Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had some questions so here goes:

1. For those that ship, what company do you use to ship the babies? Do you have to have a membership or account and does it cost to have an account?

2. Also for those that ship, where do you buy your shipping boxes and shipping deli cups from? What size box do you use for shipping one baby?

3. How do you pack the box when shipping only one, so that the deli cup and baby do not bounce around alot??

4. Do you use heat packs this time of year and in june?

5. Where is the bets place to adverstise 2 small clutches? I have an ad on faunaclassified but was debating whether one on KS would be worth the money, seeing as its only 2 small clutches. Would you get a KS account? If so, how many months? (I plan to hold a few back till after they shed)

6. Does pay pal cost to accept credit card payments? I have a basic pay pal account but I believe in order to accept credit card payments, you have to pay a fee. Does anyone know how much this is? Is it worth it?

Sorry about all the questions. I am trying to prepare. The babies are already between 6-9 days old and will be ready approximately June 9th. Any question you can answer would be great! You can e-mail me if you would rather not say something on here. Thanks a bunch! LindsayMarie
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BC Dragons

I haven't shipped yet but I just set up an account with Airborne. It doesn't cost anything to set up an account, only to ship.

I will include a link for reptile shipping supplies. I haven't bought from them yet either, but I will be. I have all the boxes that were sent to me with animals in them so I'll use them first so I can get some money from my dragons, then buy some stuff so nothing actually comes out of pocket for that stuff.
Fill the box with wadded up news paper, & put the deli cup in the center of it all, (in the deli cup, put loosely bunched up paper towels to kind of keep the dragon from bouncing around in the cup.
I wouldn't use heat packs now. It's quite warm down here in Fl, so if a dragon came here with a heat pack,, I'm sure it would be cooked. Do check the weather channel though,, if it was going to Washington St. it may be different?

I am going to set up an account with KS today. Just do the 6 month one to test it out. It should only cost you one or two dragons, the rest is yours.

Pay Pal,,,
I believe you need to set up a "Premier" account to accept credit cards. I'm working on that one too. I just got my personal account verified so I can move up. I believe it's 3% they charge to receive payments. Don't forget,, you can ask for Money Orders.

I hope this helps.
Joel R
reptile packing stuff

im wondering how much you sell your dragons for because im not sure, when i do sell mine, how much i should sell them for! please help...lol thanks man
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~David - KDRKreatures
1.2 Bearded dragons (Ralph, Artemis, Cheech)
1.0 Veiled Chameleon (Chiquito)

KDRKreatures-Home Page
My Email

depending on how they look. post some pics. if they are adult or sub adult females i might be interested. but they have to be screaming. hehe

no still waiting. i am not very optimistic about it but o well. we will get our money back if it sheds out.

For the last two years I have had problems with airborne when receiving feeder foods. I always order next day morning and I NEVER receive it on time. Many times my packages arrived in 2 days instead of next day! I even called and harassed them every time and each time it either came late at night (only after bothering them all day with phone calls) or the following day. They never reimbursed me for the shipping charges, probably because I didnt fight it enough, I am just so sick of them. I hate talking to them anymore.

My concern though is that they seem to be the only delivery service that does allow live shipments. I checked airborne, fedex and ups and both fedex and ups said NO reptiles, lizards, or even insects for that matter. At least airborne allows tortoises, non venomous insects etc. What do I do? I would hate to use a shipping company that prohibits sending reptiles but I dont want to go with a company that ALWAYS messes up my shipments. I wouldnt trust just sending the babies as fragile and hoping they treat the package with care (fedex, ups). At least if it says live, some people might have consideration.

What would everyone else do? Is there somewhere I can call to make sure airborne doesnt mess up my shipments anymore? I have called their 800 number MANY MANY times. Thanks, Lindsay
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BC Dragons

It may be that the supplier you are using isn't getting it out early enough? If you are the shipper and they aren't getting it there on time and you tell them you are going to go with someone else it may be different.

Joel r

Maybe.. I just would be nervous taking the chance, especially with that first baby I send. Those 24 hours would be horrible. Do you think airborne would have a number where you can talk to someone higher up in command (so to say)? Just wondering. i know they dont allow you to call the station directly.

Also the supplier is reptilefood.com. But before that it was other cricket suppliers too. I think it is just this airborne center up here to be honest. I think I am a little ways away from their route. The closest shipping centers are ups and fedex about 5 minutes away. But even so, airborne is only about 30-40 minutes away.

I dont know? Lindsay
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BC Dragons

Maybe it is your location. I've ordered from reptilefood.com for over 2 years now--weekly shipments of lots of insects, and only once was it a day late.
Unfortunately, for shipping live animals, there is no perfect shipper. You have to find who you are comfortable with and make arrangements with them. USPS is very good with handling, but since 9/11 they cannot guarantee overnight service and it almost always takes 2 days. Airborne and fedex may bend the rules for you if you talk to your local people. Airborne does ship live frogs and turtles across the board. None of them guarantee anything though. Delta is the only shipper that guarantees the animals--but last I checked it is around $75 per shipment and you have to be a verified shipper with them. UPS lets you ship live lizards if you have a daily pickup account with them only.
Dana

I use UPS, and have an online account but no daily pick-up and they take my lizards.....must depend on your UPS office I guess.

We did this for a while too. Once we switched to a daily pickup I mentioned it to the rep (we had moved location since first receiving our letter of exception). Said we were one of few who had slipped through the cracks.

I feel more comfortable following the straight and narrow when shipping animals, instead of finding out in mid-shipment some paper pusher has found you and plugged the cracks.
Scales - Premium Exotic Reptiles

Dragons Den sent me a baby just 2-3 weeks ago via UPS. It was marked "Fragile-Live Harmless Lizard" very boldly on the sides of the box. I also talked to my UPS guy that delivers to my day job, and he said he didn't know if they could or not, but seeing as he delivered my guy, he "guessed it was okay".

I've never had any problems getting my packages from UPS, so when it comes time to send out any of my hatchies, I'll be calling on them to deliver.

I know people use both ups and fed ex, but it states in their policies and terms etc that they do not allow either live deliveries (unless pre-approved for zoo purposes etc) and specifically both I believe said no reptiles, lizards, snakes etc.

How "Fragile, Live Harmless Lizard" passed through I dont know? Maybe they dont inforce it? Maybe they ignore it when its a large company using their services, which is making them quite a bit of money?

I should call all the 800 numbers and see what the representatives say? I would do it from a cell or pay phone though so they dont keep my number on record as the one calling!LOL

If only they knew how many people ship reptiles through them anyways! Lindsay
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BC Dragons

I think I'd still use them even if I had to risk just marking it fragile. In my opinion, Airborn sucks (they're always smashing my cricket boxes and leaving them on the porch when a signature is REQUIRED so the ants get them if I'm not checking every 10minutes) and FedEx is too expensive. I'd trust UPS first and foremost, and if you pack it well enough, no harm should come to your critter.

Call them and ask. The worst they can say is no.

UPS will allow you ship live harmless reptiles (no snakes) if you set up a daily pickup account and get a letter of exception from them.

FedEx will do the same but it seems harder to get the letter from them (I'm currently playing the red tape game with them to get ours through).

Hope this helps,

Dan Wedeking
Scales - Premium Exotic Reptiles

I do not have lizards or items to ship daily, if that is what it means. Also does UPS guarantee next day delivery? Thanks, Lindsay

Also should I go to a ups center and try and talk to a supervisor in person, or should I call the 800 number and ask for a supervisor?
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BC Dragons

Get an account with UPS. Tell them up front what you are selling. It is a hassle but ask to talk to a supervisor and they can set you up to ship your reptiles. The first person that you talk to will say they do not accept reptiles but ask to speak to a supervisor and you get your account. Then, go to the UPS website and start your My UPS.com account. You make your own shipping labels and request pickup and UPS comes to your home and picks up your reptiles. I love dealing with them. You schedule your pickup through the computer. You never call anyone. It is great.
Reed's Reptiles

np
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~David - KDRKreatures
1.2 Bearded dragons (Ralph, Artemis, Cheech)
1.0 Veiled Chameleon (Chiquito)

KDRKreatures-Home Page
My Email

IT may be just your local office, ours here do arrive the next morning, but we have to watch for them as they don't ring the bell or knock in the past.

I dislike shipping and avoid it if at all possible, the last animals we do have shipped to us, sat behind the front door for several hours, we did not know it was there......... he was okay, thank heavens it was not that hot that day in Florida

Airborne does not own it's own jets they hire out, this could be problem and I have had less than satisfactory service anytime I have overnighted with them. UPS and FedEx for instance have their own planes so that is why they might have a better "on time" record than Airborne.

ok... i used to work customer service for airborne. i'm not going to defend them because i know that they are probably the worst shipping company around. first of all it depends on where you live. they may garuntee shipments next day by noon or five in major cities but once they have to drive out in rural areas or even to the suburbs they no longer garuntee service. secondly they do not own their own planes or trucks, they contract the truck out and in some rural areas they have contracted drivers or other companies like speedee delivery. shipping may also be affected by the state that you live in. as far as calling the 800 number goes customer service doesn't know much next time you keep calling them ask to speak to the station and once you can talk to them explain that these are live shipments and they will usually accomidate. for example if they can't get it to you in a day they will keep the crickets or whatever in a room that doesn't drop below a certain temp keep them from dying and in the winter they also may keep package in the front offices so they do get to cold hope this helps .

?
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BC Dragons

My last one was shipped to me in a box about the size of two shoe boxes if placed side by side. The first guy I had shipped to me was in a box half the size, but packed well so there was no damage.

1. For those that ship, what company do you use to ship the babies? Do you have to have a membership or account and does it cost to have an account?

No, accounts are free, I primarily use UPS and have never had a problem.......although with receiving Airborne things they have often been late when I knew it wasn't the shipper.

2. Also for those that ship, where do you buy your shipping boxes and shipping deli cups from? What size box do you use for shipping one baby?

www.superiorenterprise.com is where I get my packing supplies.....the box I use is the 15 x 11 x 7 one.....I use snake bags for the animals

3. How do you pack the box when shipping only one, so that the deli cup and baby do not bounce around alot??

I use shedded newpaper in the snake bag and throughout the box....a goodly amount but not packed tight.

4. Do you use heat packs this time of year and in june?

depends on where it's going.....use the www.weatherchannel.com to see

5. Where is the bets place to adverstise 2 small clutches? I have an ad on faunaclassified but was debating whether one on KS would be worth the money, seeing as its only 2 small clutches. Would you get a KS account? If so, how many months? (I plan to hold a few back till after they shed)

KS is a good buy.......I would do a 3 or 6 months acount....you get alot of exposure and it's well worth the cost

6. Does pay pal cost to accept credit card payments? I have a basic pay pal account but I believe in order to accept credit card payments, you have to pay a fee. Does anyone know how much this is? Is it worth it?

Yes, 3%, so price your babies and shipping accordingly....yes it's worth it....it protects you and the buyer

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Josh
My Email

np

Just asking because I have always used Deli Cups for lizards. Do you even use snake bags for baby lizards which are much more fragile. I mean it just seems like the Deli Cup would be much safer.
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Josh
My Email

np

The dragons I just got from Dragons Den came in from UPS. The only problem is they left them on the back porch in the sun. I didnt even know they were there untill I took out the trash. And that was at like 7 pm. The box said live , fragile, keep room temp, all the good stuff. Both the dragons were fine.
I have actually recieved multiple shipments through the post office with only one problem, they couldn't find the house because the address was writen wrong. I called them and they found the package and delivered it right away. When they got there the driver had them up front in front of a fan because he didnt want them to over heat. So they took good care of them.
I have also recieved shipments from airborne and they came on time and with no problems.

anyway just my experences with shipping, hope it helps.