Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I don't know what the problem is besides fear and ignorance but I'm getting ready to ship some skinks (3) to AZ from OH. Is my best bet just to open up a "free" airborne account and go that route or is there some way to get them through at the Post Office?

Any help is appreciated.

Chris

The post office will accept lizards, but do not guarantee the arrival time. Their express shipments are sometimes 2nd day. Also, you do not need an account to ship through airborne. They can bill you for shipping.

...the only reptiles they take are tortoises. Wouldn't want to have them returned or worse!

Okay, I think I'll go with USPS express mail. Should I label the box "Live Harmles Lizards"????

Best,

Chris

I used to ship all the time USPS prior t0 911. Since then
it has been hard to find out what policy actually is. As far
as I know they never stopped taking lizards, just stopped them for express mail.

I always put the "live/harmles..." on the box and another advising about too hot/cold.

I recommend you take the package to the air mail facility at your airport. Also talk to the airport AMF and see what they say regarding delivery. Often if you get them to the AMF before a certain time it gets there earlier, hence next day as opposed to
2nd day if you drop off at a local PO. Often the extra day is spent getting form your PO to the AMF, and the plane has already gone for that day, so they sit in the airport for a day.

Let me know how it goes, I'm in PA and am eager to see what happens...
Rhac 'n Roll Reptiles

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Rhac 'n Roll Reptiles http://home.netcom.com/~deadrats/h.htm

They had a chart on the wall that they referred... it said "prohibited" all the way across under ALL shipment methods. The lady told me "sorry" we are not shipping any reptiles via any means.

So now what the heck do I do? I need to ship these three lizards to AX. Airborne won't ship them, USPS won't ship them, I can't afford to open a UPS account... am I just screwed?

Chris

They had a chart on the wall that they referred... it said "prohibited" all the way across under ALL shipment methods. The lady told me "sorry" we are not shipping any reptiles via any means.

So now what the heck do I do? I need to ship these three lizards to AX. Airborne won't ship them, USPS won't ship them, I can't afford to open a UPS account... am I just screwed?

Chris

http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub52.pdf 526.6 located on page 99. Plainly states harmless cold blooded animals other than snakes, turtles, and turtle eggs can be shipped if properly packaged. You can either bring this to their attention and let them look it up, or print it and take it for them. I ship usps all the time, and have never had a problem. You may need to talk to superviosr to get things worked out.

THEY WILL HOLD THEM FOR TWO DAYS FOR SURE!

I don't think that is true, I ship and recieve corn snakes from airborne.

I just tried to ship two Geckos with the Post Office. I made the BIG mistake of being honest and labling the box FRAGILE LIVE ANIMAL In my (Ridiculous) belief that if it said that they would take MORE care of the package than if I just put PERISHABLE on it. BOY WAS I WRONG Their policy is EVERY ANIMAL SHIPMENT IS HELD FOR TWO DAY SHIPPING!
That is just pure genius on their part isn't it since we know how well animals do without food and water and the proper temperatures for two days.
The clerk told me they could not guarantee a Next Day Delivery and when I hesitated and told her I would just find another shipping method she told me "OH I WOULDN"T WORRY ABOUT IT THAT IS JUST SOMETHING WE HAVE TO SAY IN CASE SOMETHING HAPPENED"
THEY WILL GET THERE FINE! EXPRESS SHIPPING WITH US GETS THERE BY NOON THE NEXT DAY!"
Of course it did not get there by noon next day. It got there in two days. Of course both my leopard geckos (3 and a half month olds) got there DEAD!
If they don't want to ship live animals they should just make a policy that says WE DON"T SHIP LIVE ANIMALS but I feel they are just trying to deter us from shipping our animals with them by TORTURING AND KILLING our beloved animals!
They even bad mouthed me to my customer and the mail carrier told her it was I that ASKED FOR SECOND DAY TO SAVE MONEY
I promptly am returning the full amount to my customer after apologizing profusely (none of which the Post Office will refund to me They would not even refund the measly $17.85 they charged for shipping Express Mail, the loophole is they CHARGE THE SAME for Express next day as for Express second day)
I feel the ones I need to apologize profusely to are my two beloved geckos. Instead of sending them to a new home I sent them to their death. I FEEL JUST HORRIBLE! I suggest you never ship ANY animal with the post office and actually I only reccommend UPS