Hello! I was gonna wait to formally introduce myself and my new BP, but I’m in a bit of a pickle. I ordered my first BP ( I will attach pictures from the seller as I have not received her yet) a few days ago from an amazing breeder who is shipping her out on Tuesday 14th, Wednesday 15 delivery. I just received news that I will be going going back to Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday 16th as I’m currently in Baltimore, Maryland. What I’m trying to say is if I should leave my sanke in her original shipping box ( after inspecting, making sure she is okay) or if I should move her to her quarantine enclosure… Her QE does have a lid and a heat mat etc. I can always get new hand warmers to keep her warm if I do end up leaving her in her shipping box. My biggest concern is that she is in shed and I don’t want to stress her out too much with all the moving around.
Put her in her quarantine enclosure right away, do not leave her in the shipping box. That is meant to be a very temporary situation just for shipping and is not suitable for any length of time. She needs to have access to fresh water, the ability to thermoregulate and space to move around so if she goes to the bathroom she’s not sitting in it.
Yup, as @chesterhf said, put her straight into her quarantine enclosure after unboxing and inspecting her. Ideally they should be in the shipping box for as little time as possible.
I’m a little unclear on your situation. Are you moving to Atlanta, or just visiting? Will you be taking her with you to Atlanta? If so, you can transport her in the quarantine enclosure, assuming you’re driving. If you’re flying, you might want to contact the seller and see if they can just ship her to your new address in Atlanta and delay shipping by a week or so, so you can be all settled and ready for her at the new location.
By the way, welcome to the community! That’s a lovely little pinstripe BP you’ve picked out, I’m sure you’ll love her!
@chesterhf and @jawramik are right on all accounts! Just wanted to add one more thing. If you had to keep it in the shipping box, or just general knowledge: Unless you use reptile specific heat packs, never ever use hand warmers. They get too hot(dangerous)and do not last long enough. Pretty snake! Good luck! And welcome to the community!
Understood! My permanent resident is in Atlanta… I came to Maryland to see family and have been here the past 2 months… I was planning on ordering a BP before I came to Maryland but that got pushed back until a week ago when a relative ordered her as a Bday gift to me, I was not expecting to have to leave so urgently and unexpected… I will be driving, and I will be taking her with me! It’s a good 10 hour drive with exceptional pitstops. I have everything for her permanent enclosure just not set up yet I’m leaving her in her QE until she eats and goes to the bathroom so a few weeks and by the time her quarantine time is up her new enclosure will be ready!
Cool, that all sounds good! I’d put her straight in the quarantine enclosure and transport her in that for the drive. As you said, it will likely be at least a week or two until she’s ready to be moved into a more permanent enclosure, so there’s no huge rush on getting that set up. In fact, many baby/juvenile snakes actually do better in smaller enclosures until they get a bit bigger. So long as the enclosure is big enough to have a thermal gradient (warmer side and cooler side so they can thermoregulate), they often feel more secure and do better in smaller enclosures, especially as babies. If you do decide to move her into something larger while she’s still little, just make sure there are plenty of hides and cover/clutter, so she doesn’t feel too exposed.
That was so nice of your relative to get her for you! Just makes her extra special. I hope you’ll share some pictures of her when she arrives! Or at least once you’re both settled back home.
Thank you for all your help! I’ll be sure to tag you if I’m able to sneak some pictures in while inspecting her! If not I’ll snap some of her in her QE!!
I can’t really add anything that the others have given you, sine it is suck good advice.
I did want to throw out there that depending on the size of the QE, if it is not small enough to handle while driving, you might want to get a smaller one for the trip. Just any storage container that has locking lid will work. It won’t need a lot of space for the day trip. Just make sure you put some holes in it and keep it out of direct sunlight and don’t have the heat blowing directly on it. We are having some crazy fluctuating weather on the east.
Save travels and welcome to our wonderful community.
I have an appropriate size QE for her that will also fit in the car! And yep the lid locks! I’m planning to leave later in the day around 5:00pm so I don’t think I’ll have to worry about sunlight (due to daylight savings)
I’m so glad you said something about weather!!! I didn’t even think to look at it… I normally have the ac on most of the time and to keep me awake ( but I’ll make accommodations for the snake ) so should I bring a blanket to cover her enclosure? To try and persevere some heat for her?
I appreciate all the help and support I’m getting !!!
I just checked the weather and day time will be 60’s but night will get close to freezing some nights (I am in SC so in between your locations.)
Something to cover it would be a good idea, it will keep it from seeing a lot of movement going on and help with the heat. Sound like you got this.
Since it going to be colder during the night I will have the heat on but I will be considerate about how high it is and not having the vents directly at her I will crack a window for some sort of “fresh air” … love SC! Not much to do but I enjoy the fields and the beaches you guys have !! Thanks you!!! I have been doing a butt ton of research but I like getting live help from people with more experience than I !!
You will find a ton of experience here and members willing to help. Feel free to ask anything, even if you may already have an answer. It never hurts to see how others do things.
This would be my recommendation. The seller hasn’t shipped yet, and that’s added stress on a snake that’s already being stressed by shipping. Depending on weather it might have to be delayed, but most sellers would be happy to make that work.
I hope you’ll share some pictures of her when she arrives! Or at least once you’re both settled back home.
can’t wait to see ur new BP!!
I’m getting it in may so not too soon but it will give me time to prepare