Can an individual ship a snake without being deceitful?

I usually only ship babies-juvies, but I am paring down a bit & selling some larger animals. I've got some things I want to sell, but I'm afraid to see what the shipping cost would be (too many people aren't willing to make the trip to the airport - talk about spoiled, huh, Sammy?)

Originally Posted by hhmoore

I've got some things I want to sell, but I'm afraid to see what the shipping cost would be (too many people aren't willing to make the trip to the airport - talk about spoiled, huh, Sammy?)

You want spoiled..... I have hand delivered two snakes so far this year. One was a 250 mile round trip and the other just under 400 miles round trip. And in both cases I charged them what it cost me in gas, and that cost was still cheaper than shipping would have been. And I was nice enough to do it on a Saturday so they didnt have to miss a day of work either.

Between the high costs of shipping and people not wanting to miss work I may just start doing this as a standard service for any customer that lives within 200 miles of me. Ah the joys of having a car that gets 33 miles to the gallon.

Sorry, John - the 12 lb, 14x12x8 box was headed to WA.

Originally Posted by Roerep

I called UPS (home office, customer service) six weeks ago and asked if they allow the shipping of snakes. The rep looked at her documentation, and said, "If it's not poisonous or dangerous, we will ship a snake. However, we will not be responsible for the snake should there be an issue during shipping."
I then spoke to a UPS representative at the Daytona Show...told him this and he said, "Just be sure to let an agent see how well you've packed the animal."
I then checked prices with UPS---prohibitive.
That said, I have now used Reptster on two occasions and it is a fantastic service...much cheaper than UPS and easy to set-up.
All the best-
Jim Lineberger

I would STRONGLY suggest that you get that OK in writing from UPS. I had a UPS account a few years ago where the sales rep came out to my place took photos of the facility and packing materials and gave me a verbal OK from him and the station manager. Things went fine for about a year, then suddenly some driver in a local station up in the carolinas freaked out or something and made a bogus claim that the snakes in a shipment has escaped and nearly killed him with fright. Of course, none of my customers were missing any animals. Anyway, my local office got a call from corporate headquarters to not pick up any more shipments here containing live animals. This was done at the drop of a hat, and with no recourse. Everyone at the local office went immediately into CYA mode and just left my ass out on a limb.

So if you don't have it in writing, the same thing could happen to you.

Now, about the Reptster shipping. How does that work? Do you fill out the FedEx paperwork online with FedEx, or with Reptster?

It is all done right on Reptster...hopefully, they are working on the requirement to have name/address/phone to get a shipping quote (I heard they were). That part is more of a hassle than FedEx, but the rest is no different...FedEx will do pickups, but I always just drop the stuff off (the local hub is 3 miles from my house).

Originally Posted by hhmoore

It is all done right on Reptster...hopefully, they are working on the requirement to have name/address/phone to get a shipping quote (I heard they were). That part is more of a hassle than FedEx, but the rest is no different...FedEx will do pickups, but I always just drop the stuff off (the local hub is 3 miles from my house).

Hmm, well maybe it's just me, but I would have a real problem providing my customer list to anyone. Not too sure what my customers would think of that either....

Getting a FedEx account set up is no big deal, and the lesser number of middle men involved in a transaction, the better, in my opinion.

And btw, as mentioned, if you do not label your boxes ACCURATELY with the contents when shipping live animals, you are violating federal law. If a representative suggests or blatantly tells you to NOT label the boxes accurately, then that person is conspiring to violate a federal law.

Originally Posted by LakesideBoas

Oh, that trifling little thing? P'shaw, no need to worry...

My sentiments, exactly.

Originally Posted by Rich Z

Anyway, my local office got a call from corporate headquarters to not pick up any more shipments here containing live animals. This was done at the drop of a hat, and with no recourse. Everyone at the local office went immediately into CYA mode and just left my ass out on a limb.

Don't think for a second that FedEx won't do the same either, it happened to me this year. My driver showed up one day with a delivery and said he got orders from his boss not to pick up live animals from me..took two weeks to get it all straight and back on track ...what a pain in the

But ... after all the phones calls and different people I talked to.... I don't think it will happen again.

Originally Posted by RyanT

My sentiments, exactly.

You do realize that she was being sarcastic

Originally Posted by RyanT

My sentiments, exactly.

Ryan, I don't think you realise just how truly sarcastic I can be!


If the law says label it I label it. Mostly because if I don't I'll most likely be the lucky one who's package gets searched and held and ruins it for everyone else!

Also there's something about willingly violating a Federal law that just gives me the willies...

Edit: Thank you, John!