Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I know several of you guys sell your offspring and I was wondering what method you ship by and why. Also if you ship with say UPS,how do you label your box. I have to ship a baby ridleyi next week and was wondering which company to use. Thanks in advance.
Jim

Jim, the only overnight shipper that "knowingly" ships non-venomous snakes is Fedex. It is done through UPS, DHL, etc. quite often, but you run the risk of being a liar and having someone within the shipping process find out. The best thing is to go through the proper steps with Fedex, which you can find on the Faunaclassifieds forum under "shipping". It has the step-by-step process. Delta also delivers snakes, but you have to have to be a verified breeder and ship a certain number of packages per year. Try Fedex. I think it would be easier.

... I talked to Jeremy Anderson (aka Snakepimp) this week. He just got set up as a shipper with Fed-Ex. He gave me the guy's name (his Fed-Ex rep) and this guy set me up as a shipper with a monthly billing account, the whole 9 yards.

The thing that you have to do is call your local Fed-Ex office and get your area rep on the phone. This guy then sets you up with an account - and you can ship harmless snakes, no problem. The only thing that you have to do that is any "trouble" is to send a sample of your packaging; you know - the box and everything that you use - to the Fed-Ex lab and once they approve that you are good to ship snakes without listing them as baseball cards, fine china, etc.

Hope this helps...
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Peter Jolles
East Coast Colubrids
www.eastcoastcolubrids.com
peterjolles@eastcoastcolubrids.com

Since 1996 and I never had to list any contents????? It's not required on their forms and they don't ask.

Kerby...

>>Since 1996 and I never had to list any contents????? It's not required on their forms and they don't ask.
>>
>>Kerby...

but Kerby, don't you think the snake's likely to be handled with more care if the driver knows he's got a box with live contents? I'd hope so...and that's why the method being legitimate now is an improvement over the old circumstances.
does anyone know if you can insure the contents, the way you can when you ship via delta or other airlines? it would bel nice if fed ex' new policy extended to that service too.
terry

Not so sure them knowing its a reptiles is going to make them handle with care. People still fear and hate reptiles more so then like them. They also have a no guarantee live arrival so where is the incentive to treat it any different then any other box.

Keith
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Hmm... Maybe if the sender worked out all the box details with FedEx informing them of what was being shipped so it was legit but then just labeled the box in a truthful but vague manner such as, "Live harmless animal, Handle with care" or something.
I haven't researched FedEx's policies though.
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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.1 Normal phase California Kingsnake (Sophia)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

All of their packages are treated the same within reason. Temps, pressure, etc... They are responsible for their packages and the snakes that I ship without "reptile" labels on them IMO are treated the same. I insulate the boxes and pack them tight (to prevent movement) and either do a heat/cold pack depending upon the season (and at times don't provide either based on weather). Never had a problem except the one time I put too many heat packs (per customer's concerns on cold) and I overheated and killed the snake. I also replaced that snake free of charge. So besides that one instance (which had nothing to do with labeling) I'm averaging 100% success rate.

Now my dad was a retired USPS employee and the biggest joke (note necessarily true - but makes you wonder) was that anything labeled "FRAGILE" meant that it was tossed underhand instead of overhand. So IMO I do not think that labeling them indicating that they have reptiles will ensure a "special" treatment. I think that FEDEX treats ALL of their packages with care, hence my 100% success rate.

Kerby...

Don't you need to ship to a business address for them to ship your package? We ship to private individuals 99% of the time, so fedex would'nt be good in our situation. Or am I wrong about that?.......mike
Chris'

Most of the time I ship to home addresses. FEDEX does ask, but the reason they ask is to ensure that they deliver during "normal" business hours. You don't want FEDEX delivering a package to a business in the morning before they are opened or later in the day after a business is closed.

Kerby...