Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what temp would you all consider too cold to ship a ball?

I was told by multiple breeders that they will not ship if it is under 40 degrees. Hope this helps.

I have successfully and will continue to ship live animals across the country with no issues ever (which is Canada, much larger than the US)as cold as -10C (or about 15F).
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www.strictlyballs.ca

We ship if its 20* or more that night, and have not had any problems doing so.
We have had shipments come in delta dash when it was 1* out when they arrived and they were fine. Its all about now you pack your boxes.

We use a 3/4" thick insulated superior boxes,with 4 small air holes on each side, add a thick layer of crumpled newspaper in the bottom about 2" thick, and surround the deli cup/snake bag with crumpled newspaper, add a few pieces on top to seperate them from the heat pack, tape a 40 hr heat pack to the top of the box and they are good to go.

With this type of shipping method we shipped over 200 boxes last winter with no problems.

Hope this helps and best of luck this winter.
Our policy is to guarantee live arrival no matter what temp. If we ship it then we are responsible, so make sure they are properly packed.

At the end of the day the best way to decide is to do what you feel comfortable with.
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J&J REPTILES
www.jnjreptiles.com
sales@jnjreptiles.com
(207)479-6658

Yup, exactly what JNJ above me said; we use a styro box that is 11X18X9 for most shipments loaded up with crumpled kraft or newspaper as well with a few holes poked in the sides (I'm quite surprised that so many shippers don't punch holes in thier boxzes, leaving the heat packs useless)...
The only difference here is I prefer to use two 40 hour heat packs and oen or two 60 hour heat packs depending on the length of the flight. I've dry run this configuration in my garage over the winter in -20 and had the box stay 88 degrees after 48 hours.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

thanks everyone. i was just curious as Im getting a snake and the breeder is going to use 2 heat packs. its in the low 20's here.

will the breeder GUARANTEE live arrival in good condition? You COULD cook a snake with 2 heat packs - just depends on the size of the box, air holes, if any, proximity of snakes to heat, etc. If the breeder is experienced in shipping, and willing to guarantee the results, then it should work out ok. There is no way to know whether 2 heat packs are good or bad without knowing every detail of the box, packaging and shipping method, and high and low temps en route. The breeder SHOULD be better equipped to figure that out than the receiver, which is why (in my opinion) the shipper should guarantee live arrival. That is what I do, although I ship primarily corns, but occasionally have shipped boas and pythons, too.

I think Kathy touched on the only really pertinent point of this entire thread; you can pack your stuff as good as you want, but you can cook an animal as quickly as you can freeze it without the proper knowledge of packing and shipping. If the shipper is confident enough in his skills, he should guarantee live arrival.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

>>I think Kathy touched on the only really pertinent point of this entire thread; you can pack your stuff as good as you want, but you can cook an animal as quickly as you can freeze it without the proper knowledge of packing and shipping. If the shipper is confident enough in his skills, he should guarantee live arrival.
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>>www.strictlyballs.ca

Exactly...If it's dead when it gets there.Then what was the point?!..

Live arrival guarantee or don't buy it.
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Charles Glaspie
http://www.myspace.com/coldthumb

Please, anyone doing any winter shipping, look into the weather forecast prior to shipping.

I am reminded of one year near Christmas when I purchased an adult male Pastel from a gentleman in Pennsylvania to be shipped to me in North Florida. It was a pricey animal...well over 2K. Shipped FedEx Priority Overnight, it got caught up in an ice and snow storm in Memphis (Central hub for FedEx in the eastern U.S.) Six days later that beautiful Pastel arrived dead. I am sure it froze to death sitting around in an unheated area while the heat packs dwindled away. The shipper was responsible for reimbursing me (which he did over several weeks) because FedEx did not know it was a live reptile. He lost his animal and his money.

Please check the weather forecasts!

Susan Sentman
SSNAKES Reptiles

"Shipped FedEx Priority Overnight, it got caught up in an ice and snow storm in Memphis (Central hub for FedEx in the eastern U.S.) Six days later that beautiful Pastel arrived dead."

Luckily up here in Canda we don't have live animal courrier shipping, so we depend on airlines to send our animals across country. Little more expensive but much quicker in every case and much safer in my opinion.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

The Fedex shipment containing the doomed Pastel WAS an airline shipment.

When an airport endures an ice and snow storm, it is shut down because no flights can arrive or depart on icy runways. The Pastel was shipped from Pennsylvania to Florida via FedEx Priority Overnight. It went by FedEx jet to Memphis to connect with a flight to Florida. But the storm hit and the airport was shut down. That's why I say always look AHEAD AT THE WEATHER reports to see what is coming if you are planning to ship a live animal.

Susan
SSNAKES