Designer Geckos
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- Boulder, CO
Designer Geckos - Experiment re: shipping in warm weather
First off, Designer Geckos does not advocate or recommend shipping leopard geckos in extreme temperatures. The risk to the animals is too great and not worth taking. Having said that, our shipments will undoubtedly encounter less than ideal shipping temperatures from time to time and Mother Nature is not 100% predictable, so we need to take appropriate precautions based on time of year etc. Also, it is extremely important to check weather, temps, and storm possibilities at all points including hubs like Memphis and Indy for Fedex and Louisville for UPS for instance.
DG put together an experiment to determine the feasibility of shipping during the summer months to see how the cargo would fare in very warm weather conditions.
Here are the specifics of our study:
- We used the standard 7x7 and 11x11 Styrofoam lined reptile shipping boxes, and packed the boxes exactly as we would if we were to ship actual geckos. The boxes were assembled as always, and two small holes were punched in the sides to allow air flow to the “animals”.
- We used 16oz freezer packs, frozen solid. You must use packs of this size…the small gel packs simply will not work out and will put the animal in danger. Use the 16 oz block, placed inside a Ziploc back in case of leakage. (The added 16oz weight of the heat pack does not change our shipping costs.)
- In the 7x7 box, we put the cold pack at the bottom of the box, placed crumpled paper on top of it so it would not get the deli cup/gecko too cold, and then placed our deli cup on top, sealing the box thoroughly as always and being sure not to cover the air holes punched in the sides.
- In the 11x11 box, we placed the cold pack against one of the corners, placed the deli cup in the opposite corner, and backfilled voids with crumpled paper.
- Inside each deli cup, we placed an accurate LED digital thermometer.
- The boxes were thus assembled and sealed and placed inside a vehicle, with outside weather in the 90 degree range to simulate the worst possible conditions where the boxes are always in very warm conditions for 24 hours (of course it gets cooler at night).
- The last 3 hours of the period, the vehicle was parked in direct sun, with the inside of the vehicle reaching temperatures of 126 degrees.
- At the end of the 24 hour period, the boxes were quickly opened and the temperature of each deli cup was immediately taken upon opening.
- The 7x7 box deli cup was at 80 degrees, and the 11x11 box deli cup was 75 degrees after 24 hours. The cold packs were still cold, though 90% thawed at the time of opening.
Summary: This method proves that this shipping method works well under adverse heat conditions. Our conclusions are that it is imperative to use a 16oz cold pack, that the boxes need to be assembled according to established guidelines, and that the sender needs to take great precautions to obtain weather info, coordinate the shipment carefully with the buyer at the other end, and provide phone numbers of the buyer on the shipping label. We do NOT recommend shipping if there are any doubts at all. These little creatures rely on us for their well being, and we never want to put them in jeopardy. It is also important that you ship when conditions are perfect so there are no delays, as the cold pack is only adequate for a 24 hour period. Watch the weather carefully….if any potential storms are en route, do not ship! Also, mechanical delays do sometimes happen, and you sure don’t want them to happen under extreme temps, so this is also always to be considered as well.
Please feel free to contact us if you ever have any questions or need input on our methods or about this study. We hope it gave you some useful info. Best of luck.
First off, Designer Geckos does not advocate or recommend shipping leopard geckos in extreme temperatures. The risk to the animals is too great and not worth taking. Having said that, our shipments will undoubtedly encounter less than ideal shipping temperatures from time to time and Mother Nature is not 100% predictable, so we need to take appropriate precautions based on time of year etc. Also, it is extremely important to check weather, temps, and storm possibilities at all points including hubs like Memphis and Indy for Fedex and Louisville for UPS for instance.
DG put together an experiment to determine the feasibility of shipping during the summer months to see how the cargo would fare in very warm weather conditions.
Here are the specifics of our study:
- We used the standard 7x7 and 11x11 Styrofoam lined reptile shipping boxes, and packed the boxes exactly as we would if we were to ship actual geckos. The boxes were assembled as always, and two small holes were punched in the sides to allow air flow to the “animals”.
- We used 16oz freezer packs, frozen solid. You must use packs of this size…the small gel packs simply will not work out and will put the animal in danger. Use the 16 oz block, placed inside a Ziploc back in case of leakage. (The added 16oz weight of the heat pack does not change our shipping costs.)
- In the 7x7 box, we put the cold pack at the bottom of the box, placed crumpled paper on top of it so it would not get the deli cup/gecko too cold, and then placed our deli cup on top, sealing the box thoroughly as always and being sure not to cover the air holes punched in the sides.
- In the 11x11 box, we placed the cold pack against one of the corners, placed the deli cup in the opposite corner, and backfilled voids with crumpled paper.
- Inside each deli cup, we placed an accurate LED digital thermometer.
- The boxes were thus assembled and sealed and placed inside a vehicle, with outside weather in the 90 degree range to simulate the worst possible conditions where the boxes are always in very warm conditions for 24 hours (of course it gets cooler at night).
- The last 3 hours of the period, the vehicle was parked in direct sun, with the inside of the vehicle reaching temperatures of 126 degrees.
- At the end of the 24 hour period, the boxes were quickly opened and the temperature of each deli cup was immediately taken upon opening.
- The 7x7 box deli cup was at 80 degrees, and the 11x11 box deli cup was 75 degrees after 24 hours. The cold packs were still cold, though 90% thawed at the time of opening.
Summary: This method proves that this shipping method works well under adverse heat conditions. Our conclusions are that it is imperative to use a 16oz cold pack, that the boxes need to be assembled according to established guidelines, and that the sender needs to take great precautions to obtain weather info, coordinate the shipment carefully with the buyer at the other end, and provide phone numbers of the buyer on the shipping label. We do NOT recommend shipping if there are any doubts at all. These little creatures rely on us for their well being, and we never want to put them in jeopardy. It is also important that you ship when conditions are perfect so there are no delays, as the cold pack is only adequate for a 24 hour period. Watch the weather carefully….if any potential storms are en route, do not ship! Also, mechanical delays do sometimes happen, and you sure don’t want them to happen under extreme temps, so this is also always to be considered as well.
Please feel free to contact us if you ever have any questions or need input on our methods or about this study. We hope it gave you some useful info. Best of luck.
