Robert and Suzanne Johnson of Southern Bearded Dragons

Hello –
I recently purchased a dragon from Robert and Suzanne Johnson of Southern Bearded Dragons through kingsnake. They had an awesome looking hypotrans baby male that fits perfectly into my breeding plans. We agreed upon a price and a ship date. Robert told me he was shipping out using UPS via Ship Your Reptiles next day air, which was fine. Next day air shipments are guaranteed to my location by 10:30. Well the shipment arrived late (not that big of a deal), I told him about it and told him that we could get a shipping refund because of late delivery. However, he did not want to pursue the shipping refund. This issue aside (which is not his fault), his packaging was less than what I had expected! I have attached two pictures of the box directly after I received it. I did not change any of his packaging at all. He had zero insulation in the package with the dragon in a deli cup. He did have some padding material but no insulation. Personally I have never sent out an animal without insulation to protect from temperature extremes and being jostled around too much. He had some small holes at the top of the box on each side for ventilation. However, the holes were so small that very little air exchange could happen and some were taped over.

I e-mailed him the following as soon as I opened the box.

from K Mara <scaledverts@gmail.com>
to Robert Johnson <southernbeardeddragons@yahoo.com>
date Tue, May 18, 2010 at 2:06 PM
subject Re: Fw: UPS Ship Notification, Tracking Number 1Z12EW270198834957

Robert -

Just got the dragon. He appears healthy and alert, however his packaging was not up to industry standards! I would never consider sending an animal out with zero insulation. The insulation keeps the animal from experiencing the temperature extremes of in an airplane hold to tarmac to warehouse to delivery. I am disappointed that your packaging did not include styrofoam insulation as is required by ship your reptiles and UPS. I am going to set up the dragon in his new enclosure and hope that he did not experience temperature extremes in Louisville, West Palm or Tampa.

What are your thoughts?

Kyle

His reply to my message was:

from Robert Johnson <southernbeardeddragons@yahoo.com>
to K Mara <scaledverts@gmail.com>
date Tue, May 18, 2010 at 3:53 PM
subject Re: Fw: UPS Ship Notification, Tracking Number 1Z12EW270198834957

Kyle,

I'm sure he will be fine, I've been shipping reptiles since 1999 and congratulations your the first one to complain on over 5000 or so shipments. Styrofoam as we have experienced holds heat as well as hold it out, once the inside gets to it's maximum temps it holds it for log extended periods of time. We have shipped packages with data loggers inside to record temps over shipments all over the country , This device is a very accurate way to see what goes on all the way to and back to me in all weather conditions. It records every 5 seconds temps and humidity levels and gives me a graph chart showing all the points of temp's and humidity changes with time stamps. Florida Central and south is best to ship in a plain box with plenty of airflow in fact a screen window worked the best.. Styrofoam produced the longest period of heat dissipation. Our main concern is the reptiles safety not UPS and or Shipyoureptiles standard in which I have no way of telling how they came about the standards they use... It's my responsibility since they do not guarantee the live arrival even if they drop the ball and leave reptiles overnight in the hubs just because they forgot to pick them up...I've experienced this.... They do not take responsibility if the reptile or any other live animal dies due to their own neglect. Been there with them... Example 30 dragons got left in Kentucky between Cali and here..they simply forgot to load them at the hub, All but 5 died and the rest followed only days later due to dehydration... I pursued the issue with UPS with the guy that was actually shipping them to me... They do not under no circumstances guarantee the safe travel of anything alive.. With that said I will stick by my own shipping methods which has had perfect results due to my on research. AS far as getting the money back for shipping.. Overnight means what it says... no 10, 11 or any other time guarantee's are expressed.. You can pay for a by 10.30 am delivery time but in this case it was just an overnight shipment as expressed in our Terms and Conditions on our site... We ship only by 10;30 am if the customer request for it and pays the difference. I am however involved with a company that is starting up a new shipping service that eventually will carry a insurance policy to guarantee the alive delivery themselves... This will in my opinion be a big plus for the reptile industry... Enjoy your dragon, he will be fine I'm sure.. He was the most aggressive one in the bunch, no feeding problems no other issues with him.

Best Reguards

Robert & Suzanne Johnson
Southernbeardeddragons.com
404.394.2090
404.242.2090

OK, number one it doesn’t matter how long you have been shipping or how many shipments you have sent out. Improper packaging is improper packaging. Number two his box went from GA to KY to West Palm, FL to Tampa, FL. I am sure this package experienced some temperature extremes at some point in its journey especially in FL with the current warm temps here. His second part about UPS and late packages deals with this package not arriving on time and me telling him he should ask for the shipping charges back.

from K Mara <scaledverts@gmail.com>
to Robert Johnson <southernbeardeddragons@yahoo.com>
date Tue, May 18, 2010 at 4:08 PM
subject Re: Fw: UPS Ship Notification, Tracking Number 1Z12EW270198834957

Actually according to UPS it is guaranteed by 10:30. Look at their website. And just because I am the first to complain does not excuse the lack of insulation. Styrofoam holding heat is why if the temps get to high you put cold packs with the animals. In any case I will keep you updated about his progress. Also, I am sending another e-mail shortly about a second toe nip issue I noticed when I took him out.

The toe nip is left in here for completeness. He rectified the issue of the toe nip with a partial refund.

I am torn because he is not really a “BAD GUY” but his shipping is unacceptable so I put this as an INFO thread and everyone can draw their own conclusions about it. I should also point out that the dragon appears healthy and alert and other than the toe nip issue I am very happy with him.

Kyle