that is the one...and it works

sorry if this has been asked already, i did not have time to read thru every page of this thread.

How is it better to be certified or registered with Fedex, as opposed to just sending the package without being certified?

In its simplest - because by general policy, FedEx does not accept live animal shipments. That is a benefit offered to account holders that obtain the waiver. In other words, FedEx is under no obligation to ship your animals if you are not "certified". And since it is a violation of Federal law to ship animals without identifying the contents....

ok thanks.

ok, i registered online, then today i called about becoming a certified reptile shipper. then i got the number to have a packaging test. i downloaded the form, and i am only waiting on my heat packs to arrive. i got the 40 hour heat packs. now after that, i call my rep and ask for the harmless reptile waiver. the woman told me who my rep is and his phone number, when i called about becoming certified. i tried to do it the was you have listed, but that was 2 years ago, and the website is not as simple now. but i figured out enough to get me started. Thanks for the help. Colleen

i meant "I tried to do it how you listed it, but that was 2 years ago."
i could not edit my post for whatever reason.

Don't bother to activate your heat packs in your test shipment. That isn't necessary, as what they are looking at is structural integrity and security of the packaging methods. Just tape the (still packaged) heat pack(s) where you would put them, and make sure that your sample containers - whether bags, deli cups, or whatever - are secured

don't forget to check that you want your test package returned to you!
otherwise it wouldn't matter if you didn't activate the pack, lol.
No sense wasting perfectly good supplies by not having them returned.

i did check for them to return the box and it's contents. thanks. i thought the guy told me to use functioning heat paks. i have used ones here. but i don't know. i guess i'll put the new ones in and see what happens.

what gets me, is- i went to the local Pack and Send place- they deal with all shippers and are also a post office location. the woman says to me, " FEDEX won't take reptiles". i said, DHL and FEDEX will accept reptiles. And so she says, "Oh, they Do?" don't tell people they can't ship reptiles when you obviously have no idea what you are talking about. jeesh.

You might want to tone down the all knowing attitude just a bit, since you clearly aren't all that well versed in the various companies' policies yourself.
As mentioned earlier - they do not, by policy, ship reptiles...but both DHL and FedEx offer a waiver that will allow customers to do so. Even with their waiver, DHL limits the type of reptiles they will accept (though I am aware of many that ship all manner of reptiles with their account reps' blessings, lol)

As for the heat packs, I used dead ones when I sent my package in for review/testing. That might be a better option than sending them still in the package, as long as you have some available.