Gustav. Evacuating? What do I do??

[tx_floyde]

Because of Gustav I needed to know some things because I may actually be evacuating soon. When Katrina came through I didn't have either of my Bp's. Now what?
I live about 30-45 minutes from the louisiana line in texas, so pretty much right in Gustav's path. If I evacuate I need to know a few things. What to keep them in, how to handle long amounts of time in traffic, any kind of travelling/evacuation care tips. I was thinking hotel or wherever I would just put both my bp's in one tank with my light's and uth. But I would like some more insight. Any past evacuees? There has to be. Come on Tx and La herps! Much appreciated.
~TX Floyde~

[simplechamp]

i did not ever have to evacuate, but recently i drove from orlando, fl to northern michigan over the span of a few days with my BP along for the ride.

i put the BP in a small box with substrate in it and a little carboard hide. i kept a thermometer in the box also. I bought one of those little cigarette lighter power inverters so i had an outlet for my uth and thermostat in the car. the 100w inverter only cost $15 and should provide plenty of juice for a couple uth's or strips of flex-watt.

then i put the snake box on top of the uth and away i went. every time i stopped for gas i checked on the BP. she was always fine, if not a little peeved at me for the bumpy car ride.

there's really not much to it as long as you have the means to keep the temps correct. worst case scenario you go without the power inverter and use the cars heating/AC to control the temps. the only problem with that is you might be a little uncomfortable, but it all depends on the lengths you'll go to for your snakes!

[FloridaHogs]

I travel with my animals in a cooler that is not air tight and a themomater. I tied the animals off in pillow case, so they would feel more secure, and just focused on keeping the ambients right. After all, they do not have a nice hot spot when they are shipped. Plus, a cooler is easier to sneak into a hotel room. Just bring stuff so you can set them up the right temps in the hotel room, since you do not know how long you will be there. Also consider at least one feeding. Make sure you put the do not disturb sign on the hotel door, or you might give the cleaning lady a heart attack.

[simplechamp]

i had the maid walk in on me packing my snake stuff up, and i lucked out because we started talking about the snake and it turned out her mother's cousin's uncle's whatever was a breeder of various colubrids. she said my secret was safe, but be careful because most maids won't be so friendly.

[ChicaPiton519]

Personally (yall may not agree with me) but when i was traveling up to MI with 3 of my ball pythons... i put them each in their own rubbermaid... with paper towel, a water dish... and thats it... generally speaking, most cars wont get to hot, if you have a/c and if you keep a temp probe in each tub you'll be able to check on them and cover them up with something if they start cooling down...

i never had a problem as long as i kept them in their cages... when i got to my destination, i had a temp probe, and an adjustable human heat pad - my grandma had a good one from when she was taking care of my great grandfather, that was seriously reliable... anyway, long story short. all i needed was tubs... and stuff... and if i had to evac (im in the panhandle of FL close to alabama) i would do the same for any of my snakes...

danget news just said its a cat 3! mann
(and it could easily come to us anyway once it gets into the gulf... in that case... everyone goes into rubbermaids... and we camp out at my church... dang)

[simplechamp]

didn't you have water splashing all over the place while driving?

[ChicaPiton519]

ha, you would if you drive like a crazy person
lol jk

i used the un tipable dog bowls (you know the mettal ones) and i didnt fill them to the top with water... so i really didnt have that issue

[Emilio]

Good luck and be safe I hope everyone heeds the warnings and gets out. I'd follow most of what everyone has posted except feeding them I wouldn't do it. Remember they can go a long time in between feedings, a regurge is the last thing you want to happen.

[ChicaPiton519]

yeah i wouldnt try and feed them either... unless you know you will be in the room for over 2 weeks... but even then, as long as they are at a current healthy weight, it shouldnt be needed...

[tx_floyde]

Yeah, before today I was going to get the mice today. But I just found out a little ago that it's a sure evacuation. I'm about to hear whether I'm going to michigan or memphis. Great! Man :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: get's hectic so fast.
Thanks for everything guys, this stuff really helped. I think I'm just gonna bring my smallest tank and setup, but keep 'em in rubbermaid's in traffic. I may be handling them in traffic anyways, to aid in body temp. Hear we goooooooooOOOOOooooooooooo! Hurricane fun. ~Tx-Flyde~