Shipping my BP

[Robyn@SYR]

I'm going to disagree a bit here...

Travel by car- not a bad idea, if it is a one or two day trip. I strongly suggest packing just as you were doing an overnight shipment. Insulated box, snake bag, zip tie (multiples for opening and closing the bag). Keep it in the bag, and in the box, for as much of the trip as possible.

What I DON'T suggest is "cranking the heat up" (with all due respect to the Super Moderator : ). Heat is your enemy. Heat kills reptiles. Cool temps make them sluggish, but heat kills. If you try to keep it warm, or god forbid "hot", you may very well err on the side of cooking/dehydrating your snake, and end up with a DOA snake. You want it TEMPERATE. Room temp, neither hot nor cold. Not up on the dashboard in the sun, not with the heat blasted, and def not with multiple heat packs.

Your best bet is to use a min/max digital thermometer, with the probe either in the box, or in the snake bag itself. If you could keep that bag in the mid 70's, you'll be in good shape.

Don't use hand warmers! Please don't, they just straight up kill reptiles. Again and again. Use a 40+ hour heat pack. IF NEEDED. Being packaged in the insulated box, and in your hotel room and car, will likely be all the temperature control you need. That is where the digital thermometer is so valuable.

Being a four day trip, that brings a lot of stress. If it has to be that way, ok. But limit handling as much as possible. Bring paper towels because there will probably be messes. Extra snake bags as well. You don't need to feed, but shipping/traveling encourages stress and dehydration, so you might need to let the animal roam the interior of the box freely with a bowl of fresh water once a night. If the snake goes into a shed cycle, you have all new worries and stresses (shipping sometimes triggers a shed cycle, especially if one was nearly due). If the snake is not in prime health in the first place you will have all new worries and stresses.

I suggest overnight shipping your animal. Leave it with a friend and have them ship it out Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, Priority Overnight, once you have arrived at your destination. It will be in transit the shortest amount of time. If properly packaged, it will incur a minimum amount of stress. I can speak from the experience of transporting hundreds of thousands of reptiles, overnight shipping is going to be a better choice than a four day car ride. Lower stress, better temp control, easier on the snake.

Check out our site ShipYourReptiles.com, specifically the Get Help section on Regulating the Temperature of Your Package. The same temp guidelines apply whether you are shipping or driving. The same packaging guidelines apply.

It might seem daunting, but with the right packaging in hand, and the right information and support, it really isn't. If you "wing it", you could really get a disastrous result.

It's easy to accomplish this safely and successfully. You can do it. Best of luck!