Heat Pack use

What is your general procedure for using heat packs when shipping reptiles?

I'm talking about actual 40 hour heat packs for reptile shipping, not those useless little hand warmer things.
I use UniHeat

This is what I do:
activate heat pack
leave on table until it's heated up
poke some holes in a sheet of newspaper
lightly wrap heat pack in one layer of newspaper
Attach to inner lid of Styrofoam box, using a strip of tape on the ends of the newspaper to hold pack in place

I also put a few holes in the Styrofoam to promote some air movement but I do not put holes though the outer shipping box.

Reptile in bag or deli cup, not in direct contact with heat pack, cushioned with crumbled paper.

Sounds like a good way to me. Mine is jus a lil different.
I also use uniheat packs, 40hr as well.
I usually wait till the last minute to box my reptiles. I let the heat pack start to get warm before i do anything with it just to make sure its working. I also tape it to the lid of the styrofoa box but i do not wrap it in newspaper. I tape down all four sides of it so it does not fall. I also punch a few holes in styrofoam for air movement. As well as a few thru outside of box for fresh air, mostly weather permitting. I wont ship under 50° for a low, just not worth it to me. I prefer to ship in bags, over deli cups, just my personel preference. I either pack newspaper around the animal or a type of soft insulation so there isnt much movement when being shipped. Not tight just snug so they can move. I also try not to feed the animal a week before shipping, hoping they dont deficate in transportation.

It depends on what I'm shipping, the box, and the temps.
While I occasionally tape the pack to the top, my preference is to tape it to a side - one piece of tape across the top of the pack - and I put full depth holes behind the pack. I never wrap the pack.
The reason I only tape across the top of the pack when it's on the side is so it can get jostled a bit in transit...I also make a point of packing so the filler isn't holding the pack in place (for that same reason)

This is what I do for packing with a heat pack (if a heat pack is needed):

* Place 40 Hr. Heat pack in thin paper sandwich bag (fits perfectly flat in bag bottom) ... fold bag over, once, and cut off excess. Tape it closed with one small piece of tape. Allow to fully heat up.
* Snake/s placed in separate bag/s &/or deli/s.
..-- Bag/s lined (bottom of bag), with zero print paper towels, and tied with bag strings plus a zip tie (usually knot bag too).
..-- Deli/s contain enough shredded, zero print, paper towel for cushioning. Lid is taped around/along the lid edge to the top of deli (without covering deli holes).
* Box is lined, on all sides, top, & bottom with no less than 3/4" insulation panels.
* Fully heated up heat pack, still wrapped inside the portion of paper bag, is taped inside box/insulation onto one side (taped along outer edges and one piece of tape going over, & behind, insulation panel).
* Cardboard piece is cut to fit length/height of box side, several slots are cut out (like a vent - with solid center divide between slot rows), and is taped (to the box/insulation sides) in front of heat pack.
* Two small holes are punched through box/insulation at the location, and behind, where the heat pack sits.
* Box is filled with a mix of crumpled newspaper (or shredded paper, or packing peanuts) and fiber fill. Enough to allow the most minimum movement of box contents.
..-- snakes, etc., are not placed next to heat pack.
* Box is securely taped closed and marked.

Originally Posted by chrisis697

I usually wait till the last minute to box my reptiles.

I do too.
The great thing is that our FedEx hub doesn't close until 9 PM.
I make package drop off, to be shipped out, just a bit before 9 PM.

For those of you that cover, wrap, or otherwise "package" the heat packs; have you gotten feedback from your customers about whether they arrive warm? Almost without fail, the wrapped packs that I've received are dead...but they restart after being out in the air again.

No complaints about the temp upon arrival from the people I've shipped to (I don't ship a whole lot though compared to others). I did have one DOA due to failed heatpack, however that was my fault. When I broke it to heat up, it was 'crunchy' and chunky inside, I knew it was off but assumed it would still work but it did not.

In bigger boxes, I've gotten in the habit of taping the heat pack (40 hrs) to the bottom of the box above the styrofoam insulation, and then putting a layer of egg crate to create dead air space between the heat pack and the snakes. That way the heat pack doesn't run out of air, and the snakes aren't in direct contact with the heat. Also, if the box is placed on the cold ground, the heat pack acts as an additional buffer.

Any feedback, that I have ever had, has been positive.
Heat packs ... no problems, that I am aware of, to date.
Even one where I shipped at about 28 degrees (guaranteeing the critters), and package got hung up en route due to FedEx error, where the buyer did not get it until afternoon/evening (next day), arrived with all critters alive, healthy, alert, and heat pack working.