how do I ship frozen rats? dry ice info needed.

All I've found online so far is to use dry ice. But it doesn't say how much is needed. I've never used it before, and dont even know where to buy the stuff, or how its sold, or anything about it really. I can just put the dead rats in sandwich bags right? It doesn't seem like a frozen box of rats would thaw in a day or 2 even without dry ice if they were in a styrofoam cooler thingy.

Anyway, I gotta unload some extra rats, so any info or even a link to a "how to" will be appreciated

First, dry ice is considered a hazardous material in air transportation so there are regulations and packaging restrictions that have to be followed. To legally ship dry ice there is also training that is required by federal and international agencies, to keep people from tossing rats in a baggie into a box of dry ice and sending them on their way. Here's some reading material for you:

http://www.research.northwestern.edu...e-shipping.pdf
http://images.fedex.com/us/packaging...bles_fxcom.pdf
http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/res...ous/index.html
http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/res.../training.html

Where do you buy dry ice? Here's a directory that locates distributors based on your area code. Many will sell retail in lower quantities, and it's usually around a dollar per pound or so.

http://www.dryicedirectory.com/usa.htm

When shipping UPS or FedEx you'll want to use less than 5.5 pounds per package to keep things simple on yourself.

Also, make sure when you do ship to get the THICK styrofoam boxes not the little thin ones that are used as coolers. This would then go inside a box.

Once you are certified to ship dry ice make sure you don't completely seal the package as the CO2 will need a place to escape during transit so the pressure doesn't build inside the container. In terms of packing, what has worked for me in the past is a thin layer of dry ice on the bottom, then some brown paper bag, then your rodents, then brown paper bag, then more dry ice on top. I have shipped frozen shark specimens using this method with great success.

Umm. wow. Thanx for the info. That just sounds like to much hassle for the quantity of surplus I usually end up with. They've been going to pet stores, but I'm not fond of in store credit, or getting bent over. Maybe I'll check craigslist, or just have to buy more snakes

Thanx anyway though

just to clarify, the "to much hassle" statement is about being about getting authorized to ship dry ice. Not the actual shipping part. If there"s an alternative to dry ice, I'd like to hear it.