Hey,

Sorry if my pervious post seemed a flame, it was not intended as so.

Best bet is to pick on up in person so you can be sure you are getting a good animal! If possible I like to conduct business with people who have been established, seem to know their facts, and actually have the animals there to examine. This way you don't get a sick snake that was "fine upon shipment". Not sure who you were planning to deal with, but its a possibility!

As far as legal issues...I don't know if it is legal or not to ship them overnight vs air freight. You would need to look at all the regs for shipping living animals. If I can find the information I will email it to you directly.

I would also attempt to submit the info to your carrier of choice (be it UPS or whoever), and ask them to verify that it can be shipped through them and get some signatures! This way should you get into trouble with them you can point out that someone up the chain granted you written permission.

And yes, boomslangs are very deadly . I have never had the pleasure of that species fangs slipping into my skin, but I would imagine not many have! It is hard to find antivenin for them, moreso in the US! That is one species that I would rather avoid working with. Mangroves are nice snakes, but can be nasty...still a hit is not usually fatal. I am sure if it has happened (a fatal bite) it would not have been here in the US, from a captive snake. Even if you have serious problems related to a bite fast medical attention and our advanced care facilities could more than likely keep you going until the effects wore off.

FYI: some sellers ship a certain way because they don't know otherwise not to do so! That, or they just are not positive about the regs and would rather be safe than sorry. Other than liability issues if a regulation is interpreted differently by a judge than the buyer or seller the price to pay is often quite harsh!

I do understand your delta inconvenience though...I don't like driving to Philly to pick up snakes then having to drive back either! Shows are more convenient unless it is a large order.

Well, good luck getting the snake you want! Hopefully it won't be overly hard to find one that is more easily obtainable.

-Steve Clark

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