How do I ship frozen rats?

I sell rats as pets and feeders, and pretty much everyone is located far out of my reach. I get emails constantly. I've done some research, but I thouhgt I'd ask on here too.

How?

Is there any way to ship frozen rodents without using dry ice?

You have to ship them like a meat product in a insulated box, with dry ice. Dry ice is cheap and will keep them cold you really wouldn't want any thawing. You will have to check with the shipper for policy of shipping dry ice.

I think that the shipping standard for amount of dry ice is 5 lbs per 24 hours depending on the size of the box.

You could call a shipping company and ask what their policy is for shipping parishable frozen goods is. I don't believe it matters that they are rodents once they are dead and frozen

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Fed ex requires that you get a "permit" so to speak to ship frozen rodents. It's easy to do, call just like if you were wanting to get permission to ship live reptiles. Ship them a mock setup, and they either approve or tell you what to do to fix a problem. Do most people actually do this, probably not...
Herein lies the problem though... at 5lb of dry ice per 24hr period, plus actual ship weight, just shipping alone without the weight of the rodents is usually about $40-50... Not to mention, you have to have a shipping approved container/styro cooler. Right out of the gate, you're at $50-60 before adding the weight of the rodents.
I offer shipping, but very rarely actually ship.

You don't need dry Ice. I chip taxidermy items all the time.

Buy a sheet of styrofoam insulation for $10 at the hardware store, you can make tons of 'coolers' out of it for cheap.
Line a box with the foam, double thick if you're shipping in hot weather.
Pack the bottom of the box with crumpled newspaper.
Pack the rodents, bagged up to prevent leaking if they thaw, in the box. The more rodents, the colder it will stay. You shouldn't really ship anything less that 20 adult rats, there's really no point, and it won't stay very cold.
If you have room, pack the empty spaces with home-made ice packs (the store bought ones work, they just cost more). Freeze water in plastic bottles for this.
Pack any remaining space with crumpled newspaper.
Put on the styrofoam top.
Seal up the box and mail it off.



It's best to ship in winter. In winter, the ice packs are not really necessary. Ship priority 2-5 day, on a Monday only.

Viola. :)

Ups you dont need a permit. If you sign up and become a member to ups.com you get deals on shipping. Fedex is a rip off IMO...