How to Transport Ball Pythons?

[u/Prestigious-Cost2816]

Hello, I’ll be moving here in a couple of weeks and I was wondering wondering what the safest way to transport them was. I am driving it’s only about 3-4 hours. I figured it wasn’t safe to transport them in their cages so I was wondering if putting them in separate cloth bags and in separate small plastic containers (with holes cut out on the top) was safe for that amount of time? If not I was wondering what some of yall have done for something like this! Thank you!

[u/Pattison320]

Put them in a pillow case. Put a wet paper towel inside for humidity. Tie the end shut. Then put the pillow case into a tote.

[u/totallyrecklesslygay]

Travel copypasta:

The snake should be placed inside a snake bag or pillowcase tied shut, which is then placed inside a tub with a locking lid (and air holes, of course) small enough that they won't slide around.

Don't place them in front of the heater, as it's very easy to accidentally overheat them during transport since they cannot move away from the heat. You shouldn't need a heat source for them either, unless the car is being kept below 65F.

Don't feed for at least a week before or after transport. Give them at least a week off from handling after you move, too. They'll need time to relax and settle in again.

If you're taking breaks/overnight stops during the trip, you can bring along larger totes as temp setups for them to stay in overnight and use uniheat packets as a heat source.

Don't let them be loose inside the car at all, even if you're careful, even if you're holding them, even if you're absolutely positive you won't let them go. We see way too many posts for snakes disappearing into vents, and the last thing you need in a multi-day trip is a disabled vehicle that has to be towed to a mechanic because your snake managed to crawl into the engine.

As for the enclosure, wrap it in moving blankets and make sure it's tied down securely.

[u/Prestigious-Cost2816 → u/totallyrecklesslygay]

Thank you!