Travel and transport

The container

Use a rigid, locking tub with air holes that a snake cannot reach, or a cloth bag inside a box for many snakes. A cardboard box is not enough for a strong lizard. Do not ship an animal in a pillowcase alone. Label the box as live animals when a carrier requires it, and follow that carrier's rules.

Temperature

The box should sit in the correct range for the species, not in a closed car in summer and not in the hold of a plan you have not checked. A heat pack designed for reptiles, wrapped so it cannot touch the animal, is useful in cold weather. A thermometer in the box tells you more than the car dashboard.

Paperwork

CITES species, EU Annex A animals, and anything crossing a border need the documents for that trip. A care sheet is not a permit. Invasive species such as the pond slider are not a travel project. Read the laws page before you book anything.

On the day

Do not feed a snake the day of a long trip. Offer water before you leave and again when you arrive. Keep the animal in the box until the new enclosure is warm. Quarantine still applies if the destination is someone else's collection.

Stress

A covered box is calmer than a display tub. Do not take a chameleon, a gecko, or a snake out for photographs at a rest stop.