Shipping geckos cross-country

Ladyneko

New Member
Messages
2
Location
NC
Hello all! First time posting.

My husband and I will be moving from the east coast to Alaska this summer and we have two full grown leos. We were thinking that we would use UPS but are unsure if they will be ok without a cold/heat pack since it will be summer or if they need one. Does anyone here have much experience with UPS and would you trust them with your leos? Heat/cold packs for this summer?
 

tb144050

New Member
Messages
1,050
Location
Texarkana
I am not an expert shipper but here are some considerations:

-I was told that reptiles can only legally be shipped "1day overnight" delivery.
-You don't know the temp of the facility they will be stored in.
-I ordered Leo's in January (overnight low temps of 40-50F across the US) and the shipper used 1 heatpack...those babies were COOOOLLLDD but still seem ok to this day. (note: 1 never had much of an appetite, but she is a regen-tail and has "issues" with her personality too..)
-I ordered Leo's last week (overnight low temps of 60-65F in my area), and the shipper used 1 heatpack. The Leo's were cool to the touch but still lively and responsive when handled.
-I was told FedEx actually has a SYR (ShipYourReptile) company/department that handles reptiles. I will be learning first-hand about shipping reptiles later this year. :)
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,119
Location
Somerville, MA
Go to shipyourreptiles.com and read their stuff (I think they have a video as well) about packing and shipping geckos. Send them an email about the issue of shipping to Alaska since it isn't in the lower 48. They are very responsive and may be on this forum as well.

Aliza
 

DrCarrotTail

Moderator
Messages
3,590
Location
Ridgewood, NJ
I would also read the stuff on ShipYourReptiles.com and reptilesexpress.com. As far as I understand FedEx is the only legal way to ship live reptiles and you need to go through a certified shipper like one of these websites. I don't know of any folks that have used UPS except Urban Gecko who I've heard ships big orders through them.
 

Robyn@SYR

New Member
Messages
91
Location
Denver, CO
You can ship reptiles with either UPS (no snakes) or FedEx. You would need to be certified to ship FedEx, but if you use ShipYourReptiles.com, you are shipping under our certification. As mentioned, we do have extensive how-to and temperature guidelines at our site, in the Get Help Section.

Our rates start at 20% off the FedEx rate.

As for Alaska, it can be done, but you need to consider time in transit and temps very carefully. Not all parts of Alaska offer next day delivery. Anchorage is the largest city, but overnight delivery isn't guaranteed for delivery until 4pm, as opposed to 10:30am in most lower 48 states.

You can use the zip codes to determine overnight delivery viability here- https://www.fedex.com/ratefinder/home?cc=US&language=en&locId=express

Temperature wise, it is starting to head into the warm season there, but def look up origin and destination temps, and refer to our guidelines for heat pack use. Def pay attention to the part about single heat pack use, do NOT overuse heat packs. Reptiles can deal with cool temps much better than overheating temps. For cold weather shipping, you can double up the insulation of your box, a much better choice than multiple heat pack use.

Doing your first shipment can seem daunting, but it is actually a pretty straight forward process, and we are happy to walk you through it. Once you become familiar with packaging and temperature parameters, it will be smooth and easy : )

Contact [email protected] with any questions!
 

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