Shipping in Cold Weather

Well, it's getting to be that kind of year, and this is the time where most breeders don't ship.

Christmas time is around the corner, and Fedex and UPS tend to get more swamped now than any other time of the year.

What does that mean for us? It means more room for ERROR.

And an error in snake shipping could spell the end of the road for a beautiful creature just trying to get to its new home.

So, what do I do?

Well, I never ship below 35 degrees F, or above 90 degrees F.

I always check the temperatures of the hubs in between where I am shipping, especially if it is across country.

The main hub between Los Angeles and most of the East Coast is Memphis. If the temps are not good in Memphis, I don't ship.

Please keep in mind, although it may be more of a pain in waiting for an animal, it's much better to play it safe than be sorry about it.

When it is colder than 70 degrees, or hotter than 85 degrees, I put in temperature packs.

Heat packs (40 hr) for the cold, cold packs for the heat.

Simple, eh?

In cold weather, it is very important to use heat packs, as cold can cause your snake to get sick in transit, and possibly freeze.

Either too hot or too cold can kill an animal in transit.

You have to also remember that evening temps get much colder than what the weather predicts most of the time around this time of year.

Plan accordingly, and see if you get below the range even at night.

Cold weather (snow, rain, etc) and the time of year basically prevent me from shipping out until the first of the year, and even then, most places on the East Coast are covered in snow.

So what do we do?

We wait.

The ease for me is knowing that the snakes are safe, and can be fed and taken care of until the weather breaks.

It's kinda nice, actually.

So I get to sit back, enjoy the season, and play with my snakes a little more.

Happy Holidays, everyone!