Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I need to ship a bp and I dont know how to ship it. I have the box and all the materials but what company do i ship with??? Everyone who I have talked to says they do not ship snakes and if someone has sent a snake through their company they werent suppose to. So how do I ship my snake???

Thanks
Nate

You can get certified thru Fedex to ship live harmless reptiles (lizards, snakes, etc). You find out who your local rep is, then send in a box and fill out some paperwork, it's not too hard. I've heard rumors that UPS is now allowing shipment of harmless reptiles also (but don't quote me on that they've been a pain to go thru in the past). USPS is a definate no-no and I'm not sure about DHL - but their service is horrible and I wouldn't ship anything live thru them anyway. When shipping snakes your boxes need to be labled per Lacy Act, "live harmless reptile" does not cut it - I label mine:

Live Harmless Reptile
Scientific Name: Python Regius
Common Name: Royal Python
Quantity: One (1)

I'm Fedex certified and have had no problems so far. Hope this helps.
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Tosha

"Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed." Don Wood

"Of course, that's only my opinion...and I believe I am God." =) Chris Bianco

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope John Paul)
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 Pool skimmer rescues for this season

I got my snakes with holes in the box and just "perishable handle with care" with big red arrow pointing up. NO harmless reptile on it. The box had thin styrafoam insulation and crumpled news paper. Usually they have heat packs but my last one did not (suprized and the snakes were freezing) Then the snake is either in a snake bag with news paper shreds in it or a plastic container.

Is this standard?
I talked to UPS and they said some reptiles but no snakes what so ever!
I will have to contact FEDEX and see what they say.

Thanks
Nate

A majoirty of the boxes that I receive are not labeled properly. Sad I know! Even people who are certified to ship reptiles generally don't like labeling them because "it creates mishandling" delayed shipments, etc. I have never personally had this problem and it is a federal crime (is that the right terminology) not to label the packages for both the shipper and the recipient - not something I would subject my buyer or myself to. But like I said most people don't label them.

With that being said, what you've described is pretty standard. If your weather is warm enough the shipper may have thought that a heat pack was not have been necessary. I always like to double check weather on both ends.

Hope this helps.
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Tosha

"Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed." Don Wood

"Of course, that's only my opinion...and I believe I am God." =) Chris Bianco

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope John Paul)
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 Pool skimmer rescues for this season

Also, here's a good site that goes into detail on shipping reptiles:

http://www.mountainkings.com/Shipping.html

I've never shipped any myself, so perhaps some of the pros out there can comment on the site's content.

-bruce

I have sent you some details about FedEx shipping from another forum.

Good luck!

UPS you are not supposed to ship along with Fed Ex. Fed Ex has a tremendous amount of hoops to jump through to get verified.

We are a verified shipper through Delta and it was a completely easy process, and from start to finish was about 30 days. I just recently went to ship an animal through Delta and a new person was working and never looked to see that we were verified. I went in with the package open as always so they could inspect the contents and then she handed me a waiver that I signed. I asked her what it was for and she said it was a liability release for shipping live/harmless animals. Naturally I told her that we were verfified and then she checked and threw away the form. So technically speaking I believe you can ship through Delta without being verified as that error would attest. She said that the form I signed was in fact for un verified shippers. The shipping cost was nominal at about 70 bucks and then 10 dollars for every thousand insured, and always a same day delivery.

Hope that helps
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