Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all, I ship thru Fedex with the usual styrofoam lined boxes and such. I have mostly shipped Boas in the fall where heat packs are required.
I was wondering what others do for their shipments at this time of year. At what temps do you stop using heat packs and go with no packs. Does anyone ship when its so hot that cool packs are needed? What temps do you decide to do that. I'm not a big breeder that ships every week , and shipping in general makes me nervous. If I could get any tips, or other things to consider, please help me and probably other people out. Thanks, David

-----
I'm just the snake room janitor

I try to monitor temps in both departing and arriving cities to make sure temps won't be too hot. I wouldn't ship in extreme heat, as I'm not sure how effective cooling packs really are. The whole idea scares me. If temps rise too high, it can make for a very bad situation.

I remember seeing awful pics of a dead snake on one of the forums years ago, of a buyer who received a dead snake, which died in transit from extreme heat. Just be careful and use common sense. Make the disclaimer in your advertisements that shipping may not be possible if temps are too high.

The nice thing about being FedEx certified is that you can label the boxes appropriately now. I usually label mine 'LIVE SNAKE, KEEP IN SHADE' I'm not a big-time shipper either. If a buyer really wants a snake, they should understand that the animal's safety comes first. You can always send them updated photos and email updates to help with buyer anticipation.

-----
Sincerely, Jason
www.NortheastSnakes.com
NortheastSnakes@verizon.net