Shipping Question...

[TJeno]

Hi guys. To start you off, I have a Bearded Dragon named Leyla, and I've been ordering her Dubia Roaches for quite some time now. These are live, and it gets pretty cold here in Iowa. So, when shipped to me in the winter time, the shipper usually includes a small heating pad to keep the feeders alive until they get to my house - simple fix. However, in my mind, it actually seems easier to keep a bug alive in the cold than a dead mouse cold in the heat. Living in Iowa, summers get pretty hot. If I'm ordering frozen mice/rats for a snake in the middle of July, how does the shipper keep the dead feeder cold? I'd imagine after spending a day or two in a shipping department or on a truck, they'd end up warm, thawed, smelly, and already rotting before they got to my door. Do most retailers take a lot of precautions to make sure what you ordered stays cold? How do they do it?

[Robyn@SYR]

There is a specific technique to shipping frozen rodents/meat, yes.

High quality rodent shippers use a well insulated box and chunks of dry ice inside the box to keep it frozen. Well packed, it can stay frozen for 2 days plus.

There are specific restrictions for shipping dry ice though, including very specific labeling requirements and hazardous permits involved for anything but the smallest amounts. Violating these requirements will actually get you into an unpleasant conversation with the FAA, as well as the shipping company itself. Dry ice is no joke.