Holes or no holes?

I have ordered snakes before and had them shipped to my house. Never were there holes in the boxes. I had always thought there was no need for holes in the boxes.

Well I will be shipping out my first snake in the next few weeks. I got a box from SYR and the little paper that came with it said that I had to punch holes in the box.

I'm curious what you guys think. Should I or should I not punch holes in the box?

Thanks for any help!

I personally have a weird prefernce to put a hole or two 'just cause'... There is a thoroughly adequate amount of air in the box, and the cardboard is slightly breathable, but I still have this strange phobia that encourages a hole or two.

BUT - it depends on the circumstances. For example, I would feel more obligated to add a couple of holes if shipping more animals in one box.

Also - The Weather/Temperatures. This is a biggie. If conditions are borderline unfavorable, I may choose to ship with no holes to allow the styrofoam buffer to do its job; insulate the animal. If things are chillier or hot, I'll go no holes to prevent temperature fluctuation and allow the temperature in the box to stay more controlled. In more reasonable temperatures where no heat or cold pack is needed, I'll usually punch a hole or two on opposite sides of the box = )

Just my $0.02, I'm sure others have slightly different methods they will swear by. A number of things work -but in general no holes are necessary at all.

Holes.
Heat packs - when used - consume oxygen. Having received too many snakes with dead heat packs over the years, I consider a small amount of ventilation a necessity if I am adding heat. I don't hold to a specific method - as I change things according the species, temps, and box size - but a lot of times I'll put the heat pack on the side of the box, with the holes behind it.

Thanks for the info guys! I think I'll add a few holes in the sides. It's starting to get chilly here in the mornings and at night time. I'll have to check what the weather is going to be like on the West Coast when I ship. I might need a heat pack. My box came with one of each (cool pack and heat pack).

I always put between 2 to 4 holes depending on the size of the box and weather.