Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just emailed UPS to find out shipping regulations on animals and I was told that it's illegal?

Here's part of the email:

Thank you for your inquiry. Some live animals may be accepted
for shipment to U.S. domestic destinations with prior approval
by UPS. The following kinds of live animals are not handled in
UPS domestic ground or air services:

Live birds (including poultry)
Live warm-blooded animals, including, but not limited to, mice,
rats, rabbits, dogs, cats, hamsters, or guinea pigs.
All snakes, poisonous and non-poisonous
Poisonous reptiles
Poisonous insects
All spiders

So was the individual that responded to the email just misinformed or is it true and I should avoid shipping via UPS?
Has anyone spoke to them on the phone regarding shipping herps and inverts?

Anyhow, please let me know your thoughts.

Kinda confused,
GatorGal

"poisonous reptiles"---since they already mentioned snakes, that includes what...all two species of heloderma, I guess.

Sounds like UPS will ship lizards and feeder insects just fine, but not tarantulas, scorps, snakes, etc.
Ironically, their guidelines mentioned there would not prevent you from using them to ship a 10 foot alligator.

If the UPS personel was not misinformed, then why do almost all dealers I speak to insist on shipping with UPS? I mean if it's illegal then wouldn't serious charges apply if it was discovered they were shipping snakes?

>>"poisonous reptiles"---since they already mentioned snakes, that includes what...all two species of heloderma, I guess.
>>
>>Sounds like UPS will ship lizards and feeder insects just fine, but not tarantulas, scorps, snakes, etc.
>>Ironically, their guidelines mentioned there would not prevent you from using them to ship a 10 foot alligator.

Nowhere in the quote you provided did it say anything about legalities. Shipping certain types of animals is merely against UPS policy. The worst that UPS can do is close your account and refuse future shipments from you.

In general, it's not illegal to ship snakes via UPS, just against their policies. It CAN be illegal to ship snakes via UPS or any other carrier if there's a violation of the Lacey Act, CITES, or any other Federal or State wildlife laws.

Nobody I know of ships venomous snakes via UPS. Everyone uses Delta Dash for that. They are the only carrier that I am aware of that allows for shipping venomous.

It is ALWAYS illegal to use the U.S. Postal Service to ship snakes.

NW Air Cargo will ship hots and others. You do not even need to be a verified shipper. In my experience they are ABOVE AND BEYOND Delta in terms of Customer satisfaction. Delta rarely goes out of their way for you. NW will bend over backwards to get your business.

Matt

I'll second that motion.

I have used NW the last few times I have received animals and as a non-verified shipper, I have shipped with them as well. They have all been positive experiences.

It was easy, fast, and reliable. The toughest part about it was
finding/making a shipping box to meet IATA regulations for venomous snakes (and that really wasn't too tough either.)

-Michael B.

Was the price comparable to that of Delta dash?
Paul Bollinger
Bayou.Surreal.Reptiles

Seeing how I would argue that there is no such thing as a "poisonous reptile" I would call them on it.