Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I breed a small group of non-venomous snakes here in Los Angeles California. I found Kingsnake.com to be a great source to selling. Fortunatly Ive been lucky enough to be able to sell locally, which sucks for those people out of state who are interested in my snakes. Ive called all the local shipping carriers and asked about shipping baby snakes. They treated me as if I were insane to even ask and responded with a NO. I know many breeders ship with these carriers who have told me no. The only company that didnt tell me no is Delta Dash, they just want me to become an approved shipper. How do I beat these companies and if I get caught shipping what kind of legal trouble can I expect to face.
Thanks: Jason

"How do I beat these companies..." I would definitely play by the rules. You need to understand that these forums are policed by many different agencies, and your information is readily available to anyone interested. As arbitrary as many of the shipper's terms are, breeders need to still adhere to them or we will ALL be out of luck. I set up an account with UPS and am now able to ship live geckos through them. Many snake breeders use UPS, but you have to have an account with them. It only takes a few minutes to set up the account. If you get caught, the shipping company will put a nice big warning by your name and you will have a hell of a time shipping with them in the future. I know of many individuals who can no longer ship through some carriers. If more and more people are "caught" shipping live reptiles, without an account, feel certain that it is going to become twice as hard for those of us who do it by the book.

For snakes, Delta Dash is an excellent choice!

Nathan Hall,
GECKOS UNLIMITED

Thanks for your response. I have currently set up an appointment to have delta come out and see my snakes and try to approve me as an approved shipper.
Thanks again: Jason

I'm very pleased that you are doing the right thing. Good luck, and please let us know how everything turns out.

Nathan

Hi Jason –

I just want to point out that if you ship snakes in violation of those companies’ policies - well, you are violating those companies’ policies. If, however, as your subject header implies you are intending on “Mailing snakes” via the US Postal Service, then you will be in violation of federal law.