Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello.
I have shipped many corn snakes in 30 degree temps with a heat pack.....never had a problem.....but I have no experience with shipping Ball Pythons.

What is the coldest temp you would ship/have shipped a Ball Python with use of a heat pack(s)??

Thank you.

Tomsey

must be 45 from me and to shipper.
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RicK & Caitlyn @ Ball Boutique, Inc.

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temps. Or rather "comfortable" shipping temps as sometimes you can do all the right things and the wrong events claim the life of your package.

* Carrier - how does your carrier handle your packages? Are they carried in a temp-controlled cargo hold? My carrier does and this makes quite a difference.

* Packaging - this is probably the single biggest consideration. Do you use 1/2" foam? 1" foam? How much room is there in your package? Will it allow multiple heat packs without using up too much oxygen, or overheating, etc.

* Origin and destination - I often ship from a warm climate cold climates. I have shipped packages where the temp here was 80 degrees and near freezing at the destination. Heat packs could kill an animal long before they get to the cold temps.

* Condition of the animal. I try not to feed for 1-3 weeks prior to shipping and I like to ensure the animal is well-hydrated for the trip.

* Length of trip - how long will the animal be exposed?

Keep in mind, reptiles (normally) can withstand extreme cold better than extreme heat. This is not a complete list by any means, but should give you some food for thought.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

who do you use for shipping?
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RicK & Caitlyn @ Ball Boutique, Inc.

Ball Boutique,Inc.
Proud sponsor of this forum

>>who do you use for shipping?

FedEx
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

So the planes and trucks are all heated?
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RicK & Caitlyn @ Ball Boutique, Inc.

Ball Boutique,Inc.
Proud sponsor of this forum

>>So the planes and trucks are all heated?

Not all but most cargo holds are heated.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

most is too risky.....
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RicK & Caitlyn @ Ball Boutique, Inc.

Ball Boutique,Inc.
Proud sponsor of this forum

>>most is too risky.....

You cannot guarantee an aircraft's cargo hold is pressurized or temperature controlled. I'm Delta verified but no longer ship through them. One reason is that they could not tell me if (any of) their cargo holds are temp controlled. FedEx uses temp-controlled cargo holds for most of their planes. I do not know the details of of their procedures, but I imagine animals are not routed on those aircraft that are not temp-controlled. They are the safest I have found bar none.

One thing I like to do every so often is to ship a probe with the package which measures the high and low both inside and outside the package.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Great info. Jay...I use Fedex also and was about to apply for Delta certification...think I'll skip it after hearing that. Not to mention Fedex costs less.
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Dale....dgoins222@yahoo.com
www.LibertyReptiles.com

Delta does not want our business. It literally took them 4 years to certify me. When I finally get ceritified and need to make shipments, they give me the run around at my airport and try to say I'm not certified.......
I don't have an "account number".......

ALL animals are shipped Pets First ($175) and no animals are shipped Priority First or Delta Dash......

I have to pre-book the flight 48 hours in advance......

I have to pre-book the flight 24 hours in advance.......

I don't have to pre-book the flight as long as I show up an hour before depature...........

And last but not least.....WE DON"T SHIP SNAKES??!!

No one could give me a straight answer, nor could info from one person match the next. I even got contradicting info from some people that actually helped me ship snakes before.....less than 2 weeks before.

If you want a HUGE hassle, then by all means go with Delta. They are not ignorant......just stupid.

I've used UPS and FedEX for years without a hitch. They are great and the travel time really isn't much more than with the airlines. As long as the animals aren't sitting at the shipping terminal, most travel time is around 14 hours.

Brandon Osborne

Can you insure them with Fed Ex?
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RicK & Caitlyn @ Ball Boutique, Inc.

Ball Boutique,Inc.
Proud sponsor of this forum

No...but what good is insurance without people and service to back it up? I'd rather take a chance on someone that has got them there for me in the past ALIVE. Yeah, with insurance you get paid for your DEAD snake, but that really doesn't matter to me. Not trying to offend anyone, but there are times we don't get what we pay for.
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Dale....dgoins222@yahoo.com
www.LibertyReptiles.com

BTW I use both FedEx and Delta
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RicK & Caitlyn @ Ball Boutique, Inc.

Ball Boutique,Inc.
Proud sponsor of this forum

Nope. But I've never seen an insurance claim be paid by delta either. Saw a shipment of 80 baby burmese pythons get tossed. Delta claimed they were not at fault......BS.

Brandon Osborne

I've heard the same thing about Delta not paying on DOA's. Someone told me not to long ago that someone they knew had gotten 2 frozen snakes via Delta on different shipments. I can't remember for sure what they were but I think one was an ivory. I'd hate to be in the middle of that mess.

I once had a very expensive snake sent to me via Delta. The plane arrived around 9 p.m. so I made sure to give them 30 minutes to unload the plane before I arrived. When I got there, they couldn't find the package. They couldn't find any information about it every being put on any plane. I waited there for 2 hours until they told me I should just go home and they'd call me when they found it. The local people kept telling me that it was because the Atlanta hub was a bunch of morons and there was always a problem when stuff came through that hub. The airport is about 50 minutes from my house by the way. The next morning they called to say my package was there. It turns out that the package was there the whole time. They are truly incompetent.

The scary thing is that one of the packages I saw come off of that flight contained human organs for transplant. I bet they've killed someone with their incompetence.

.
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Morph Evolutions
www.morphevolutions.com

Sorry to get OT with my other post.

I've shipped pythons in temps as low as 30*.....both ball pythons and BABY chondros. As long as the box isn't too large to heat, one heat pack will do and the animals will show up toasty. If you are shipping multiple animals, I would reconsider. Large shipping boxes are hard to maintain stable temps. I've done tests in my deep freezer (-10*) with different size boxes. The smaller boxes are much more stable with proper insulation thickness and heat packs. Under normal conditions I only use one heat pack. I make all my own boxes and cut the styro from 4x8 sheets. One of these days, I'll take pics to document how I pack my boxes.

Good luck.
Brandon Osborne

Until you have time to take pics, could you give a quick run down with the dimensions of the box, thickness and type of styrofoam, what kind of heat packs and where you place them? I'm sure many of us would like to benefit from your testing and experiences TIA

TIA, I'll try to get some test pics this weekend and start a new thread. Most of my boxes measure 10 x 8 x 8 with 1-1 1/2" styro lining. I use one heat pack wrapped in paper and place it on one end with some loosly wadded paper between it and the snake. Again, I'll try to get some pics up.

Brandon Osborne