Shipping Heat Sensitive Herps - Need Info

I am trying to work out a trade with a guy which will require me to ship 1.2 Gargoyle Geckos. As with other Rhacodactylus these guys can't handle heat like other reptiles, they are most comfortable kept at 68-78F. They can handle 80 but once it starts getting closer to 85F and up they can stress and die. I just checked up 10 day forecast and it looks like all this week temps will be 81-86 HIGHS/66-70 LOWS for my area, and 64-72 HIGHS/56-60 LOWS in their area.

I have never used cold packs, so I would like to hear from people who have if they can keep the package cool enough until it gets to it's general destination, since the temps there are fine for the geckos. I've also heard of the Phase 22 packs that are supposed to be able to keep a stable temp around 70, but are these reliable?

A single cold gel pack would be all you need with those temps as it appears you only need to deal with the high temps on your end. Don't drop the box off until the last minute and you could probably avoid a cold pack entirely. Have it held at the destination facility. If it is going to overheat and die, it is going to be when it is on a truck out for delivery so avoid that scenario altogether.

If you have it held make sure you check the hours of the destination facility if you are using UPS. I know my UPS counter is only open from 5pm-6pm.

I agree. I tend to not pack my boxes until 5-6pm and drop them off at the Fed Ex hub to be held for pick up. I did a test run when shipping a few animals to AZ a few years ago. I left a indoor/outdoor thermometer in the box the highest temp was 81 and that was from my snake room.

Thanks for responding guys! Yea I never drop the packages off early, always wait till the last minute basically. So how long does a cold pack stay frozen usually?

It depends on the type of cold pack, what the outside temp is, and how it is used. I have had snakes shipped to me where the shipper broke open a cold pack put some of the gel into a snack baggie and used that so it would not get so cold...not a recommendation just a factor. I have never received an animal where the pack was still frozen but some have still been quite cold.