How to get my snake on a plane. Literally.?

Question

My Canadian burlesque troupe and I are flying to Europe this fall to tour - We're only doing the UK. Now, one of my acts contains a boa constrictor and i've come across many obstacles trying to figure out how i'll get him overseas. I've emailed the EU Animal and Food people and they gave me steps to avoid having my snake quarantined. They didn't have any advice for actually getting him to the UK though. The problem is most plane companies and shipping companies DO NOT take snakes...not even in the cargo department (they will however take small alligators and other reptiles?) Odd. I have not come across ONE plane or shipping company who are willing to take Oscar even with insurance.

Has anyone dealt with this before? Any advice?

Thanks

xoxo

Answer 1

depending all on size of your snake, first buy a snake bag for breathing and injury reasons. When going through the monitor put your snake in your pocket in its bag if possible. If its too big for your pocket you can try it in your carry on to go through the monitor but i can almost garuntee they will see it. Good Luck though!

Answer 2

This would be difficult.  The UK has very stringent laws concerning any animal coming in and usually quarantine any arrival.  You might also require a CITES cert in order to get the animal there, expecially being a boa, although I don't know that if you could prove it was Captive born and bred this would be necessary. There are importer/exporters with the proper certifications, but they are extremely expensive and usually wait to have a full shipment before sending anything overseas.  I'm not sure it would be possible before having to do a show or even if the snake would be allowed out of quarantine once there. You might check into seeing if there is an animal trainer that provides animals to the movie business that you could contact over there. Here in the US there are people who keep snakes, insects...all sorts of animals for use in the movie industry.

Answer 3

You'd have to ship him express overnight.  You literally will not be able to get him on a plane, period.  And in fact, you'd probably be better of just leaving him at home and scrapping the act.  By the time he gets there, where are you going to keep him?  You won't have an enclosure for him and the stress will be great.  

You will be MUCH better off leaving him at home and coming up with a new act without the snake.  It's going to cost you a lot more than just money to bring him overseas.