Info New reptile shipper that utilises UPS - Reptiles Express

[Eric Walker]

I also approve of your patience with the BOI nitpickers--you guys have been pretty professional through some incendiary comments.

 

[Khaman]

Seems like UPS might be swayed on their "mildly venomous" snake classification based on how some state wildlife laws see it. If you find a few states that prohibit venomous, but specifically allow hognose and other colubrids that are not considered dangerous, I would send them that info. Maybe they would even concede their decision to be in line with some particular state?

Here is a start look at 301 KAR 2 :082. Transportation and holding of exotic wildlife.
Section (3) subsection (2) letter (u) states;
Prohibited inherently-dangerous wildlife. Except as specified in Section 2 of this administrative regulation and subsections (3) , (5) , and (6) of this section, a person shall not import or possess in Kentucky the following: Venomous rear-fanged species (Family Colubridae) except hognose snakes (Genus Heterodon);

Ky specifically allows the importation of Hognose. http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/kar/301/002/082.htm

 

[Aurora]

Not to derail the current hognose topic, but after reading through this entire thread I've got to say I'm very excited for this company. I'm really missing SYR as they were perfect for my small operation snake shipping needs, and ReptilesExpress looks even better and certainly came at the right time.

I actually had their preliminary site in my bookmarks for over a month. Now I check it out today and all of a sudden it's a full blown beautiful web site! Great job guys - looking forward to giving you a spin.

 

[coldbloodedcages]

To further help with drop off and snake shipping problems we now have UPS approval to print "Approved To Ship Non-Venomous Snakes" directly on our UPS labels. As of today this will print on every label from ReptilesEXPRESS.com. Still working on the hognose thing! Thanks to everyone that has signed up and already purchased labels from us. Things are going great. We are open to all suggestions and criticisms. Most of the concerns from this and other threads have been addressed on our site. Email me directly at [email protected]

 

[dustinNMpythons]

Nice work Brendan. I'm not going to get on here and bash other companies but it looks like you have your ducks in a row and are really trying to get the shipping kinks worked out. I'm looking forward to doing business with ReptilesExpress.

 

[dragonlvr64]

Can't wait for the temps to cooperate so I can ship out two sold geckos!

Love the idea of approval being on the label

 

[kandicke]

Okay, I want to relay my experience using RE for the first time to ship out my first fauna corn snake sale (big day, right?!). I wanted to use an independent center, so I called first to be sure they knew about the exemption from the no-snakes policy. They didn't. The owner said she even called the UPS hub and was told absolutely no snakes of any kind, no questions asked, no exceptions. I asked if I could come in to show her the waiver and my "approved to ship" UPS label, but she wasn't interested. I thanked her, and then thought "well, why would she believe me when the UPS store told her I was full of it?" So, instead of getting all upset that RE wasn't working for me, I decided that someone with more authority needed to contact my local UPS sites and update them on their policies. I called Deb at RE (LOVE HER), and she had corporate call my local independent UPS center. I felt kinda like a little kid asking my mommy to call a bully's mom lol. 10 minutes later, she calls me back. They called the hub and it's all cleared up. Since it's a new agreement, it will take a while until everyone knows about it. And, since independent stores are, well, independent, they're likely to hold out longer especially if they're creeped out by snakes. UPS hubs still may not like shipping a snake from one joe-shmoe to another. BUT, the new shipping labels you print out have the Reptiles Express waiver stuff right on them, so it looks more legit.

Moral of the story - don't get your panties all in a bunch if you run into a speed bump. Just call RE if you are having a problem, they'll do everything humanly possible to fix it FAST.

Can't wait to show up at the hub and hand the snake to them after all...will be a Pretty Woman moment....and will be so hard for me not to say "I told you so!"

I'm now going to have to wait until Monday or so to ship out due to the heat, but I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

[neilg]

Deb at RE (LOVE HER)

awww, i hear from multiple folk in the boi SYR thread that she's GONE? sounds like RE will never be the same.

by the way, its from this thread appearing in google search for creating that thread that i found out about RE.. at least they actually provide a PDF of their Live Animal Waiver on file with Fedex(?) that is a handy document to show many a Fedex counterperson who is ready to turn away any package being dropped off the moment they notice it is marked the necessary 'harmless reptiles' and/or 'wildlife.

have never used them though (RE) but that is one thing i like about RE.. transparency!

bummer they don't insure ur animals like SYR does. wonder if RE is considering doing so? or maybe i'm mistaken and they actually do offer insurance now, anyone know??

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

RE's base functions have not been impacted since Debbie's departure if going by my recent business with RE. Debbie, however, was supremely exceptional at follow-up and just being overall on top of all operational matters, so customers like myself who appreciate that kind of above-and-beyond performance on the part of an individual contributor in a company will surely miss her and her knack. Especially if there were kinks along the way in a package's travel course.

Neil, it really seems like you are trying to stir the pot in recent threads on RE, SYR, and so forth. It is to the point where it makes it wasteful in my mind to post valuable original/first-person experiential content in your discussion thread on inter-generic hybridization because it kind of feels more like a trap than what should be an open conversation for knowledge-sharing. I would imagine this sort of thing shuts others down who would otherwise engage you in meaningful topics, too, so you are engineering a setting whereby you will receive mostly antagonistic complaints or simply "silence" or a sort. This explanation is a courtesy from me to you.

 

[nickolasanastasiou]

Correction -> silence *of* a sort.

 

[neilg]

obviously i'm not worried about my questioning certain issues (ie, reptiles being shipped in utterly unapproved packaging under approved service thus ending up dead) taken as a 'blanket cloud' over anything else i express an interest in discussing on FC on whole.

this is america afterall and indeed the political climate even in everyday life is one of 'suspicion' of people having alterior motives in their activity IRL or online on whole; and that is the case evenmoreso on a site like this -'Classifieds' niche- as it, where it seems the bulk of active members on here are in the reptile 'business' in fact the loudest voices here are ones who mention they 'ship reptiles all the time' and so on... how i am perceived here by such persons i could care even less cuz it doesn't affect me; what's wrong with 'stirring the pot' occasionally.

now if someone were to accuse me of stirring the pot in every topic i create or chime in on, then that's where mods and forum rules come in, not just dishing out accusations whenever the user posts about anything under the sun.

 

[snakesareawesome]

Anyone else like trolls?

 

[Aurora]

Aww, Debbie's gone? She was amazing.

 

[snowgyre]

To get back on topic with this BOI thread, I have shipped using Reptiles Express almost exclusively over the past three years. I couldn't be happier with their service. I am saddened that Debbie is gone, but I will continue using the service as long as I receive similar care.

 

[neilg]

time for moi to actually try them out too for a change to and even get a copy of the complete waiver PDF! (when a critter in the classifieds eventually tickles my fancy and hopefully the seller can use RE)

Here is part of our snake waiver:

RE: Acceptance of Live Non-Venomous Snakes from ReptilesExpress.com and its Customers

Dear Reptiles Express, LLC

We have reviewed your request for UPS to reconsider our policy prohibiting acceptance of any kind of snake (venomous or non-venomous) for transportation. Upon completion of our review it seems appropriate that UPS can transport non-venomous snakes, provide specific restrictions and conditions are met.

Restrictions: First and foremost, UPS will only accept non-venomous snakes. Venomous snakes must not be offered for transportation at any time. Second, any snake listed on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website as a “Threatened or Endangered Species” is prohibited by UPS and must not be offered for transportation. Finally, live non-venomous snakes must be offered for transportation via UPS Next Day Air Service only. Unless Saturday Delivery is specifically requested, live non-venomous snakes may only be shipped Monday thru Thursday.

Conditions: You must comply with some basic principles of humane care and safety in preparing and packaging live non-venomous snakes for shipment. UPS is not liable for perishable items including live snakes and does not provide temperature-controlled distribution. Packaging must be designed to provide a primary and secondary means of containment. Each snake must be placed is a fabric or burlap type bag of sufficient material strength to ensure the snake cannot tear or otherwise compromise the integrity of the bag. The bag must be sealed or closed in such a fashion as to prevent the bag from opening during transport. Each bag (or multiple bags) must be placed in a box constructed of double wall corrugated of sufficient strength and size to accommodate the size and weight of the snake(s) being shipped. It is recommended that an expanded polystyrene (EPS) box be placed inside the corrugated box to provide additional protection from sudden environmental changes to which the package may be exposed during handling and transport. If an EPS box is used the external corrugated package may be constructed of single wall corrugated.
It is the responsibility of the shipper to identify any additional requirements necessary to provide basic humane conditions for the non-venomous snake during transportation, such as air ventilation and a source of moisture. Also it is suggested that the packaging used or developed to transport non-venomous snakes be submitted to an International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) certified testing lab for pre-shipment testing prior to being offered to UPS for transportation.