Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 9 -- A Missouri United Parcel Service driver got a shock when he found a 9-foot python in his van, while a snake fancier was disappointed to get an empty box.

David Ostermyer and his new pet were united after he saw a news story which said that the python had been delivered to the St. Charles County animal shelter, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Ostermyer, of O'Fallon, ordered the female albino Burmese python from a Pennsylvania dealer to breed it with a male he already owns. He told officials he tried to flag down the UPS driver when he realized the snake was not in the box.

The driver found the animal curled up on a shelf in the van.

A herpetologist told the newspaper that the best way to ship snakes is in a bag tied firmly closed because snakes can break out of boxes.

The Burmese python, one of the largest snakes in the world, is a popular pet.
But many people who acquire the snakes when they are small later abandon them, and Burmese pythons are now common in the Florida Everglades.

Can you really believe someone shipping a snake in a box without a bag?

Then again, I had a brazilian rainbow shipped to me in dead winter, and the box was the size of the snake balled up. No paper, no bag, no cup, no insulation, no heat pack, nothing!
The snake was touching the box on all sides...

I remember the snake measured about 42 degrees core body temp. He came out of it after being warmed up but died about a month later.

Take care all, and do the right thing!

Joe Rollo - Bci Joe
-----
Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

Nice......Talk about bad P.R. for snake breeders and their potential customers!

One question, this was an adult Burm? What the heck was he shipping it via U.P.S. for?

Why not Delta.....or even Airborne?

Fred A

.

First, the guy that shipped that animal in an improper box-sans-bag is a dope..

But more importantly.. lots of bad things, really bad things happen everyday, when they end up in print we get the facts with little commentary.. if some dog went missing from a shipping goof the community is mobilised to find the poor pooch.. somebody misplaces their pet snake and even when no-one is bothered and it finds it's way home.. we're blasted.. and every time one of these things goes public more damaging info and pseudo-info is perpetuated.

This is not an accident or because the average guy on the street demands this kind of commentary on lost reptile pets.. it is the power of advocacy by a few groups out to get us and take away our priviledges to keep these animals...

... and I gotta say.. they are getting some help from a few bad eggs inside our hobby.

Those are my opinions.

Gus.

Hot weather story:
I received an adult Hogg in much the same manner in the last couple of months. Though she was bagged, she had no insulation, no cool pack, and was scheduled for delivery at 3pm in Houston summer temps...she was hot to the touch when I took her out. I soaked her to rehydrate her and she spend a couple of weeks straight in her water bowl. I had to finally remove the bowl and put in a smaller one (she was sprayed for mites - she doesn't have them). Lately, I've put the bigger water bowl back in and she is ignoring it. I think it became an addiction or else she was much worse off than I thought. I didn't think to temp gun her, just immidiately soaked her. I didn't realize a month later from a bad delivery. I am very pleased she is still with me.

Shipper story:
I shipped a boa (probably 3-4 feet in length) during the winter. It left my house with properly insulated box, bag tied, pleanty of cushioning newspaper, and a paper covered heat pack taped in the box. We both got notices that the package was damaged by shipper. We could not get any more info than that. It was delayed in delivery. When it arrived, it was in a much larger empty box, free roaming around it. Not only did they not even insulte it with so much as newspaper, they removed it from the bag she was shipped in!! Now, how damaged could the box have been for her to be removed from her bag? It makes no sense. Even if the box was crushed, the bag wouldn't have been. The newspaper wouldn't have been. After seeing all the care I put into the package, what on earth would make someone think to just toss a free roaming snake in a box and and continue it on it's journey...would they have done that to grandma's prize heirloom vase? The receiver and I were both stunned by this complete lack of thought, caring, and dare I say, extreme stupidity, as they had the original box to show how packaging was supposed to be done. Although, she arrived alive, and thankfully still is, I can't imagine what she went through.
-----

I heard a story just like that, after an investigation it was disacovered the box had been delivered to the wrong place.. when the driver went back to get the package he was handed the animal (without box) by the disappointed people whose kids thought they had free snake pet..

The only other time I have heard a nything like that was when the feds intercepted a shipment and took everything but the animal for an investigation.. don't know what became of the investigation.

Gus.

I just remembered about this!

After shipping a snake a few months back, I received a call from someone that put another person on the phone claiming to be the sherriff of some airport, or something like that..

I was at work, focused, and it was a bit hard to actually realize what this guy was saying.

I'm thinking, what's going on? is this some sort of sting? scam?

Anyway, the person tells me again who he is, and that this is just a routine random inspection of a package. He said they sometimes do these checks to verify the shipper did in fact send this package.

So he asks if I did ship, I say yes. He asks to confirm receiver, and I do. He then asks if he could know the contents of the box, and I ask if it's necessary. I proceed to tell him Live Harmless Reptiles. So he just confirms and asks if that is all, and I say yes.
He then asks if he would open the package, would it just be a lizard, and how would it be packaged? I then said that I had not specified lizard, I had said reptile, but it was in fact a harmless snake. I then explained how the neonate was in a sealed delicup with papertowels. The delicup was wrapped in tape, like an X. Inside the box was styrofoam lining and newspaper for cushioning, and so on.
He just wanted to confirm if he opened it that's what he would find. So I said yes, but it would be best for the safety of the animal if he didn't, presuming he wouldn't 'put it back how he found it'.

He was happy and ended the conversation.

I was a bit nervous after that, thinking this and that..

I was anxious to confirm it's delivery, especially with this hold up, now it would be delayed a bit..

Package arrived fine and have not heard anything since..

Every now and then I still wonder about that one..

Later -Joe
-----
Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

.

.
-----
Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

The feds got their hands on her...Must have thought they'd catch me shipping illegal drugs...well, I fooled them...hah!! They didn't find anything...I shoved them so far up the snake's bum, a finger probe wouldn't have found the vial...of course they might have felt the tiny baggie...but NOT! Boy, were we both relieved when it all came out in the end.
-----

.
-----
Thanks and take care - Joe Rollo
'Tis not the stongest of the species that will eventually survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change' Charles Darwin

.....guess I'm not surprised..........