need to know how to ship frozen rodents

[BFE Pets]

just as the title says. I need to know the best way to ship frozen feeders. I am considering going commercial with my rattery and the local sales of live only wont produce the revenue to make it worth the effort. So if anyone has any experience shipping rodents that would be great. I'll list some questions that i havent found the answer too. also id like to hear from those of you who order feeders and have them shipped to you. What do you like/not like about how you recieve your shipments.
-where to get insulated shippers
-how much dry ice to add to the box
-block of dry ice or bagged flake
-fedex or ups
-do you all prefer resealable freezer bags or vacuum sealed
-if vacuum sealed small quanities (i.e. 10 per )or the whole order sealed together
-does anyone really care how cute feeders are (do i need to weed out the dumbos, hooded, rex and only package lab rats)
-how often have you heard of a lead time on rat orders
-anyone think this is a waste of my time and money because there is a surplus of rodent suppliers

any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm positive i've forgotten a bunch of questions but its late and my brain has already begun to shut down for the night. Thank you all! good night and god bless!

[Robyn@SYR]

Check very carefully with your carrier about using dry ice. All have specific restrictions, and there are legal issues that need to be addressed when using dry ice.

I have seen packages shipped with a small amount of dry ice, but not properly labeled, cause all kinds of headaches and panic, and the FAA actually does some of the penalty follow up for not following the dry ice requirements. Serious stuff.

[BFE Pets]

Thank you Robyn! I knew that it would have to be properly labeled if I used dry ice. I've never had to have rodents shipped. i've always been able to pick up at expos and saved the shipping cost. I will contact fedex and ups in the morning.

Those of you that are having frozen rodents delivered how are they being kept frozen during transent? I just assumed Dry Ice.

[reptileexperts]

Yep it's dry ice with it in a paper bag at the bottom of the pile of rats all wrapped in insulation.

[Chaoticpythons]

If you decide to do this, lets talk prices on some rats

[Archimedes]

Just to think about moving forward, some snakes are picky about colors too, as in not showing any interest in a black rat versus a white one. It's bizzare but it happens. That's why most people use lab varieties when shipping in quantity, or places like RodentPro offer a choice between black and white. I'm not sure how wide of a variety you speak of, but it's something to consider when going commercial.

Sent from my warm hide using Tapatalk

[Rhasputin]

I ship a lot of frozen animals. . .
If you ship a ton of mice (like enough to fill a large usps priority box) then you only need to pack it tightly with paper, shredded paper, or wrap the animals with fiberglass insulation. If you're shipping a smaller quantity, you will want to buy insulation or foam sheets from home depot or lowes, cut them to size to fit in your boxes, and make a cooler within the box, then pack tightly with rodents, and stuff any empty spaces with crumpled paper, shredded paper, or insulation of some kind. building your own cooler boxes like that is way cheaper. It's $5-$10 for a sheet of foam insulation, and it can make plenty of boxes in any size you need.

Don't add ice, dry or water ice. The only thing I could recomend if you needed ice packs are the goey bag ones (y'know? Like kids put in their lunches?) or fill water bottle with water, squeeze them a bit to allow room for expansion, and freeze capped.