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Shipping ARGH!

Dogboa

Dogboa

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Ok, I have to ask some questions about shipping. I have looked at several folks advice on other forums which seemed excellent but my shipment Monday ended up with a cold little dude!

The senerio, I waited until the temperature was going to be 40 F at the the recipients airport. We only ship Delta-Dash. I packeged in a styro for perishable goods within a card-board box matched to the styro. The box was marked "Live Harmless Reptiles" on all four sides. I taped a 48 hour heat pack, wrapped in a single sheet of newspaper to the center of the styro bottom. I also taped the same to the center top of the lid. I shook the Cr#p out of both packs and waited till I felt them warm up before proceeding with the shipment (30 minutes). I put crumbled up news paper in the styro and placed the snake bag in the middle above the bottom heat pack. As the snake would only travel from 8:45 AM ( flight was at 9:15 AM) to 12:05 PM ( picked up at 1:08 PM) I didn't put any holes in the box and styro. The ambient temp when it was dropped off at Delta was 57F and rising and the temp at the destination would be at 40F upon arrival. My customer told me both heat packs were dead and the little guy was cold. He is doing fine and after some "human body" warming showed his appreciation by biting the guy. He has since curled up on a perch and seems fine. I generally give a one week satisfaction guarantee and don't expect a problem, but I am concerned that I screwed up with the shipment?

To give better service in the future, I was hoping you folks who ship a lot could answer my questions:
1. What is the lowest temp at the destination that you will consider shipping an neo-tropical animal?

2. Does the size or age of the animal come into play?

3. What can you do to insure that 48 hour heat packs are viable and have you noticed if they stop functioning at lower ambient temps?

4. What do you use as a measuring stick to determine how many heat packs to use?

5. Was my general shipping regiment sound or did I bite the big one?

Thanks in advance!
Dogboa
 
My customer told me both heat packs were dead and the little guy was cold.
Click to expand...

My honest opinion? I think your customer overreacted. If the snake was cool to his touch - this means one thing. The snake was under 98.6 degrees. NOT that big of a deal!

I can pull a snake out of a cage, when it has been sitting on the cool side for a few hours, and the snake will feel cool to the touch.

I wouldn't get yourself too bent out of shape over it.
 
It sounds like you did everything right! Assuming that your box was not to big. Did you use a standard insulated shipping box? They are usually 11"x11" or 12"x15".

As far as heat packs, all you can do is wait for them to get warm before you pack the animal(s), if that was the case I really don't see what could have been improved. Age or size of the animals that you are shipping is irrelevant as long as they are packed securely so they don't have room to bounce around in the box.
 
Thanks for the replies folks,
Dennis it was a 12x15 box, of 3/4 styro inside a matched cardboard box. I was concerned because we had shipped an animal last year to the same state and the customer said it was cold upon arrival.

Mark and Aimee,
The guy told me the interior of the box was cold and I had read on a thread in the BOI that someone had used a thermostat inside a shipping box at various ambient temps to test the heat packs and found that at 50F the packs didn't seem to be working. Once remove from that temp, they began to warm back up. Have any of you heard of or seen this happen?
Thanks,
Dogboa
 
We have been shipping out boxes even when the temps have been much lower than what you mentioned. What we do is to wrap two 40 hr. heat packs together within newspaper. This way the heat from each pack helps keep the other warm enough to keep on pumping out it's own heat.

Also, put a small amount of shredded newspaper around the heat packs within the newspaper wrapping. That will help to keep an airgap so air can freely get to the interior of the heat packs.

So far, all reports have indicated that the heat packs did a nice job of keeping the interior of the box nice and warm.
 
My honest opinion? I think your customer overreacted. If the snake was cool to his touch - this means one thing. The snake was under 98.6 degrees. NOT that big of a deal!
Click to expand...

I have received boas with temperatures in the 30's without a problem. As it was saidm, they will not arrive as if they had been lying on a heat tape, but still at an acceptable ambient temperature. Again, they will be cold to the touch, although not enough be a problem. By the way you described it, your packaging seemed adequate. Again, under these harsh conditions I would probably try to use the smallest styro-lined cardboard box that I can get away with, as well as two (even three) heat packs as was suggested.

Regards. :)
 
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