Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm having a pile of boas shipped from Miami to Los Angeles. The weather's fine on both ends, it's the middle I'm worried about. I'm shipping FedEx and the nighttime temperatures in Memphis are in the low 30's...other than a good insulated box and heat packs, are there any other suggestions? Waiting for spring, unfortunately, is not an option.

Thanks in advance gang.

cheers,
Gabriel

It is illegal to ship snakes through UPS. Use Delta Dash for shipping animals - it is quick and they keep them in temp controlled rooms. Use the set up you described with a 12 hour heat pack....it will not get too warm and it will provide enough warmth when the box is outside.

If you don't want to use Delta then consider getting set up with Fed Ex....see below.

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"Ok, this is what you need to do.

First you have to set up an acct with FedEx. This costs you nothing. It can be done on line or by phone. It is easier and quicker online (I would think anyway) since you do not have to hold and have people asking you to repeat something.

Go to http://fedex.com/us/ and click on the link on the left hand side near the top where it says 'opening an acct'. Go through the steps from there. **by setting up an acct. you get free labels etc. You can have them pre-printed with your shipping info, I received mine the other day.
AFTER 24 hours (takes that long to process it and make it 'live')
After you do the above things you will then need to call 1-800-GOFEDEX (4633339) and ask customer service to have your account representative call you. This can take anywhere between a few hours to 48 hours. While you are waiting you can go to http://fedex.com/us/services/expres...ging/tips.html, scroll down towards the bottom and click on a link that says 'complete this form' under the heading "Packaging Testing or Evaluation". This is the form you will have to print and fill out to send with your package.
Now, with all that said, you probably could skip the call to the sales rep. and just print the form and send it in. The Packaging Department did not know I was sending in a package. The only valuable info I got from the sales rep. was the account number (theirs) in which to bill the shipping sharges to.
**Sorry, I will not give that number out, it is not my place to do so**

I then sent the package to the Packaging Design and Development department (address is on the bottom of the page you will be printing out. I sent it out last Friday (6 days ago) and I got the box back (you can request on the form to have the box sent back) with the current paperwork I have on Tuesday.
It then tells you to call you local acct. rep (follow the above steps with 800 number) to have them send you the legal paperwork.
This will be a contract between you and FedEx regarding your shipping live harmless reptiles/animals. I picture that I will have to fill it out/sign it and fax/mail it back to them. At that point you should be good to go unless they give you any other instructions.
Some key numbers you might want:
Package Design and Development Dept.- 1-800-633-7019. This is if you have any questions of them.
Live Animal Desk- 1-800-405-9052 This is just for you to have. They really did not help me any as they sent me, at that point, to their legal department. In fact, they told me that exceptions are not made and only ship horses and animals for zoos.
Legal Department- 901-434-8494 The contact I used was James Brown. He was good to answer some questions I had.

**When shipping the box to the Package and Design Dept., you want to ship just like you would when you send a snake. Include everything right down to the deli cup or snake bag.....just no snake of course**

I hope this helps you all. Take advantage of this. This is the best way, so far, that we reptile/amphibian breeders have in order to ship our 'goods' without being denied the service. It might sound complicated, but it really is easy."

Wrote by Brian Oakley.

Good luck!
Baker's Boas

I am sorry ...I read your message again and you are shipping Fed Ex....anyway my email is for those that want to come certified. Long day at work! I would use Delta if you can.

Good luck again.
Baker's Boas

"It is illegal to ship snakes through UPS" . It is not illegal to ship snakes UPS .It is however against their policy to do so. However provided the snakes are legal in both states and not venomous or endangered no laws would be broken. It would be against the law to ship snakes USPS. Perchance thats what you meant.

You are right...it is NOT illegal but against their policy. What is illegal is to not properly label the outside of the box (Lacy Act). Once you mark on the outside of the box LEGALLY - UPS will NOT let you ship. Kind of a catch 22...isn't it? This is the way UPS and the Lacy Act read here in WI anyway. Regardless, UPS is really not a good choice. If you are dealing with snakes in the winter go with one of the airlines because they are a lot quicker and they are temp controlled.

My mom works for the USPS and you defiantly can not ship snakes through them.

Hope this helps.
Baker's Boas

I ship UPS all the time and I like it better than Fed-ex or Delta. Delta is a pain in the butt for alot of people that have a long drive to the airport. Not to mention everytime I recieve snakes through Delta they always lose my package and I end up having to wait there like 3 hours. My UPS guy picks up at my house at 8pm and the package arrives by 10:30am at its destination. Thats only 14.5 hours. Fed-ex is ok but very expensive. I just shipped UPS last night to a destination where it was 5 degrees and they arrived happy healthy and warm. In my opinion its all in the packaging.

http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ddusitwr.htm

This is very interesting......."wildlife trade business is the second-largest illegal trade in the world after drugs"
Baker's Boas

Are you sure this method is temperature controlled? Dont snakes ride in the cargo hold? What about changes in air pressure, can that hhurt snakes?
Thanks,
Caden

The cargo holds are preasurized like the rest of the plane. It will be less pressure then at ground elevation just like the cabin. The same holds are used to ship warm blooded pets like dogs/cats/birds. One big advantage is avoiding overnight temp drops at some sorting facility. The packages are not subjected to freezing temps.
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife
0.2 kids
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 Het for Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)
1.0 BCI albino het stripe
1.0 BCI salmon hypo
0.1 BCI ghost

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

...temps were a bit chilly to my liking. Everthing went well but I had several "gut feelings" to cancel the deal. I'm in Texas and was shipping to Florida. My major concern was the same as yours....the middle point. All I can say is if you feel uneasy about it just don't do it. I used a commercially purchased insulated box with 2 heat packs that were opened many hours before the trip. I tried to time them so there "peak" times were appropriate for the actual times I wanted them to be at their warmest. I even did a trial run before the real deal. Because of the worry it created for me, I will not repeat shipping during any questionable weather. Like I said, all went well, but it was not my intention to repeat this situation again. If you can't afford to loose them financially or emotionally or refund the entire purchase amount I suggest you wait.

Linda

>>I'm having a pile of boas shipped from Miami to Los Angeles. The weather's fine on both ends, it's the middle I'm worried about. I'm shipping FedEx and the nighttime temperatures in Memphis are in the low 30's...other than a good insulated box and heat packs, are there any other suggestions? Waiting for spring, unfortunately, is not an option.
>>
>>Thanks in advance gang.
>>
>>cheers,
>>Gabriel
>>
>>
>>
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When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is ready, the teachers appears.

I am confident I won't have any problems.
Last year I had several customers that had purchased Boas from us, Problem was it was either cold here or at there place (This was in January) so I got tired of waiting for the weather to cooperate so I had to see what would happen with the inside temp of a shipping box overnight in my truck with an out side temp of 24 degrees. After a few tries I found that a box 12 x 9 x 6 with 1/2 inch insulation would stay a 70 degrees with three 40 hour heat packs. So I think that if you do a test in your refrigerator for 15 hours you should get a good Idea how the snake will fare being shipped through Fed EX overnight. By the way I recommend that all shippers send through a shipping company that allows the shipping of snakes like Fed EX or Delta Dash because the last thing we need is more bad press good luck Scott Mid Atlantic Morphs