Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is the story:
I used to live on Long Island (NY), my female russian tortoise escaped last October in our backyard and was never found. We sold our house in NY and moved to FL. Before moving I informed the new homeowners that my tortoise had escaped and they said if they ever found her they would ship her to me! Well it just so happens that she turned up in the backyard yesterday (I suppose she hibernated there all winter!) Well they informed me they will take care of her until we can figure out how to send her down here... so now I need some advice!

I need to know the best method to ship a russian tortoise from NY to FL. I'm not sure if Airborne overnight is sufficient to send a live reptile? Any recommendations? Also if anyone could provide suggestions for packing a tortoise if would be greatly appreciated.

Airborne does and will ship turtles and tortoises overnight without a problem.

Contact Lori Green from Turtle Homes. She might be willing to help considering this is such a good story and could probably get some good PR mileage. There are also shipping instructions on the Turtle Homes Website.
But TH is located on LI.
Ed

I recently shipped a hatchling via Airborne Express and was very pleased with the service. I dropped him off (or they will pick-up) at 6:30 pm in Indiana and he was in New Mexico at 10:30 the next morning for $25. I'd offer packing advice, but I'm sure it's quite different for an adult with some weight to it. Good luck and congratulations on your upcoming reunion. I think I would have cried when they called.

My wife has an airborne express account and overnighting is the method of choice for us. Be sure to time the drop off so that the animal goes out to the plane that day (call the drop of location, like office max, to check).