I'm totally willing to help out. I'm in the Tinley Park area, and I've watched reptiles several times as well. I'm sure there's someone close by to lend a helping hand!

[shescountry89]

I am so suprised how many people there are from around our area on here, pretty cool actually. I live about 20-25 minutes from the wheaton show. Depends on how fast i drive ;D

[Mitch21]

If it's only a week, you should be 100% fine. I've done a few 7 or 8 day trips and nothing has gone remotely bad. When I did my 30 day euro trip I actually had a friend from bp.net help me out!

Depending on how many snakes you've got and how you'd want to handle it, I could easily help out. I'm in Lemont.

[Aeries]

If you'll only be gone for 5 or 6 days, I would just get someone to be your 'peace of mind' person. That someone can come in and check on things every other day or so just to make sure your temps are in order and nothing disastorous has happened. You would expect that this person would never have to open a cage. Have a way for them to contact you in case there's a problem.

I'm a huge worrywort when it comes to my snakes. I know they'll be perfectly fine, if I go away for a weekend or something, but I'm always worried about it. It takes alot of the stress away if one of my roomates is around and can stick their head in once a day to make sure nothing blew up. =)

[West Coast Jungle]

As mentioned one week is probaly fine for a snake to be alone if your husbandry is dialed in. Now if you are waiting on eggs then thats a different story. Lizards on the other hand would need to be monitored but snakes should be fine. Now two weeks or longer you will probably need to feed or at least clean up so length of trip is key.

[Vypyrz]

The couple of times I had to go out of town on week long trips all I did was about 3 days before I left was let them swim in a tub of warm water for a few minutes to try and get them to hatch "poo-babies". I fed them the day before I left and just added an extra bowl of water to each enclosure.

If you want to get hi-tech about it, you could always set up a webcam on you tanks and keep it streaming through one of the websites or set your computer up through one of the online remote access sites and check-up on them...

[jsmorphs2]

I've left adult BPs for about 5 days in the past. I came home to horrible messes though and now we have a lot of little guys. I'll feed them before we leave but I'd like to know someone will be checking on them. Our males like to spill their water all the time too.

Yeah, it's incredibly hard to find people to watch your collection. Trust me. I actually "reptile sit" quite often for customers at my store, currently am. I will be at the wheaton show this weekend if you would like to chit chat about it! Depending on how far away you are from me, I wouldn't mind helping you out at all!

You're sooo awesome for offering to help out! I didn't think I would get such thoughtful responses. I think we have a plan though! We asked my fiance's brother if he would come over every other day to check on them (spot clean and water). He has owned burms in the past and is also in construction so if there are any issues with thermostats/heat tape he should be able to figure it out. I didn't think he would do it cause he's always busy. Crisis averted! (I hope).

There's a good possibility I'll be at the Wheaton show as well, and I'm totally willing to help out. I'm in the Tinley Park area, and I've watched reptiles several times as well. I'm sure there's someone close by to lend a helping hand!

Thank you for offering to help out! You guys are all totally awesome!

If it's only a week, you should be 100% fine. I've done a few 7 or 8 day trips and nothing has gone remotely bad. When I did my 30 day euro trip I actually had a friend from bp.net help me out!

Depending on how many snakes you've got and how you'd want to handle it, I could easily help out. I'm in Lemont.

Thank you too for offering to help!

As mentioned one week is probaly fine for a snake to be alone if your husbandry is dialed in. Now if you are waiting on eggs then thats a different story. Lizards on the other hand would need to be monitored but snakes should be fine. Now two weeks or longer you will probably need to feed or at least clean up so length of trip is key.

That's another thing, we have a girl that ovulated a about a week ago. She hasn't shed yet but is soaking. I counted down 45 days after ovy. and that's April 21st. We wanted to leave April 23rd. That's cutting it close. So if she lays before we leave I won't be too worried, he would just have to check the temps but if she lays after we leave, he will have to set up the egg box. I would re-make a box for him but man, I would be worried about that. This is an important clutch too (possibly pieds). I shouldn't worry, I'll just have to give him some classes before we leave. Practice with chicken eggs .