Shipping in cold weather.

I know some of you will ship at low temps, down to 15º and I am just wondering what your methods are for shipping during cold weather. Do you double insulate the box? Multiple heat packs? Should I have it shipped to the hub or to my place of work? I always get my live deliveries before 10am, but I wouldn't be able to go to the hub until after 5pm.. I'm just worried I won't make it there before they close because of craptastic chicago traffic.

A friend of mine is moving to a place that doesn't allow reptiles, and I was hoping to get two of his females shipped to me before Feb 1. It looks like it is going to be very cold here in Chicago and pretty cold where he is at.

Any suggestions? Tips? Tricks?

Most hubs are open till 6- 7pm for drop-offs. Look up FedEx Worldwide Shipping in your area.

I would try this....

Pack a box like you were going to ship it in the cold. Shove it in the fridge (~36F) around 6pm and check it the next morning at 10am. Try the test in the freezer (~5F). It is unlikely your package will be in 15F weather the entire time of the trip. It will sit in the depot for a few hours on each end, a truck or two inbetween, and on the plane for a few hours.

Not sure I would do it whatever the results of that test. What if the package was delayed a day in the worst case due to some unforseen incident?

I think you should have your friend ship them to me in FL and I'll keep an eye on them here till the weather warms up ;)

I've actually just instituted a rule that I won't ship if the lows are below 38F, because SYR has that as their lower temperature limit in their shipping instructions. I figure if anything DOES happen and I broke that rule while shipping with SYR, there's a good chance the insurance I purchased on my $600+ piebald won't even apply.

Unfortunately, this means that I lost several potential sales. (Fortunately, most of those animals have found buyers anyway.)

I'd personally rather lose a sale then have an animal I spent years to produce die in transit. If the buyer is serious about the purchase, they should understand that shipping cold blooded animals in freezing cold weather is not ideal. No matter what precautions you take FedEx can have a delay, and that is just good enough for me. I have a few animals being held till warmer weather hits, so I know how it feels to wait as well.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

To be clear, I am not the one doing the shipping.

The person who is shipping is a friend of mine on the east coast. He needs to move into a place that is strictly no pets by february 1st, so they need to be shipped by then. He would prefer to sell his snakes to people who he knows, so he can get updates.

I've heard of people shipping in colder weather, so it must be possible. I live in a big city and we rarely see delays. If the shipment is held at the fex ed facility, it won't even be out in the cold.

What I am looking for is people who have shipped in the colder months successfully. Personally, I'm much more wary of shipping in hot weather than in cold weather.

If a person got mad because of unsafe temps, then I wouldn't want that person caring for one of my snakes.

I can only have respect for the breeder willing to hold on to a snake to feed and take care of instead of pushing the sell.

How cold are your temps going to be?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by coreydelong

Most hubs are open till 6- 7pm for drop-offs. Look up FedEx Worldwide Shipping in your area.

I would try this....

Pack a box like you were going to ship it in the cold. Shove it in the fridge (~36F) around 6pm and check it the next morning at 10am. Try the test in the freezer (~5F). It is unlikely your package will be in 15F weather the entire time of the trip. It will sit in the depot for a few hours on each end, a truck or two inbetween, and on the plane for a few hours.

Not sure I would do it whatever the results of that test. What if the package was delayed a day in the worst case due to some unforseen incident?

I think you should have your friend ship them to me in FL and I'll keep an eye on them here till the weather warms up ;)

---

I was thinking of doing some sort of test. Leaving a box outside with an accurite thermometer in there to see what happens to the temps.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 3skulls

How cold are your temps going to be?

---

It looks like the lows will be in the upper to mid 20's.

As I said, I'm sure he would hold them until warmer weather if he could, but his living situation is changing Feb 1st and he can no longer have pets.

Stupid weather.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 3skulls

If a person got mad because of unsafe temps, then I wouldn't want that person caring for one of my snakes.

---

What does this mean? Are you implying someone here is angry? Confused..

I was talking about loonunit losing sales because she wouldn't ship. I was only implying that the person that didn't buy from her might have been angry about it.

I don't think anyone here is upset.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 3skulls

I was talking about loonunit losing sales because she wouldn't ship. I was only implying that the person that didn't buy from her might have been angry about it.

I don't think anyone here is upset.

---

Oh okay, gotcha. I wasn't sure who you were talking to.

Just read through this thread: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...g+cold+weather

Yeah I don't know why my post showed up way after.

That link is an awesome read. Lots of good info there.

Here is another one regarding cold weather shipping: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...g+cold+weather

Our 38F temp cutoff at SYR is based on daytime highs, and is set to give MOST folks the best chance of success.

Breeders ship in colder temps all the time, it just becomes more difficult, and negative consequences can be dire.

I rarely use more than one heat pack in a 16x16x8 or smaller box. Consider using a 72 hour heat pack during the winter, for longer temp coverage.

I WILL use double insulation in a winter shipping box during really cold temps. It isn't about keeping your box hot with heat packs, it is more about keeping your box temperate, neither hot nor cold, during transport. If you manage that, your reptile should be fine.

Dropping off late at the facility also helps, as does shipping direct to a FedEx facility, hold for pickup, as the package will arrive first thing in the morning, and not be exposed to any time on the delivery truck.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Robyn@SYR

Our 38F temp cutoff at SYR is based on daytime highs, and is set to give MOST folks the best chance of success.

Breeders ship in colder temps all the time, it just becomes more difficult, and negative consequences can be dire.

I rarely use more than one heat pack in a 16x16x8 or smaller box. Consider using a 72 hour heat pack during the winter, for longer temp coverage.

I WILL use double insulation in a winter shipping box during really cold temps. It isn't about keeping your box hot with heat packs, it is more about keeping your box temperate, neither hot nor cold, during transport. If you manage that, your reptile should be fine.

Dropping off late at the facility also helps, as does shipping direct to a FedEx facility, hold for pickup, as the package will arrive first thing in the morning, and not be exposed to any time on the delivery truck.

---

I was hoping you'd chime in, so thanks!!

We are planning using a 16x16x8 with two heat packs, shipping at 8:30pm to my fedex hub here in Chicago where I will pick up around noon. I'm under the impression that if you ship hub to hub, there is very little time spent exposed to the elements, am I correct? Do you think I should only use one heat pack? He is shipping two adult normals to me.

Good luck with your shipment. I wasn't criticizing you but referring to the other poster mentioning others complaining about not getting animals shipped in the winter months. I know situations like yours happen and I'm glad your looking out for the interest of the animals and not coming back here after something went wrong asking why. Robyn is probably one of the best people to advise you on the subject of shipping in any weather condition.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

Here's the trick I use that we learned from Monica Foschi when she shipped to us back a couple years ago.
I still thank her for teaching me this ... Thanks Monica! :P

We package ours similar to outback with one major exception, we do not use newspaper for filler.
We Use pillow fiber filling for insulation in the box, not paper, this allows the heat to go throughout the box preventing the cold spots that newspaper does cause.

We have shipped many packages to the opposite coast to 35 degree temps and had snakes show up perfectly warm everytime :gj:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

Here's the trick I use that we learned from Monica Foschi when she shipped to us back a couple years ago.
I still thank her for teaching me this ... Thanks Monica! :P

We package ours similar to outback with one major exception, we do not use newspaper for filler.
We Use pillow fiber filling for insulation in the box, not paper, this allows the heat to go throughout the box preventing the cold spots that newspaper does cause.

We have shipped many packages to the opposite coast to 35 degree temps and had snakes show up perfectly warm everytime :gj:

---

Thanks for the tip! Monica and I talk a lot since we live very close, so she was one of the first people I contacted about cold weather shipping. She did suggest using the polyester fill.

I'm feeling pretty confident. We won't be shipping them until next week at the earliest, so I'm hoping there is a nice warm spell before Feb 1. If not...we will pick the warmest day and hope for the best. It looks like the only major problems either come from incorrect packaging or a big mix-up on the Fedex end.

Good luck! Keep us updated and let us know the method used.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Robyn@SYR

Our 38F temp cutoff at SYR is based on daytime highs

---

Ah! Okay, that opens up a lot more space to work with. It was hard to work with 38F as a low temp---I shipped to 3skulls this fall assuming the animals would go through Memphis, and they went through Indianapolis instead. Which was much colder that particular night. I was totally traumatized until his girlfriend received the package and confirmed that the snakes were both alive and even warm.

:D they did great and are still doing great.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kaorte

I was hoping you'd chime in, so thanks!!

We are planning using a 16x16x8 with two heat packs, shipping at 8:30pm to my fedex hub here in Chicago where I will pick up around noon. I'm under the impression that if you ship hub to hub, there is very little time spent exposed to the elements, am I correct? Do you think I should only use one heat pack? He is shipping two adult normals to me.

---

Hub to hub offers the least amount of temp exposure, correct. I would be hard pressed to use two heat packs. My concern there is that you actually start to court OVERheating, which is a bigger problem than cooling.

Tangent to all of this, but mentioned earlier- FedEx planes are both pressurized and temp controlled for shipments.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Robyn@SYR

Hub to hub offers the least amount of temp exposure, correct. I would be hard pressed to use two heat packs. My concern there is that you actually start to court OVERheating, which is a bigger problem than cooling.

Tangent to all of this, but mentioned earlier- FedEx planes are both pressurized and temp controlled for shipments.

---

Yeah I hear ya about the over heating. Well, I still have a couple weeks to iron out the details, and I'm sure we will have the box set up quite a few days in advance. I'm going to have him look into the fiber fill filling as opposed to newspaper.

Just wanted to give you guys an Update. We had the two girls shipped on Monday when the lows were 36º both in Maryland and here in Chicago. By the time they were on the delivery truck it was about 60º outside. I'm really glad I didn't have to worry about shipping them in the freezing cold! They arrived at a comfy 78º with only one heat pack in the box. :)

Thanks for all of your help!

Nice!! I'm glad everything worked out.