In a few weeks I will be moving across the country and driving over 20 hours and only stopping to sleep in parking lots when tired - the only issue is, I have snakes to bring with me. How do I safely and securely transport them during this journey?
Crikey, 20+ hours all at once? That’s a long drive!
My first suggestion to getting your snakes to the destination safely is to plan for an actual 8 hour sleep between your two 10+ hour stints. If you can afford it at all, sleep in an actual bed, like at a cheap 30-dollar a night motel. That has two benefits: One, you reduce the likelihood of crashing when you’re over-tired; and Two, your snakes can come with you into the room in their bins and have a few hours of peace and quiet, too.
Now, that said, depending on where you live and where you’re headed, you may encounter snow and cold weather. To make sure your snakes are safe and warm, buy a reptile heat pack for each snake, and buy spares, too, in case there are delays, bad traffic, or some other reason why you may need extras. They’re relatively cheap, so buy like 2.5 times as many as you have snakes, just to be sure. Don’t buy just any heat pack, because some of them get too hot and can burn your snakes, that’s why I linked to the specialized ones.
Get a latching plastic bin for each snake, that is just about big enough for it to comfortably curl up in, but not to rattle in, when driven over rough roads, for example. Put a towel or some aspen or an old t-shirt on the bottom for bedding. Add a couple air holes (melt with soldering iron or drill, or poke with a hot awl or something like that).
Get (or make) a breathable cloth bag for each snake, which you will tie securely. Pillowcases make good snake bags.
Stop feeding snakes about a week before the trip. You don’t want to deal with regurgitated food on the road, believe me. As a rule, you don’t want to deal with regurgitated food at all, it’s gross, but ESPECIALLY in a small cramped space like a car.
Activate the heat pack and place in the bin – it takes the heat packs an hour or more to reach the target temperature, so make sure you do this well before you load the snakes into your car.
Now when you’re ready to depart, you will put your snakes in bags. One bag per snake, one snake per bag.
When you place a snake in the bag, make a secure knot AND tie with a zip tie to make absolutely sure they can’t escape.
Place bagged snakes into bins. One snake per bin. Fasten the bins. Secure with bungee cords or binder clips etc. if not absolutely positively sure that the latched lids are escape-proof. Make sure air holes are not covered up.
Stop for an 8-hour sleep. Trust me on this one. I’ve crossed the US twice in a car now. You’ll need your rest to stay safe on the road.
Drive the rest of the way.
Depending on the size of the snake, you will need more heat packs per bin.
Also, this trip will stress them out for sure, so when you arrive, give them some time to acclimate, maybe another week to ten days, before feeding them.
Finally, be prepared for them to get sick from the trip, and research a reptile vet in your new town before you leave.
