Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What sized box do you prefer to ship neonates in? I've had them shipped to me in 7x7x6 boxes, and 12x9x6, and the prior just sounds small to me.
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1.1 96, 04 Het Albino - "Suzie" & "Lumpy"
0.1 03 Poss. Het Albino - "Ami"
0.1 05 Super Salmon - "CreamSicle"
0.1 04 Anery Het Snow- "Squelchy"
1.0 04 DH-Sunglow - "Dwayne"
1.0 06 TH-Moonglow - "Gargamel"

For those of you who wholesale, or ship multiple snakes to the same person, how do you go about packing mulitple snakes in the same box? Neonates in Delicups specifically. We've only recieved one package with two snakes before, and the packing was the worst i've ever seen. (way too large of a box, no insulation, no heatpacks, no newspaper... just a towel and two snakes in pillowcases). It obviously didn't give me any ideas to go by.
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1.1 96, 04 Het Albino - "Suzie" & "Lumpy"
0.1 03 Poss. Het Albino - "Ami"
0.1 05 Super Salmon - "CreamSicle"
0.1 04 Anery Het Snow- "Squelchy"
1.0 04 DH-Sunglow - "Dwayne"
1.0 06 TH-Moonglow - "Gargamel"

If you are shipping during warm or cold weather, that smaller box is asking for trouble...

Let's say I wanted to ship 3...

i'll take a box, say 12" x 12" x 12", that is insulated/lined with styrofoam,
tape a heat pack to the bottom center of the box,
fill a few inches with styrofoam packing peanuts,
maybe lay a sheet of paper down so the neo's won't shift and settle directly on the heat pack,
place the neo's in their cups, stacked in the box,
fill rest of box with packing peanuts, close.

Some things to keep in mind...

The heat pack will take a little while to 'kick in'

If the box is picked up, it may ride in the back of the freezing/burning truck all day before reaching the depot/terminal

Many times packages will first ship to a centralized sorting facility... this means, be cautious of the temps at all locations..

Most times, the absolute coldest, most extreme part of the process is the flight in the plane, which is probably halfway along the 'shipping process'. Most times these packages are in cargo areas that are not climate controlled. In flight, these areas can reach below freezing.

and ALWAYS REMEMBER...

It is much better for the snake to be too cold than it is to be too hot!

Too cold leaves room for options... too hot fries them dead..

Hope that helps.. Joe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

Many shippng companies charge differently.

I used FEDEX exclusively and have found three ways of pricing...

One is if you have an account

another is if you drop off at a location

and the third is if picked up, and you don't have an account.

Sometimes you are charged by weight, sometimes by size.
They also usually overestimate weight and size... keeping this accurate is ideal.

So, shipping a box 12" x 4" x 4" will cost the same as shipping a box 12" x 12" x 12" IF you are being charged by size. Shipping a box 8 x 8 x 8 would be cheaper than the first two mentioned.

Shipping a small box weighing 10 pounds, and a large box weighing less than a pound, the small box would be much more expensive IF you are being charged by the weight.

Don't pay to ship garbage!
Many people would use newspaper for cushioning/insulation around the snakes inside the box...
Newspaper is free, yet it is paper and it is heavy! Stuffing a box with styrofoam peanuts as opposed to newspaper could save you $10-$15 per box!!!

Some also use plastic shoeboxes instead of deli cups or sacks. Again, this means you are basically paying about $5 extra to ship this... I wouldn't unless absolutely necessary.

And check your commitment times! When your packages are delivered late, call and get your refund! You are entitled to it!

take care, Joe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

are you still thinking about coming out to Cali? Get back to me.

that trip will have to wait..

not sure if my friend is still thinking about it, but I have, and if anything, more towards the summer...

have quite a bit going on now and in the near future...

hope all is well!

haven't had much time to check the snake rooms, other than when my helpers are there cleaning/feeding, but I know I have a gravid DH from a triple het male, and I have to check on the others.. maybe some possible super salmon double dose harlequins too..

at our place in Miami, I think we may have some jungles, more aberrant hondurans, and maybe even some possible super salmontine harlequins on the way, amongst others...

I was hoping to produce some outstanding pastels over the past 4 years, but either I haven't found a suitable male, or the females just didn't take. fun fun fun! lol

well, back to work.. take care brother!

what would you say... ovulation or not???

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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

I like to use these shipping boxes.

http://www.cameronpackaging.com/insulated_boxes.html#7-5-4

They are not the cheapest but they are the best I have found. We use the 7x5x4(interior size) the outside is 11x10x8. They are great for shipping one neonate.

For shipping multiple animals or larger ones I use the bigger boxes. I bag all animals individually and mark the bags as to the contents. Shredded paper is placed in the bag with each animal just incase it deficates in transit. Crumpled paper is used in the box to insulate and help protect the snake from being bounced around.

In the small boxes I only use one 40 hour heat pack,placed to one side and taped to the bottom, because the boxes are so well insulated I don't want to cook the snakes. The bag with the animal is then placed in the middle of the box. On top of the crumpled paper, that is on top of the heat pack.

This packing method has worked very well for us.
I hope it helps you out, and is what you where looking for.

Kathy

Little side note.....A good packing job not only insures safe arrival of your precious cargo, but it is the first impression that your customer gets when they recieve the package.

Kathy

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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

around the boa forum again.

Hope life is treating you well!!!!

Kathy

sometimes it's hard just to keep standing!

Thanks for the kind words... wish I had more time to spend here with all of you =)

Can't wait to see everyone again in Daytona this year!

Take care, Joe
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Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

I use the 12 x 12 x 6 and they seem to work fine.I use both deli cups and bags and havent had any problems thus far.I put the air holes through the bottom corners of the box (completely through the styrofoam) so they are less noticed and place my heat packs there to keep air moving to them(heat packs need oxygen to work correctly).

Mike Bell
Boas By Bell

Its been very helpful in choosing what products to buy for shipping. I definately want to pick the safest packing methods possible. Thanks for all your advice and experiences, we want to make sure that we do this right.
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1.1 96, 04 Het Albino - "Suzie" & "Lumpy"
0.1 03 Poss. Het Albino - "Ami"
0.1 05 Super Salmon - "CreamSicle"
0.1 04 Anery Het Snow- "Squelchy"
1.0 04 DH-Sunglow - "Dwayne"
1.0 06 TH-Moonglow - "Gargamel"

Job at hand but I start with a 12 x 9 x 6 box for one or two baby Boas and one up to 2.5 feet and move up in box size with snake size but I also run tests on my boxes with different numbers of heat and cool packs to get as close to 75 to 80 degrees by setting up a box and leaving it in my truck in the cold of the night or the heat of the day with a battery operated temp gage for up to 12 hours and checked many times to see were the temp is to see if I need to adjust the number of pack to achieve my temps and this changes with the different size boxes and it has worked great for me as all my customer have all told me that the snakes have arrived in great shape and some have confirmed the temps that I like to achieve so I would recommend that you do the work and test your set ups for all the boxes you might use because the cost of these tests are cheaper that the loss of any animal good luck Scott Mid Atlantic Morphs