Maybe it's just me...

Okay, so as most of you know, I bought a pastel (YAY!).
The breeder is in MD, (i live in CT) and he is shipping delta dash.

I told him I could pick it up and Saturday, and he said he didn't ship saturday. I asked why, out of pure curiosity, and he told me that there were skeleton crews and if he got on the wrong flight he would sit in atlanta till monday (atlanta??).
At the end of the note, He said that he doesn't compromise the saftey of his animals...
Okay, so im thinking "great! this is a real standup breeder" And I was happy with the explaination. (i really just didn't know) Then, the last line said..

I'll ship him to you UPS next week if you have concerns...

UPS????? Someone who doesn't except live animals?? Someone who wouldn't know to keep it warmer, or to keep it right-side up for that matter?

Is it normal for breeders to ship UPS?? Personally, I found the whole letter controdicting. But I have heard nothing but good things about these guys, so i was taken by complete suprise by it.
*shrug* maybe it is just me....?

PS- sorry for my ranting, please forgive me

Well siince UPS does not accept snakes, its not only against UPSs rules but unsafe. I know there are a bunch of breeders out there that ship UPS though. Who is the breeder (its ok if you dont want to say). Also, why not wait and have him ship Delta on Monday?

I'd straight up ask him about it.


As for shipping on the weekends, I understand where he's coming from with that. I refuse to have shipped or to ship anything after Wednesday for fear that it will get stuck somewhere and not make it to it's destination until the next week (happened with one of my BPs).

Atlanta is a major hub for DHL and also one of the busiest. Stuff is constantly getting lost of misplaced or delayed out of there.

Guys, I believe UPS does accept live non venomous snakes as long as you are certified through them to ship live harmless snakes.

Same goes for FedEx, it's against their policy to ship snakes, unless you are certified with them to ship live harmless snakes. It is flat out illegal to ship them via USPS.

There is nothing wrong with shipping UPS or FedEx as long as you are certified to ship live reptiles with them, ship it Priority next day air and you package the snake properly and accordingly with the temps and weather in both shipping and receiving areas. I suggest if and when you do ship or expect a package via UPS or FedEx that you get a tracking # and follow the package from A to Z.

Sounds like the breeder/seller was just giving you options by offering UPS as an alternative.

I totally understood where he was coming from about shipping on the weekends, and i had no problem with that.
I told him Ide rather pick it up at the airport on wed then have him ship ups. I thought that ups does NOT ship live reptiles at ALL.
if they DO, ill feel like an idiot.

As for weekend shipments, that's standard or should be for most breeders/sellers.


I too try not to ship after Wednesday for that same reason. Package gets lost Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday and you have that extra day to work it out and have it delivered before the weekend. If you ship Thursday and it gets lost or shipped elsewhere, that snake could spend 3-4 days in that box before it is recovered and delivered!

It's not worth the risk on either end of the transaction and especially for the snake!

I just looked on the UPS website, and snakes (ALL) are prohibited. They do accept lizards, fish, Amphibians, insects, etc. LOL, under prohibited, it says they don't accept obnoxious insents. Aren't they all obnoxious??

UPS does prohibit all snakes...

You'll find the same thing on the FedEx website. There are many breeders/sellers certified by UPS to ship live harmless reptiles. It's not something UPS or FedEx publish, but I'm 99% sure they do have a procedure.

I'm 100% sure about FedEx as I am certified and as for UPS I'm 99% sure they also have a procedure to become certified. Hopefully someone that is certified through UPS will chime in and confirm this.