Shipping Snakes via UPS

I’m basing this post on the assumption that UPS still does NOT knowingly ship harmless snakes for anyone, even good customers. I have been inquiring about the purchase of harmless snakes from several different sellers/breeders. This time of the year the shipping method is one of concern because of the temperature around the country. I have found that many breeders are shipping via UPS; this is not only a violation of company policy but also a violation of the Lacy Act if the package is not labeled correctly. These are sellers/breeders that have received glowing marks on the BOI. Most of the packages I receive are labeled wrong anyway and technically shouldn’t be accepted but at least shipping snakes through Delta is allowed.

Does UPS now allow the shipping of harmless snakes? Or do they just look the other way for their good high volume customers? If it’s against UPS policy to ship snakes I will take my business elsewhere, to a breeder/seller that ships on the up and up. I have inquired at UPS and have been told I would not ship snakes.

The last sentence should read:

I have inquired at UPS and have been told I could not ship snakes.

FEDEX is the only carrier I know of now that accepts live harmless snakes for shipping, but it has been nothing but a hastle to try to get certified...I can't get a local rep. to return my phone calls, and i also heard thru someone that they wont accept you if you are not a licensed business...As far as you not wanting to do business with the many folks who have shipped UPS and will continue to ship UPS (or any of the other Overnite services) well, that's your loss but your concern is justified...It's a hastle anyway you look at it :*/...

I have used UPS exclusively since this past summer. Sent out some snakes via UPS a month or so ago and have never ever had a problem. Is this something new?

WJ Long

Per UPS terms of service...

Accepted / Prohibited Live Animals
Accepted Live Animals

This is a comprehensive list of live animals accepted for transportation. Shippers are prohibited from shipping any animal not listed here, and all other live animals will not be accepted for transportation. The following live animals are accepted for transportation unless poisonous, venomous, and/or a Threatened or Endangered Species.

* Amphibians (All): Examples: frogs, salamanders, toads
* Crustaceans (All): Examples: crabs, crawfish, lobsters, shrimp
* Fish (All)
* Insects (Limited to beneficial insects only): Examples: bees, butterflies, crickets, lady bugs
* Mollusks (All): Examples: clams, mussels, snails
* Reptiles (Limited to the following):
- Lizards: Examples: chameleons, geckos, iguanas, monitors, flying dragons
- Turtles: freshwater turtles (except: snapping turtles), land tortoises, sea turtles
* Worms (All)


Prohibited Live Animals

Live Animals that are prohibited from being shipped and are not accepted for transportation include, but are not limited to:

* Any poisonous, venomous or threatening animal
* Any Threatened or Endangered species
* Arachnids (All): Examples: mites, scorpions, spiders, ticks
* Birds (All)
* Crocodiles (All): Examples: alligators, caimans, gavials
* Mammals (All)
* Obnoxious Insects: Examples: flies, locusts, mosquitoes, roaches, termites, weevils
* Snakes (All): venomous and non-venomous

kinda funny, i cant ship you a harmless corn snake but i could ship you some zebra mollusks...just dont dump them into your local water system, ok? :*/

I used to ship out my snakes via UPS. Did so for about a year. Had a local rep come out here to inspect the place and my shipping methods TWICE. Once he took photos of everything for documentation as well. Supposedly he cleared it on up the line and had everything set up. I asked my sales rep for an actual letter, but he never did come through with that. As was to be proven later, it was a mistake on my part not to pursue this more strongly and insist on getting a letter of approval.

Things were going just like clockwork and I didn't have a bit of problem. Boxes were marked properly, as per Lacey Act requirements, and I never heard a peep out of anyone.

Then one week in January (I believe) of last year, things all fell apart in a hurry. I had a couple of shipments to go out later on in the day, and the UPS driver showed up earlier in the day to drop off some packages. My wife mentioned to him that we had some shipments going out later in the day, just to remind him. Well she said he gave her a puzzled look and asked if anyone at UPS had called her. She said "No, why?" The UPS driver said that he got word down from corporate office to not pick up shipments of snakes here any longer. He was obviously embarrassed by all this and said that what he heard through the grape vine was that some snakes had escaped from one of our packages "up north" earlier in the week and terrorized one of the drivers. Well earlier in the week I had sent out three packages. I contacted each and every one of them to find out if anything "unusual" had happened with their deliveries. The only one that sounded suspicious was a package that went up into the Carolinas. At that time, they had an ice storm in the area and UPS was refusing to make any deliveries. So the customer himself had to drive to the UPS office in order to pick up his package. He said the package was undamaged and unopened, but he did get some static from one of the people behind the counter because the box was marked as having live harmless snakes in it. But other then that, nothing else was wrong. He had all of his snakes in the box and everything was OK as far as he could tell.

The other two packages arrived at their destinations uneventfully.

I have sent numerous emails and letters to UPS corporate office about this. I have had my attorney inquire to them about this incident. To date, they have never responded. Someone at UPS, quite bluntly, lied about this incident and as a result through me into a real loop when I could no longer ship my animals. I say it was a lie, because quite simply, if any of my snakes had escaped (and anyone ever receiving packages from me knows this is HIGHLY unlikely) then one of my customers either would not have gotten their shipment, or the shipment would have been short one or more animals. This is also EXTREMELY unlikely as no one was going to overlook there being 5 snakes instead of the 6 they had ordered and paid for.

UPS has refused to look into this matter and still tells me bluntly that they do not accept live snakes for shipments. Yet I know for a fact that I could get on the phone right now, this instant, and order snakes from several dealers and breeders, and they will be delivered to my door by UPS. Some even openly advertise the fact that they ship via UPS.

UPS, quite frankly, is engaging in a discriminatory practice that is damaging to some people in this business by providing a competitive advantage to some sellers of snakes over others. Yes, I could sue them, and yes I would probably win. After spending MANY thousands of dollars to do so. As my attorney told me, "Rich, do you really have enough damages to compensate for what you would get out of this?" Well, I'm not sure. Maybe if I didn't already have too much on my plate I would be very willing to find out. UPS needs to have their feet placed to the fire and either crap or get off the pot. If they are not going to accept snakes from me and you, then they should not be accepting it from Joe Blow and Jill Hill either. If they want the business, then get the business. If they don't then drop it all across the board, evenly and fairly.

Personally, I think a class action suit would be the ticket. That would spread the burden over a bunch of people and fire a shot across UPS's bow. Attorney's tend to make a LOT of money off of such broad based lawsuits, so perhaps someone could get one interested in taking this up. Quite frankly, I just don't have the steam to take this on myself. But you can bet I sure wish I could. It still burns me to even think about what they did to me.

So I guess, in a nutshell, what I am trying to tell you is that if you DO ship via UPS, they can drop you like a hot potato at any time with absolutely no notice. If it happened to me, it can certainly happen to you as well.

I have been using FedEx for about a year now, and except for the higher fees, have not had ANY problems at all using them. Matter of fact, whenever I order something from someone, I generally ask that they ship it to me via FedEx rather then UPS. It really rubs me the wrong way to give UPS any of my business in any fashion.

If it’s against UPS policy to ship snakes I will take my business elsewhere, to a breeder/seller that ships on the up and up.

- I think that almost 70% of all dealers ship there snakes via UPS or other shipping company that does not allow it. It is not a violation of the Lacey act unless they are not marked as such. All of my shipping is thru UPS. I have completly marked boxes and the driver knows whats in them. I have never had a problem.

I have been using FedEx for about a year now, and except for the higher fees, have not had ANY problems at all using them. Matter of fact, whenever I order something from someone, I generally ask that they ship it to me via FedEx rather then UPS. It really rubs me the wrong way to give UPS any of my business in any fashion.

Rich, I am going to agree with you on that. FEDEX is much better. However most of the time people are not willing to pay the higher costs & I would hate to absorb more in bills.

Hi All:
Just this week I was contacted by my UPS rep. telling me that I could no longer ship snakes through UPS due to a policy change as of Jan. 1,2005 that they are now listed in their book as against policy to ship. I too ship a lot of snakes and have been for 6 years now and have only used UPS, Not only that I have a Acrylic Display and Cage business that has been shipping through my UPS account as well, but not any more. I am now also in the process of setting up a FedEx accout, and agree with Rich, I will do my best to not ship anything at all through UPS or DHL as they told me they would not accept snakes either. When I set up my account it was to ship snakes and was told by my rep. that I was verified to ship, but it looks like now that it was just a ploy by the rep. to get my business and she was willing to overlook the snakes even thought they say now that they have never accepted snakes in shipping.

Originally Posted by Tripple H Herps

Rich, I am going to agree with you on that. FEDEX is much better. However most of the time people are not willing to pay the higher costs & I would hate to absorb more in bills.

I think there are very little choices with this situation. I just got my latest FedEx bill and NONE of them were below $50. I had to go to my website and raise my shipping to $60. And that still doesn't cover all of my expenses to get a box out the door. At one time I was able to pad the shipping charge so I would have a slush fund to pay for any losses incurred in a shipment. Not any longer. I'm doing the shipping thing as a dead loss any more. That really is not a workable business model for long term survival in business.

Just got billed for my first shipment since the rate hike. Surprisingly only $26.43 from CT to OH.....not much change from before.