Live reptile shipments--preferred carriers...

Hi, I'm just looking to get some opinions on the current industry situation in shipping live reptiles, specifically lizards.

It seems that carriers are changing their policies everyday, and it's hard to know who will ship what from one day to the next and still give guarantees.  Which maybe isn't true, but it's just my observation.

Could I get some opinions on what carriers and services people use, why they use that carrier, and what their policies are?  And why do you choose the carrier/s that you use.  If you ship lizards, your response would be particularly helpful.

Thanks so much in advance.

--Joshua

For anyone interested, I've found the official USPS policies for shipping reptiles, and any live animal, for that matter.

The policies for shipping 'Small Cold-blooded Animals' is section C022.3.2 of the USPS DMM (Domestic Mail Manual).  (Section C022 is for all 'Perishables' and sub-section 3.0 for 'Live Animals' and sub-sub-section 3.2 for 'Small Cold-blooded Animals'.)

You can view these policies online by using the USPS Postal Explorer, website http://pe.usps.gov/ and search for "C022.3.2".  This will take you right to this section.

I hope this helps anyone with questions regarding USPS official policy, cause it sure helped me!

--Joshua

Joshua,
     I have used USPS for about 95% of my shipping in the past 3 yrs.  The box is always marked in bold letters:
LIVE HARMLESS LIZARDS OR GECKOS!!  And I have never had a D.O.A.  The couple of close calls that I have had, were my fault or the buyers fault. And the animals were fine! Just late!!  Things changed after 9/11 for the USPS.  Because they started using Fed-X for most of their express overnight stuff.  And Fed-X does not care if it is the USPS or a private party they do not allow live animals on their planes!!!!  What I did here was wait until late in the day to take the package to the office. And it would go out on the first USPS flight in the morning. About 6 A.M.  I am in Montana so weather is always a factor!  No matter what I say, or anybody else will say. The best thing to do is.  Find out the persons name that is in charge of express mail at your local branch.  Not their helper! but the person in charge!  And then treat them with respect.  Tell them what you are going to be doing. If you let them know that your main concerns are for the animals safety. They will help you!! I knew what time that their regular flights came in, and have a phone # and a first name that I could call at 4 am and 6 am to find out if my shipment was there yet.  I hope I helped!!    Tom

Hey Jashua, the best for shiiping live animals is Airborne express. I shipped over 200 boxes of herps with them last year, and never once had a problem. You will have problems shipping anything live with Fed Ex. It took me over 1 year to get an account with UPS, they had to come out and see my set up. They also made me sign a form stating that I would never ship snakes. I now have to call USPS to make a reservation to ship with them.
Airborne Express is the best!

Rick Steward/Ricks Reptiles

I have used the following and my opinion for each follows:

Delta Dash :  good for expensive animals, they get to the destination quick.

Airborne:  Really good, especially for the money.

USPS:  My town postoffice is good, they know the regs and don't change them every 10 minutes.  Basically, it depends on the branch that you are using.  Really good, but again, depends on the branch.

UPS: Horrible, they are idiots.  I wouldn't ship a lollipop with them.  They are lying, incompetent fools.  In my opinion, you should walk your animals to their destination before using this company, which is I think is run by a bunch of Barnum and Bailey Clown flunkees.  One example is I received an animal and said I would like to ship an animal.  The guy told me that they didn't take live animals as he handed me an animal.  Another example is, after a year, I decided to give them another chance.  They said I had to wait a week to ship an animal, that I had to fill out an application.  Somehow, they lost my application 3 times.  They are jackasses.  

Ciro Spina