Help question with my snake that arrived in the mail today.

[Bakedsupremo]

Hello, today i received my baby dwarf reticulated python in the mail. The shipper was 3 hours late and it was quite cold outside. I opened the box and take the snake out and it was very cold and limp. I thought it was dead. It felt as though its heat pack was defective because it did not feel as warm as they normally do if at all. I placed the snake on a shirt and held it against my chest. A little over 10 minutes later its tongue started flickering and it slowly started moving and wrapping around my arm. I held him for a little while after that and then placed him in the enclosure after it seemed he was moving fine and felt he was okay. Ive been monitoring him for about 9 hours now and everything still seems normal with him. Could this of likely caused any permanent damage? Or have had something similar happen?

[Jim Smith]

Just place your new snake in its enclosure and leave it alone. If there has been damage due to stress from getting cold, you'll just have to wait and see. It is much more likely that your snake will be fine. Just keep your eye on it and leave it alone for a few days (preferably a week). One word of caution. I worked in the airline industry for my career and there are way too many uncertainties with weather and flight schedules etc. to take any chances shipping cold sensitive animals in the winter or even early spring. I have a beautiful stripped BRB that I paid for over two months ago waiting for the weather to warm up so the breeder can ship her to me. I am anxious to get her, but it is much safer and smarter to wait until it is safe. I also have my snakes shipped to the FedEx facility where I drive 20+ miles each way to pick them up rather than have them ride around in a truck all day getting bounced about. Just food for thought... Good luck with your new snake. It sounds like it will be just fine.

[TRD]

Your snake should be fine, just keep an eye out for an RI. Other than that mild colds usually just cause what you described. Overheating is a far more serious issue.