Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok i have shipping beardies before with no problem. but i have a customer who lives in the middle of no where and does not get ups or fed ex deliveries until around 3-5pm. neither of them even offer the 10am or noon delivery to her location either. and the closest ups store or fedex store to her is over an hour away. does anyone have any suggestions? will it be too much of a risk to have the delivery in the late afternoon like that?

also where is a good place to buy cold packs for shipping in the hotter weather? i do not ship when its above 85, but cool packs are a good thing to have obviously
-----
Beach Beardies

3.4.11 bearded dragons
1.0.0 Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1.0 Sugar Gliders
0.1.0 Miss Queen Athena (Cat)

I live in the middle of nowhere too and have recieved different animals at a later delivery time with no problems but with the temps like they are your customer should have the package held for her at the shipping facility and go pick it up. I've driven over an hour(one way) to pick up a $30.00 tarantula before.Come to think of it, I had to drive an hour to pick up my first beardie from the breeder.

I know a lot of snake breeders will only do night shipments right now, the reason behind this is too keep the animal cool and avoid a package sitting on the tarmac, I don't know if this is an option for you? I think Waldo is had a good point as well.

my question about the shipment arriving later in the afternoon is ASIDE from the fact that it is hot as hell in most of the country haha. i know its too hot right now to ship in most places but in the next week its supposed to cool down to the lower 80s. thats not my concern as i do know how and when to ship with temps.

my question is about the shipment arriving at 3-4pm. will they be ok? when i ship dragons out i drop them off at UPS right before they close, normally 5:30pm-6pm so they do not have to sit there all day waiting to be picked up. and when it is next day delivery obviously most of the shipping is done overnight.

thanks
-----
Beach Beardies

3.4.11 bearded dragons
1.0.0 Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1.0 Sugar Gliders
0.1.0 Miss Queen Athena (Cat)

I think they should be fine, providing they are well packed, insulated and provided iwth cool packs (or heat packs as appropriate) 36-48 hour hot/cold packs work best, as you have the assurance if there is a delay, the temp should remain constant inside. With lizards, especially day active ones like bearded dragons, if conditions are not ideal for basking, etc, they will enter a sort of mini-brumation...sleeping or laying still till they are in light again.

When I moved about, I always put my bearded dragon into a box at night while she was sleeping to limit stress (though travel time was in a car with only a few hours of driving instead of over night as in shipping) she was perfectly fine, waking up when the box was opened and light shown in.

Picking up at the nearest depot may be a better ideal for your customer to do, as it does ensure the package gets brought to her home and not cartered around in a truck all day long till they can get to her place. If she has a vehical, she probably be willing to drive two hours to get her new pet (round trip). I was willing to drive 8 hours (round trip) to purchase my first bearded dragon and in fact, 90% of my reptiles. (nearest reptile show is also a 8 hour or more round trip). In fact, only animals out of mycollection of about 21 reptiles that I didn't drive far to get, was the two cornsnakes and texas rat snake a local friend gave to me. All the rest I bought from shows or breeders I drove to (except for two, which were shipped to me).

It certainly could be an option for her to do, though I don't know if it would make any difference in the shipping costs overall.
-----
PHLdyPayne