Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering what companies you use to ship with, and why? I have shipped and recieved geckos through USPS, and occasionally it takes two nights, but they seem to handle the package better. FedEx does a decent job too. What do you think?

I have recieved herps from USPS and they always arrived on time and safe. I have recieved and just shipped UPS. I always had them arive well. I believe my first boa may have came Federal express and she was grat to. I think they all are pretty eqaul. I like UPS because just put the latin name on the contents section of the label and they don't question it at all, they only ask if it is hazzardous.

I ship fedex they are great and quick they always seem to take good care of the packages, but be carefull do not tell them what is inside or they will not ship. Just order shipping boxes that say (parishable , This side up, etc.) and they will take good care of it. Hope this helps.

jason

This is a very important and touchy issue for breeders like me who ship Leopard Geckos all over the country. It is getting harder and more expensive to ship reptiles these days, and the reason is because there are people who do not follow the terms and rules of the shipping companies. It is due to the illegal transporting of certain herps (snakes in particular) and the irresponsibility of some people who do not know how to pack a reptile safely. This results in DOA's and too many claims being filed against the shippers, so they just discontinue allowing live animal shipments all together.

I ship almost exclusively with UPS, and very occasionally with USPS because they are the ONLY shippers other than Delta Dash that will accept live reptiles. The USPS does not guarantee live arrival, and usually have you pay for overnight delivery but cannot guarantee that it will be delivered the next day either. The USPS also has different policies depending on which airport the shipments will be going through as to whether they will even accept reptiles at all. The others like Fed-Ex, Airborne Express, etc. have very explicit terms that prohibit the shipping of reptiles.
Here's a link to Airborne's shipping conditions: (cut and paste)

http://www.airborne.com/USSvcs/USSvcsCond.asp?nav=USServices/USShipping/ShipmentPreparation/USSvcCond&sc=acpt

D.SHIPMENTS NOT ACCEPTABLE
1. Any shipment prohibited by law.
2. The following articles:
9. Live birds, mammals, snakes, lizards, bees, or other animals except for those which may be shipped subject to paragraph C of this rule.

It is not wise, nor is it legal, to lie about the contents of a shipment. Those of you who have purchased Leopard Geckos from me can attest for the fact that I clearly mark the boxes "FRAGILE - PERISHABLE - LIVE HARMLESS GECKOS - KEEP AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. I feel that by being honest and following the rules allows for the safety and well being of the geckos during shipment, as well as reinforcing that the majority of us who ship live animals are willing to cooperate with the terms of the shipping companies.

Unless we want all of the shipping companies to pull the plug on allowing live shipments all together, I strongly recommend setting an example of being responsible and ethical when shipping reptiles by being aware of the shipping companies rules and following them. Without our shipping companies, everyone would be limited to buying Leopard Geckos at pet stores, and we breeders would go out of business!!! There is already enough legislature and laws regarding our right to have reptiles as pets...

Marcia McGuiness
'The Lizard Lady'
Golden Gate Geckos

np
Link

I have only shipped geckos through USPS, but I have recieved them through FedEx, UPS, USPS, and Airborne Express. I assumed that since all these other breeders used all four companies that it was alright.

Have you had any problems with UPS? I have heard more bad than good about them, and I would hate to have my only other "next day" option be a bad one.

Personally, I have never had a problem with UPS and the times I've had problems with USPS delivering in two days instead of overnight I immediately refunded my customer's shipping money and filed a claim at the Post Office. They refunded my money to me on the spot for failure to deliver as guaranteed, but I have never had to file a DOA claim. (knock on wood!) The only problems I have had receiving live geckos was with USPS, and the biggest problem of all has been Airborne Express delivering my crickets!

Marcia McGuiness
'The Lizard Lady'

Golden Gate Geckos

i have said this on another forum about airborne express but i will say it again because of my sheer distaste of that company ... i used to work customer service at airborne express... one of their star accounts was timberland crickets (or timber..whatever) and i don't know why they stay with airborne except they are cheap.. airborne doesn't own there own planes , trucks or vans .. they are all contracted out ... so it is easy for them to shift blame especially with live shipment .. crickets are housed in cold warehouses, left on doors in the winter,in rain etc... and could get lost in transit for days.... so live shipments usually end up at your door dead... it is not about the complaints we get about them because we had few and always referred them to shipper but because airborne knows that they cannot possibly garuntee a live shipment let alone a letter.... they just don't have the power or the effort to deliver anything on time in non inner city areas....ok that is my two cents about airborne...

The last geckos I got in the mail came through them, and when they arrived, the delivery guy just set the box on my step without ringing the bell or anything. Luckily I saw him from my bedroom window because that was in March and I live in Colorado. I would have opened a box of frozen geckos if I hadn't seen him. Also, he completely disreguarded the "this side up" stickers on the box and left it turned up on its end. Who knows what happened during the other 24 hours of travel.

I called to complain, and the lady said that due to space restraints, their employees aren't obligated to follow directions on the box. Due to time restraints, their delivery people couldn't ring every doorbell, and she recommended that I ship/recieve with a different company next time.

That's a strange way of doing business in my opinion.