Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on what may have gone wrong with a shipment I sent out yesterday. I was notified this morning that a 3 year-old Crimson Corn Snake that I shipped arrived dead. I was provided with pictures to verify it. I've never had this happen, so it was a complete shock. It may be a fluke occurrence, but if anyone has any thoughts on what I could do differently in the future to avoid this, I would deeply appreciate it. Here's what I did:

The Corn Snake was packed in a 6.75" deli cup with ventilation holes (from Superior Enterprises). The cup was filled (not packed tight, but just loosely filled to within .25" of the top of the cup) with aspen shavings to provide cushioning in transit. Electrical tape was used to secure the lid to the cup.

The cup was placed inside a 12"x9"x6" box insulated with 3/4" styrofoam (from Superior Enterprises). Inside the box, all void areas were filled with styrofoam packing peanuts.

The temp here was 85F with night temps dropping to the mid-70s. The destination daytime temp was 75F, and their night lows were expected to dip into the mid-low 60s. I decided to not use a heat or cold pack since the temps seemed to be pretty well within range. I figured a heat pack would obviously make it way too hot during the day at both destinations, and a cold pack would potentially drop it too low when the package was in transit in the 60s.

The box was taped shut with a strip covering only the center opening on the top and bottom.

The shipment was done through UPS Next Day Air. It went out at 3:00pm and arrived before 10:00am at the destination.

When the recipient opened the box, the snake was dead. I've already refunded his money, including purchase price and shipping fees.

Any critiques or comments on my shipping set-up would be greatly appreciated. I never want this to happen again. It may have just been a chance occurrence, but I want to find out if there is something I can do in the future to better safeguard my shipments.

Thanks in advance for all the replies!

David Roach
www.ColdBloodExotics.com
(713) 591-1061

It is important to remember that you need to not only look at the temperature of the final destination but the stops along the way. One winter I shipped from Phoenix, Arizona to San Diego, California (about 350 miles) and everything froze to death in Ohio (the trip ended up being about 4,000 miles).

Was the package signed for or was it left outside, on the porch, in the sun, until the buyer brought it in?

I would recommend that a snake of that size (3-year old) be placed in a cloth bag, not in a deli container with aspen chips.

Was the Shipping box clearly marked on the outside “Live Snake”? It is surprising that UPS allowed the snake to be shipped, as generally they will not allow snakes.
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Good point on checking to see where all the stops will be along the trip...I'm assuming there's a way to figure that out ahead of time on the website? I'll check it out.

The package was signed for at delivery by the purchaser.

I wondered if I might have gone wrong with the deli container. I'm wondering if, and I hate this, the snake could have suffocated. I suppose that, if all the packing peanuts landed at just the right point on the deli cup, it could shut off ventilation. I'm really thinking I might be better off in the future with a cloth bag and paper to fill up the void space. That's what I have always used in the past with success. For whatever reason, I strayed from that this time. I think I'll go back unless anyone can see any problems with the old method.

The shipping box was marked "Live Harmless Reptiles" along with very specific directions regarding temperature and handling. This is on a 8.5"x4" sheet I put on the top of the box next to the shipping label. Then, all sides are marked with a red label marked "LIVE ANIMALS - Please handle with extreme care!"

I'm in the process of becoming certified to ship through FedEx. I am really looking forward to that and hoping to have better luck with them.

Just FYI, I sent another package at the same time as this one. They were going to destinations less than 100 miles from each other and were packaged in the exact same way. The other snake arrived safe and healthy.

David,
....Just a thought on this. There are still LOTS of dumbass people out there who hate snakes. Obviously some of them work in the shipping business. Even the good people working for all the major shippers work very quickly and are not going to read and heed any instructions to be especially careful with a certain package. Rather than identify the packaging so that the snake haters can intentionally slam it around or put it in a microwave or leave it out in the sun I do not write anything on the outside of the boxes. I use the same shipping supplies you use except that I do not mark anything on the Superior Enterprises boxes and I wad up newspaper to cushion between the deli cup and the box and use wadded up papertowels inside the deli cup to cushion the snake. I use snake bags rather than deli cups for snakes larger than a pound. I put small airholes in the bottom corners of the boxes and also in the gap between the cardboard top flaps of the box so that the shipping people do not see the airholes. I get the typical lousy service from the shippers that everyone gets with packages often delivered later than what I pay for but I have not had an animal arrive dead in quite a long while.
Jeff

>>Good point on checking to see where all the stops will be along the trip...I'm assuming there's a way to figure that out ahead of time on the website? I'll check it out.
>>
>>The package was signed for at delivery by the purchaser.
>>
>>I wondered if I might have gone wrong with the deli container. I'm wondering if, and I hate this, the snake could have suffocated. I suppose that, if all the packing peanuts landed at just the right point on the deli cup, it could shut off ventilation. I'm really thinking I might be better off in the future with a cloth bag and paper to fill up the void space. That's what I have always used in the past with success. For whatever reason, I strayed from that this time. I think I'll go back unless anyone can see any problems with the old method.
>>
>>The shipping box was marked "Live Harmless Reptiles" along with very specific directions regarding temperature and handling. This is on a 8.5"x4" sheet I put on the top of the box next to the shipping label. Then, all sides are marked with a red label marked "LIVE ANIMALS - Please handle with extreme care!"
>>
>>I'm in the process of becoming certified to ship through FedEx. I am really looking forward to that and hoping to have better luck with them.
>>
>>Just FYI, I sent another package at the same time as this one. They were going to destinations less than 100 miles from each other and were packaged in the exact same way. The other snake arrived safe and healthy.

even though the vast majority of breeders use fedex and secondly ups you do have variables that have to be cosidered.

1. most people hate snakes
2. depending on lots of factors drivers will open the back door of their trucks and leave the engine running...
3.good chance the cargo hold of the plane wasnt pressurized or the box was put in a "hold" that wasnt pressurized.
4.Some people have a cruel sence of humor..
5.In the morning when they sort packages the building is very cold depending on where and how many transfers

I feel sorry for you and thats why i try to get mine shipped "delta dash" if possible.yea it costs twice as much but what is the snake worth to you? hey, even delta dash is perfect and have you ever seen how baggage handlers treat stuff?

Fed-x has a service called "first overnight" but i dont think that packages qualify yet. Danged if i wouldnt use it if they did and they could charge more then "priority overnight"

Sorry man expensive lesson in not using u.p.s. or at work we call them "oops" instead of ups

I always hate to hear of a snake dying in transit, but the unfortunate truth is sometimes it happens. I've got a couple of ideas that hopefully might be able to help. I used to work for one of the major couriers, and from experience I can tell you that sometimes the big containers that they pack the boxes in to ship on the planes sit out on the tarmac for a long time waiting to be loaded. Sometimes the containers were hard plastic, and sometimes they were metal. On an 85 degree day ( or even cooler)those containers can get pretty hot inside pretty quick. I would check around to see which courier has the latest dropoff in your area. I drive 40 minutes away to get to a Fedex dropoff that excepts next day packages up until 10:00. That eliminates them sitting out on a hot runway. I live in Memphis which is a pretty big town, and I realize not everyone in smaller towns will have that option, but it is worth checking into.
Also I worked in the hub packing those containers, and saw how all those boxes came tumbling down those chutes to us like a package avalanche. That would be enough to stir up the aspen bedding like a sandstorm in that deli cup. It could easily get up their nose, and mouth enough to sufficate, or choke them in my opinion, or at least enough to cause extreme stress. If you do use a deli cup for a snake that size I would only use newspaper in the cup, and inside the box, but I believe a cloth bag would be best. These are just a couple of ideas based on my experience working for a shipping courier, and I hope it helps. Sorry again for the loss.
Ken