What method do you use to ship?

Yes, there are a number of ways that a poll can be set up. My intent was to have some numbers to talk about to a representative of the various shipping companies and be able to say "I have input from X number of companies who are looking for a reliable, aboveboard method to ship their snakes and other reptiles to customers." Obviously as long as there is not a major price difference, anyone who can ship their snakes through a shipper is not going to ship lizards and turtles through one, and snakes through the other. So I would be discussing TOTAL business coming from X number of potential shippers.

In some respects I do wish I could have this entire mess over in the SHIPPING forum, but you all know as well as I do that this site has a huge problem with tunnel vision centered only on the BOI. Polls of various flavors are a good way to get some concrete information to work with, but I really do not want to flood the BOI with them.

Rich.... for the life of me, I can't remember who it was, but SOMEONE was talking to the higher-ups at UPS to try and get them to relent and let us ship snakes "legally".... do you know what ever happend to that??

Neil

Though we haven't shipped anything in a long time, I used to use airborne exclusively. The driver knew what was in the box and I never had any hassles or screw ups. Until the last time I tried to ship, I was told that unless they were turtles over 4" in length, they weren't going to accept the box.

my honest opion on the matter is this;

while i am guilty of utilizing 'unauthorized' overnight carriers to ship live reptiles.... there is no excuse for spending a little extra money to shi legally, in a temperature controlled environment in a properly pressurized cabin. US air PDQ and Delta dash. I am not a verified delta shipper so i dont ship out via delta, however anyone can use US air PDQ. Again, there is no excuse. Inconveniant? More expensive?

Who here is in this 'HOBBY' to save money? If you are, you should stick to cutting cupons for cans of baked beans. Not to say its an elite hobby or anyhting, but plain and simple IT COSTS MONEY. I cant get into the 'yachting' scene due to finacial restrictions... The proper care and shipping of reptiles is not much different, if you cannot afford to do it right, that you cannot afford to do it.
To ship animals THE RIGHT WAY.... it costs a little more.

Inconveiniant.... well how conveniant is cleaning up snake crap? It comes with the territory... god forbid anyone should have to get up and leave the house to pick up or drop off an animal with a shipping company that takes proper care of your animal in trasit and insures it for the declared value.

Your shipping methos is your option to choose. Im well aware of the number of succesful shipments made via overnight carriers at all times of the year. Fact is, the animals made it fine, everyone was happy, its more conveniant, etc etc etc.... BUT, yo uare taking a risk,... that that package will show up on time... that the temps dont plummit or skyrocket in trasit.... i dont care what the temp reads on CNN.com , at 30,000 ft its almost always freezing. The unpressurized, un heated belly of a mail cargo plane is not what its like outside on your porch 10 miles below. Some kid making 12 bucks an hour to kick boxes around is doing exactly that. Fed Ex Trucks leave the sort at 6am or so... you get your package by 10am... thats 4 hours of bouncing around, parked in the sun, or in the freezing cold with no heater, etc.

If you want to ship right, legally, and securley use an airport to airport service.

just my opinon. i dont condemn anyone for shipping however they please, and again, ive used fedex, and ups....but i took a gamble... gamble and sooner than later youll loose.

sean mills

Neil - it was Ben Sparks that tried this with UPS a while back.

If you want to ship right, legally, and securley use an airport to airport service.

That's all good and dandy to tell everyone you should ship airport to airport, but in the real world it doesn't happen. No one is going to ship a $25 corn snake or similar value reptile this way.

It's not realistic.

Airport to airport is not without risk either. Fewer risks!

This is about getting overnight carriers to change their policy on shipping snakes.

hey buddy its my opinion....

your stating that a $25 cornsanke doesnt deserve the same humaine, secure transit that a $20000 snake does? thats pretty sad.

maybe that $25 corn snake should be a $75 cornsake, gauranteed to be shipped live and healthy....

I for one am against shipping airlines. Yes it is inconveinient. For me to ship delta it is about a four hour round trip. The price really does not bother me, but I see no advantages to it. When I have gotten things in the winter they have been sitting on a cold floor. I have driven the four hour rond trip to find out the plane was delayed. I actually got my motley boa airborne by choice, the shipper wanted to pay for delta and I begged him to send it airborne, he agreed and no problem. Add to that getting certified as a delta shipper. I have a friend that did that and it took several months to get someone to approve it. I know someone reading this, that lives 5 mins from an airport, will disagree and say that is the only way to ship, but I have no intention of taking 4+hrs out of my day anytime I need to ship something. Craig Kade

The problem isn't with the individual shipping companies. The IATA and Federal Government says that live animals can only be shipped via air cargo. It is plain and simply illegal to ship live animals using a ground carrier (ie. UPS, Fedex, Airbourne Express). Who cares what the federal law says! I use UPS Next Day Air to ship animals on a daily basis. I ship everything from hatchling cornsnakes to 8 foot pythons. I've never had a problem in 10 years. People end up getting screwed because they write "Live Reptile", "Live Animal" or "Live Harmless Reptile" all over the box. Never do that, you're asking for trouble. "Perishable-Avoid Extreme Temperatures" is all you need to put on the box. You have to be discreet. It also helps to get to know the driver or clerk that recieves your packages. UPS leaves it up to the discretion of the clerk whether or not to accept a parcel. But if they get caught up in a jam, they will automatically say that they do not allow the shipping of live animals. Then you can kiss your package goodbye! They have to cover their own asses. It's not that these companies don't want our business. They could care less what people ship. They have to answer to IATA and the Federal government. Trust me, they will screw you every time to keep the Feds away.

I will be very interested to see where this goes, I too have always thought that the shipping companies never had the right to block the shipping of harmless reptiles and especially snakes.
They really don't know what they are missing out on for buisness, the pet trade in the last five years has exploded! Everyone wants exotic reptiles the more rare the better.
I have heard from actual companies that they make a deal with some shipping companies, paying a yearly fee to them for allowing them to ship snakes, that's all well and good but what about the little guys!? What are we suppose to do!?

Thanks,
Brad Baysinger