So, we are moving from Florida to Texas in August. Right now I’m trying to plan ahead to get what I need to move them with us. One problem I have is how many I have. I have over 50+ crested geckos, 7 bearded dragons, 5 ball pythons, 5 Leo’s, 5 hognoses, 3 gargs, and 1 corn snake. I have considered shipping but I don’t have anyone that can ship for me or anyone who can receive since it will take us 2 days to move…
So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
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That’s quite a bit to move, but it’s probably just easiest to pack them up and take them with you in a car. Are you planning some back and forth ahead of the last push? Because that really is the toughest part. You’ll want your stuff set up for housing these animals asap.
The snakes, beardies and Leos can definitely handle a couple days on the road and even the couple of days between the caging shuffle and the final destination. You may need to just get them a bit of water in the middle to see if they drink… But you can easily run a small heat pad on a thermostat in a cooler to keep it at 85 if it’s a cold trip.
The downside is I know cresties and gargs can be a bit fussier in these situations. They can dehydrate a lot faster or drop weight. Maybe one of the breeders that work with those species and handle the show shuffles for the weekends has advice…
I’ve driven with a couple of snakes and it was easy. But shipping is definitely easier when you have someone you can coordinate with… And make sure that it’s someone you trust.
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I may have some advice you can use since I have taken Cresties to vend shows before. What I reccomend is packing them in deli cups with moistened paper towel or sphagnum moss as if you were going to ship them out. As far as temperature control goes keeping your vehicle at about the same temps you would keep them indoors will suffice. Maybe get a Sterilite bin with holes burned or drilled into it to pack them all up in it at once in their containers would help, its what I did to transfer them on our trips to expos.
However our drives were 1-2 hours to and from so you may need to be able to find stopping points where you can remoisten their containers.
I also wouldn’t reccomend feeding them right before you leave so you have as little waste to clean up after as possible and it will prevent any stress induced regurges or digestive issues from the lack of their regular temps.
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I feel your pain and your passion. We’re planning a big move, too. If shipping isn’t feasible, driving is the only choice. Doing this in August means that you’ll have to be careful about keeping temps survivable. Vehicles heat up quickly and you’re going at peak summer temps. You’ll need either pack them in insulated containers with cool packs as needed for the species as if you were shipping them, or keep them in an air conditioned vehicle. That means its AC is running all the time except for the few minutes you must turn it off to fuel up. (Don’t ever do this with the engine running.)
I’m not familiar with the non-snakes’ shipping needs, but your snakes can be packed in cloth shipping bags with being from their home bin. You can put several snakes’ bags together in a container.
You said that you expect it will take a couple of days. Do you mean that the drive itself will be a couple of days? The Florida panhandle to some parts of Texas could be a relatively quick trip, but deep in Florida to West Texas would be a very long way. The snakes should still be fine as long as they’re normally well hydrated and kept cool. (Not saying the other creatures won’t, but I don’t work with them so I don’t know.)
Good for you for planning ahead for this. Wishing you all good luck.
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I did a cross state move several years ago with a number of snakes, also in the summer (from Arizona to northern Nevada), so temps could literally kill them. I packed them all into secure, ventilated Tupperware containers and put them in a big Styrofoam cooler with cool packs lining the bottom and covered with a towel. They actually were quite chilly by the time we got to our hotel for the night; the cooler worked better than I expected. I brought the whole cooler in overnight, gave everyone a drink and then packed them all back up.
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