Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK, I know there is a shipping forum also, but it seems like it takes forever over there to get any answer(if you do get any, for that matter)so I wanted to ask over here.
In about a month my family and I are going to be moving from Buffalo, NY to Houston, TX. I need to ship my two geckos down there along with my two fish. I have a few questions :-/
First off, I'm leaving on a Sunday and my sister agreed to ship out my lizards for me on the next day, the only problem is, she's not too fond of reptiles and doesn't really want to catch them(they're golden geckos, btw and not easily caught :-/)So anywho, I was wondering if it was possible to not only keep them in the small 'critter keepers' over night, but to also ship them in the critter keepers too(I was planning on taping them securely shut if this was OK)I already know about getting heatpacks and insultion for the inside of the box(I'll probably just get a box from my old work)
Also, my old boss(owner of a VERY nice local petshop)suggested that I use FedEx for shipping, as it would probably be the cheapest and he said he hasn't had too many problems/lost packages with them. Has anyone else had problems/exprience with FedEx or any other shipping company?

Thanks oodles for any advice!!
~Cro

I wouldn't ship them in the critter keepers..what's to prevent the geckos from rattling around? How would your heat pack keep the thing warm? Also your shipping cost would go way up because of the size and weight of box you would end up with after all the padding and heat packs, and critter keepers.
My recommendation would be to put them individually in large deli cups with moist paper towels crumpled in there to keep them from bouncing so much. Your geckos should be all right left in these from Sunday to Tuesday as long as long as they are kept at proper temps. Put a bunch of small air holes, of course.
Pack them in a flat (rather than cube-shaped) box with a couple of heat packs between the cups, and all surrounded by crumpled paper to keep the cups from sliding around. And ship them as late in the day as possible on Monday.
I doubt that FedEx would be the cheapest overnight carrier. Generally, they are the most expensive, followed by UPS, DHL, and US Postal. It kind of comes down to whom do you trust more. Personally I would never ship anything with DHL, I've seen how they work and have heard many horror stories about lost packages. US Mail is somewhat chancy, IMO, but they generally do pretty well. I might add that I've been a UPS driver for 13 years, so I've seen good and bad from all the carriers. Also, technically you are required to list the contents, and some carriers don't accept reptiles. There's lots of good info on the Shipping Forum in old threads, you might want to read some of the old posts.
Sorry I can't offer any advice about shipping fish.
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Chris

1.0.1 Coleonyx variegatus
1.0.0 Gekko vittatus
1.0.0 Eublepharis macularius
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus

Terrestrial? Who you calling terrestrial?!!

Considering these are my pets that I've had for over 5 years or so, money isn't one of my concerns about this. I was looking for the most reliable and the best shipper out of all of them.
The box that I'm getting, if I remember correctly, are used to air freight tropical fish and are cube shaped and already insulted, but probably big enough to fit both the fish and the lizards in them. Incase of the fish bags breaking, i was going to silicone a piece of plexiglass down the middle to prevent the geckos from drowning(I was going to also test this to make sure it was infact watertight)

Thanks for the advice, I think I'm going to be spending the next couple of days on the phone with shipping companies to find one that will allow both reptiles AND fish :-/

~Cro

>>Considering these are my pets that I've had for over 5 years or so, money isn't one of my concerns about this. I was looking for the most reliable and the best shipper out of all of them.
>>The box that I'm getting, if I remember correctly, are used to air freight tropical fish and are cube shaped and already insulted, but probably big enough to fit both the fish and the lizards in them. Incase of the fish bags breaking, i was going to silicone a piece of plexiglass down the middle to prevent the geckos from drowning(I was going to also test this to make sure it was infact watertight)
>>
>>Thanks for the advice, I think I'm going to be spending the next couple of days on the phone with shipping companies to find one that will allow both reptiles AND fish :-/
>>
>>~Cro

The problem with cube-shaped boxes is that they tend to be tumbled around a lot more than flat ones. No big deal for the fish, I would guess, but I doubt it will do your geckos much good. Since money is not really a consideration, you would probably be better off shipping the gex and fish separately, thus avoiding the whole geckos-drowning-because-the-bag-broke-and-the-plexiglass-came-loose scenario.

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Chris

1.0.1 Coleonyx variegatus
1.0.0 Gekko vittatus
1.0.0 Eublepharis macularius
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus

Terrestrial? Who you calling terrestrial?!!

Do you HAVE to become a 'certified shipper' as I'm noticing with most of the major shipping companies to ship animals? I'm noticing on a few other forums of people talking about getting certified, etc in order to ship reptiles, but the majority of these people are breeders and are frequently shipping out aniamsl. This is going to be a one time thing for me, as I don't plan on moving across the country again anytime soon :-D
Also, is there any other airlines that are _reliable_ when it comes to shipping animals? I know Delta Dash is very good, but unfortunatly, they don't accept packages at the Buffalo airport to be sent out...for whatever reason...

...I guess that was two questions :-D

~Cro

In order to be in compliance with UPS' shipping policies, you must be "certified" to ship reptiles. From what I understand it is mainly a formality where you sign papers saying you will not ship snakes, protected species, venomous species, etc. I'm not sure how long it takes to become "certified", but I wouldn't bet on it occurring overnight.

That being said...

UPS cannot and does not check the contents of every single package in the system. If person were, for a hypothetical example, to pack a couple of geckos at home, print up a shipping label on UPS.com, bring the package to his nearest UPS Store, Office Depot, Staples, etc. and simply drop it off, normally the package will not be opened or inspected unless they are suspicious that something odd may be afoot. They may ask the contents, then again they may not. Nothing really to stop you from telling them there's a toy animal inside. (Note that if you bring a package to a UPS Customer Counter, it will be opened and inspected!)

I would like to make it clear that the above scenario is hypothetical and is given merely for illustrative purposes. I am in no way advocating deliberate falsification of package contents or circumvention of UPS shipping policies, no matter how arbitrary and nonsensical such policies may be.

I believe that most of us in the herp community can rely on our own honest judgement as to the "right" thing to do in a particular circumstance, wouldn't you agree?

>>Do you HAVE to become a 'certified shipper' as I'm noticing with most of the major shipping companies to ship animals? I'm noticing on a few other forums of people talking about getting certified, etc in order to ship reptiles, but the majority of these people are breeders and are frequently shipping out aniamsl. This is going to be a one time thing for me, as I don't plan on moving across the country again anytime soon :-D
>>Also, is there any other airlines that are _reliable_ when it comes to shipping animals? I know Delta Dash is very good, but unfortunatly, they don't accept packages at the Buffalo airport to be sent out...for whatever reason...
>>
>>...I guess that was two questions :-D
>>
>>~Cro

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Chris

1.0.1 Coleonyx variegatus
1.0.0 Gekko vittatus
1.0.0 Eublepharis macularius
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus

Terrestrial? Who you calling terrestrial?!!

That's why I was asking if all of the major shippers require this, I know that a lot of the snake breeders were having problems for the LONGEST time about shipping any type of snake.
I knew that UPS had the policy, but I wasn't too sure about the other shippers

~Cro

how are you traveling? can you not carry you gex on board the plane if you are flying? just tuck the deli cups into your carry on baggage AFTER you check with the airline to make sure it is alright for you to have them. I live 116 miles from where you are supposed to be flying in to and im not sure what their laws and regulations are concerning animals
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1.0.1 Green Iguana Andy and Vernie
0.2.0 Cats April and Sugar
1.0.0 German Shepard Dog Router
0.0.50 Fish
And lots of rescues waiting to find homes...

My understanding is NONE of the airlines accept any animals except cats, dogs, rabbits and some birds on the aircraft.
That, and I'm also traveling with two cat which is going to stress me out enough without worry whether the lizards are going to be allowed on board or not.
I'm almost positive Delta Airlines(the one we're going to be traveling with) doesn't allow any cold-blooded animals whatsoever on the plane.
But thanks for the suggestion anyways!

~Cro

There is another option...

You could drive them. I moved/drove from the west coast to the east coast with an argus monitor and a gecko. We took an SUV, and put them in the back in their cages with a small power pack battery to keep the heat and lights on. You have to smuggle them into motels at night though. We limited driving to 8 hours a day, it took 6 days. Both animals were healthy when we left, and when we arrived at our destination. Just a thought.
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Lisa

1.0.0 P.m. grandis (Linus)
3.3.1 P. standingi (too many to name!)