Shipping in winter.. advisable?

[Ginevive]

I was wondering. Is it generally safe to ship via Fedex in the winter? In theory I thought it might be; they will know that it is a live animal, and it will have heatpacks in its box.. but I am really leary about what would happen to that box. So do you sellers ship Fedex in the winter, or would you avoid it?

[Adam_Wysocki]

I ship every single month of the year, but I also pack my boxes based on temps. About 7 years ago I spent an entire winter experimenting with different boxes, heat pack combinations, and temperatures out on the back deck of my home overnight to find what specifically is needed in what temperature before I would ship a ball python in the winter months.

While I don't think it's advisable for someone who's never shipped in extreme temperatures before to just throw a snake and a heat pack in a box and drop it off, I do think that if you take the time to experiment and educate yourself that it can be done safely.

Hope this helps.

-adam

[Ginevive]

Wow; that is an awesome idea that I never thought of before. I am going to look into it over winter; for now I will not be shipping anything after this month just to be safe, until I experiment.
Wouldn't you know though.. Fedex said that it will be another 2 weeks until they process the paperwork? They passed our test box, now Mark is taking the ppw to them today and they way another 2 weeks.. ah well. It takes time to do things right I guess.

[neilgolli]

Adams right, experiment to find what works best for you. I actually prefer to ship in the winter as its easier and I believe safer to ship in cold climate than it is in the summer. Heat will kill an animal much quicker than the cold will.

One other quick tip. When using heat packs I always open them, stir them up, let them sit for 20 minutes or so to ensure they are heating and then wrap them in newspaper and tape the paper around the heat pack. I then tape the heat pack to one side (or one on each side of the box depending on temps) directly to the the Styrofoam. The last thing that you want is that heat pack getting jolted around and end up sitting right on top of the animal with nothing in between them then just a bag......

[PythonWallace]

Adams right, experiment to find what works best for you. I actually prefer to ship in the winter as its easier and I believe safer to ship in cold climate than it is in the summer. Heat will kill an animal much quicker than the cold will.

One other quick tip. When using heat packs I always open them, stir them up, let them sit for 20 minutes or so to ensure they are heating and then wrap them in newspaper and tape the paper around the heat pack. I then tape the heat pack to one side (or one on each side of the box depending on temps) directly to the the Styrofoam. The last thing that you want is that heat pack getting jolted around and end up sitting right on top of the animal with nothing in between them then just a bag......

I would concur.

[rabernet]

I ship every single month of the year, but I also pack my boxes based on temps. About 7 years ago I spent an entire winter experimenting with different boxes, heat pack combinations, and temperatures out on the back deck of my home overnight to find what specifically is needed in what temperature before I would ship a ball python in the winter months.

Somehow, that really doesn't surprise me! I would expect nothing less from you!