Could Use Some Advise On Shipping

[AlaskanReptile]

Update:

Thank you everyone for your assistance in this matter.
After the recommendation of shipping him to a forum member down there before I leave I asked our very own ferretinmyshoes and she has graciously accepted to temporarily hold Thalin at her clinic for me for a day or so haha. (big thanks to her for this).

I also spoke to Dez who gave me great advice on how to get him in his cloth shipping bag and I am now confident he will be okay during this ordeal.
Thank you again everyone!

 

[Lathis]

Yay!! Good luck!!

 

[Blang]

Yay!

 

[AlaskanReptile]

Well folks we have run into a hiccup with my new plan.

So Ship you reptiles didn't mention before my initial posting (I didn't really ask either) that they are not providing a live arrival guarantee during this month due to a ton of Christmas packages clogging up FedEx and they can't promise Thalin would arrive overnight.

Because of this my mother and I looked into delta again, still cannot have him in the cabin but we looked into shipping him as cargo. My father would build a box out of wood for him to travel in on the planes and we would take him to the airport with us. Only trouble is I would have to get a health certificate to fly him down. That is a trip to the vet just a few days before he flies and no doubt will cause him lots of stress. Plus being on a slight budget so I can spoil him in CO I have reservations about spending $100 plus unnecessary stress just for a vet to look at him and say he is good. Last time I took him to a vet he also refused to come out for several months and I hate to force him to do anything.

So what do you guys think? Should I risk it with SYR where the plan to ship him to ferretinmyshoes will continue or should I take the plunge and stress him out twice as much to get him to ship through delta who also wont promise his live arrival.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I agree, if at all possible, driving him to his new home personally would be the best plan!

You cannot drive from Alaska to Colorado with an animal that needs CITES papers from the US to get into Canada and CITES papers from Canada to get out. It is not feasible.

If Delta will take him that's an option. They are one of the better airlines to ship with. Continental is also very good. They might be prohibitively expensive though. You can put a Ship Your Reptile box inside a cheap dog crate but make sure the LIVE ANIMAL labels are on it. You can also speak to the person who greets you as you board the plane and explain you are worried about him. They are very understanding and will call down to the ground crew and keep checking and will let you know when the animal is safely stowed. It never hurts to have the steward or captain call down and ask the ground crew. They've even let me down on the tarmac to check on animals.

I would ship in a deli cup with a stick securely fastened (through the deli cup) at about a 45 degree angle. He will hold on to the thin branch very securely. Pack a moist paper towel at the bottom. I just received an adult gracilior female packed in a bag and I didn't like it. I thought it must have been very stressful for her even though she was perfectly safe. She was in a bag with a lot of packing peanuts around. I thought she might have felt as if she was in the clutch of a predator the whole trip.

You have to ship through an approved shipper such as Ship Your Reptiles.

Call them for advice. You can buy all the supplies from them. A bigger container isn't better as he'll have further to bang around if the box is dropped. I would recommend you buy P22 packs from Ship Your Reptiles. They hold the temperature at a constant 72F (22C). They do that by releasing or capturing energy (heat) as they change from a solid to a liquid or liquid to solid. Since you are leaving from Alaska, I would put quite a few in, melt them and get them fairly warm.

I would also recommend you ship before you leave. It is not all that easy to get them in the box--you need a bit of experience for that. I am sure you could ship to either a vet's clinic or someone from this Forum. If you were coming to my city, I would be happy to pick him up from the ship center and hold him for you. I'm sure there are lots of people who wouldn't mind helping you out.

Good luck, I know how stressful it is.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Well folks we have run into a hiccup with my new plan.

So Ship you reptiles didn't mention before my initial posting (I didn't really ask either) that they are not providing a live arrival guarantee during this month due to a ton of Christmas packages clogging up FedEx and they can't promise Thalin would arrive overnight.

Because of this my mother and I looked into delta again, still cannot have him in the cabin but we looked into shipping him as cargo. My father would build a box out of wood for him to travel in on the planes and we would take him to the airport with us. Only trouble is I would have to get a health certificate to fly him down. That is a trip to the vet just a few days before he flies and no doubt will cause him lots of stress. Plus being on a slight budget so I can spoil him in CO I have reservations about spending $100 plus unnecessary stress just for a vet to look at him and say he is good. Last time I took him to a vet he also refused to come out for several months and I hate to force him to do anything.

So what do you guys think? Should I risk it with SYR where the plan to ship him to ferretinmyshoes will continue or should I take the plunge and stress him out twice as much to get him to ship through delta who also wont promise his live arrival.

I recommend Ship Your Reptiles. Do you really care if you recover his cost if he arrives dead on arrival? I would think that is the least of your worries. I do not believe you will have a problem after Christmas, especially with overnight priority. Odds are he will be fine. If he were delayed, he would be delayed inside a building. He should be just fine.

The only complaint I have with Ship Your Reptiles' packaging is that they don't put in big bold letters LIVE ANIMAL. I think I would get a LIVE ANIMAL sticker for my next bunch I ship.

I suspect shipping him Cargo will cost you in the shipping alone several hundred dollars.

 

[Lathis]

Ugh, that's a terrible update.

It's a decision between what is the least terrible option. I honestly don't know which I would recommend. I'm leaning toward flying with him, but I've never flown with an animal in cargo so I don't have real world experience to back that up.

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

Boy, what we would not do for the love for our reptile children! Best of luck!

 

[AlaskanReptile]

You cannot drive from Alaska to Colorado with an animal that needs CITES papers from the US to get into Canada and CITES papers from Canada to get out. It is not feasible.

If Delta will take him that's an option. They are one of the better airlines to ship with. Continental is also very good. They might be prohibitively expensive though. You can put a Ship Your Reptile box inside a cheap dog crate but make sure the LIVE ANIMAL labels are on it. You can also speak to the person who greets you as you board the plane and explain you are worried about him. They are very understanding and will call down to the ground crew and keep checking and will let you know when the animal is safely stowed. It never hurts to have the steward or captain call down and ask the ground crew. They've even let me down on the tarmac to check on animals.

I would ship in a deli cup with a stick securely fastened (through the deli cup) at about a 45 degree angle. He will hold on to the thin branch very securely. Pack a moist paper towel at the bottom. I just received an adult gracilior female packed in a bag and I didn't like it. I thought it must have been very stressful for her even though she was perfectly safe. She was in a bag with a lot of packing peanuts around. I thought she might have felt as if she was in the clutch of a predator the whole trip.

You have to ship through an approved shipper such as Ship Your Reptiles.

Call them for advice. You can buy all the supplies from them. A bigger container isn't better as he'll have further to bang around if the box is dropped. I would recommend you buy P22 packs from Ship Your Reptiles. They hold the temperature at a constant 72F (22C). They do that by releasing or capturing energy (heat) as they change from a solid to a liquid or liquid to solid. Since you are leaving from Alaska, I would put quite a few in, melt them and get them fairly warm.

I would also recommend you ship before you leave. It is not all that easy to get them in the box--you need a bit of experience for that. I am sure you could ship to either a vet's clinic or someone from this Forum. If you were coming to my city, I would be happy to pick him up from the ship center and hold him for you. I'm sure there are lots of people who wouldn't mind helping you out.

Good luck, I know how stressful it is.

Thank you for the advise. I have looked into all of those options. If he goes on delta he will not be on the same plane as me. He will be shipped through a different flight. So I would not be able to talk with the crew in order to check on him.

Unfortunately since he is nearly two years old he is a little big for a deli cup and will be more problematic than a bag as they are too cramped for him.

I have spoken with SYR many times as far as packing him goes and have that taken care of.
The hard part is deciding on the worse of two evils for him as far as shipping him goes. Either through delta with twice the stress due to several boxing experiences or through SYR to his ferret who will be his vet anyway till I arrive and can pick him up from her. Both do not offer live arrival.


My mother has also offered to ship him after SYR continues their guarantee first week of January after I move down and she returns. She has handled him before and is more patient. However I still have control issues with it all as she is uncomfortable using a roach or some kind of bug to lure him out (which is the only way to get him out without an escape attempt).

 

[wodesorel]

Where at in Alaska are you? I send regular packages up there a few times a year, and the biggest issue in the middle of winter is the weather - get a bad storm and the airports shut down and the mail runs late - sometimes days late. That is something you'll need to watch closely the day you go to mail. If the weather is too severe they just can't get things out on time, even if it's rush shipping.

 

[AlaskanReptile]

Where at in Alaska are you? I send regular packages up there a few times a year, and the biggest issue in the middle of winter is the weather - get a bad storm and the airports shut down and the mail runs late - sometimes days late. That is something you'll need to watch closely the day you go to mail. If the weather is too severe they just can't get things out on time, even if it's rush shipping.

I am in Eagle River so he will be shipped out through Anchorage. Thank you for mentioning weather and how it will affect shipping. That is one of the only things I had not yet considered. I will keep an eye on it.

 

[urawrath]

IMHO i would still go with SYR because it will be less stress on him and since you will be shipping after Christmas there will be less packages traveling around. Also, since he's going straight to Ferret who can easily check on him and make sure he's fine and call or text you updates on everything.

 

[jajeanpierre]

You cannot drive from Alaska to Colorado with an animal that needs CITES papers from the US to get into Canada and CITES papers from Canada to get out. It is not feasible.

If Delta will take him that's an option. They are one of the better airlines to ship with. Continental is also very good. They might be prohibitively expensive though. You can put a Ship Your Reptile box inside a cheap dog crate but make sure the LIVE ANIMAL labels are on it. You can also speak to the person who greets you as you board the plane and explain you are worried about him. They are very understanding and will call down to the ground crew and keep checking and will let you know when the animal is safely stowed. It never hurts to have the steward or captain call down and ask the ground crew. They've even let me down on the tarmac to check on animals.

I would ship in a deli cup with a stick securely fastened (through the deli cup) at about a 45 degree angle. He will hold on to the thin branch very securely. Pack a moist paper towel at the bottom. I just received an adult gracilior female packed in a bag and I didn't like it. I thought it must have been very stressful for her even though she was perfectly safe. She was in a bag with a lot of packing peanuts around. I thought she might have felt as if she was in the clutch of a predator the whole trip.

You have to ship through an approved shipper such as Ship Your Reptiles.

Call them for advice. You can buy all the supplies from them. A bigger container isn't better as he'll have further to bang around if the box is dropped. I would recommend you buy P22 packs from Ship Your Reptiles. They hold the temperature at a constant 72F (22C). They do that by releasing or capturing energy (heat) as they change from a solid to a liquid or liquid to solid. Since you are leaving from Alaska, I would put quite a few in, melt them and get them fairly warm.

I would also recommend you ship before you leave. It is not all that easy to get them in the box--you need a bit of experience for that. I am sure you could ship to either a vet's clinic or someone from this Forum. If you were coming to my city, I would be happy to pick him up from the ship center and hold him for you. I'm sure there are lots of people who wouldn't mind helping you out.

Good luck, I know how stressful it is.

Thank you for the advise. I have looked into all of those options. If he goes on delta he will not be on the same plane as me. He will be shipped through a different flight. So I would not be able to talk with the crew in order to check on him.

Unfortunately since he is nearly two years old he is a little big for a deli cup and will be more problematic than a bag as they are too cramped for him.

I have spoken with SYR many times as far as packing him goes and have that taken care of.
The hard part is deciding on the worse of two evils for him as far as shipping him goes. Either through delta with twice the stress due to several boxing experiences or through SYR to his ferret who will be his vet anyway till I arrive and can pick him up from her. Both do not offer live arrival.


My mother has also offered to ship him after SYR continues their guarantee first week of January after I move down and she returns. She has handled him before and is more patient. However I still have control issues with it all as she is uncomfortable using a roach or some kind of bug to lure him out (which is the only way to get him out without an escape attempt).

How big is he? I shipped an adult quad to Kentucky and since it was my first time shipping, the breeder who was receiving him sent me everything. He fabricated a little box that fit nicely inside the bigger insulated box with a stick for him to perch on. Certainly a bag can be done, but they don't have anything that stops them from banging around unless you put in some sort of packing like packing peanuts. Then the animal is basically being held and I believe that would be very stressful for a chameleon. Even if I'm right about that (and I might not be) I am sure the stress levels will be reduced fairly soon. (In psychology, it is called flooding if you want to research what might be going on.) They curl up and shut down.

Since your mother will ship him for you, I would be inclined to have her do it in the new year. The Christmas package rush is over and you will be there to pick him up. (Send him to a FedEx Ship Center for pick up early in the morning rather than have him delivered by truck to you.) You will have his cage already set up. He will go out of a familiar cage and into his new home less than 24 hours later. Whatever you do, you will fret and worry. The odds are he will be just fine. Just make sure you have proper heat packs for him. I used P22 packs according to Ship Your Reptiles advice (holes in two sides of the box, completely through the insulation) and found they had almost completely solidified by the time they reached their destination. The receiver said that the holes were to blame for the P22 packs not staying liquid as long as they should and he recommended the box have no holes in it, that there was plenty of air transfer even with a sealed cardboard box with insulation. I would recommend P22 packs even if you also use a heat pack. P22 packs don't work like a heat pack at all and are a much more moderating method to keep the temperatures at 72F.