Shipping Ball Pythons

[jordy1380]

I was curious if anyone had ever shipped balls to a place where it is around 45-50 degrees fahrenheit? I would like to buy some from florida and ship them to myself in Nebraska where it gets below freezing at night and about 50 max during the day. How dangerous is it? I know that it may be a little stressful to the animal considering they like the upper 80s and lower 90s. Has anyone ever done this before with no problems?

[revxus]

I wouldn't recommend it, personally.

I've picked up some stray (abandoned) BP's in the winter in backyards where the temp is right around 50's and it's never good.

Right now I have what seems to be a pastel BP that was almost completely motionless in someone's backyard. It's always bad, though.

[SnakeGirl3]

I wondering a bit about your question . . . will someone be at your house to pick them up once they are delivered? Or will they be sitting out for quite some time until you return home?

If someone will be there to accept them (and depending on low temps at night--anything below 30, absolutely not), you can place 2 of the 40-hour heat packs in with the animal (one on top, one on bottom) and they should get there OK. Again, use this ONLY if someone will be there to accept them for you and get them into a nice warm tub/cage right after they arrive.

If no one will be at your house to accept them, then NO, do not attempt.

[jordy1380]

Yes, there will be someone there to accept them right away. Thats what I was thinking about the heat packs. I knew that they would put the heat packs in there with them and if it is shipped overnight then I would think that they would be good. The person that I am thinking of buying from would ship through UPS as the carrier. Would the package get there right away in the morning? I would assume that the person would ship in the early afternoon so that I would get them. I was also curious if they would be on a cargo dock of a plane when shipping? They should still be good because of the heat packs, but that all depends on when they get to my house in the morning.

[pavlovk1025]

Ok well I just sold two snakes and had to ship them today, where my daytime high was 51 and the low was 30 something or less...and they were being sent to Michigan so the same temps are expected there. I wasnt comfortable shipping until I read something from Adam Wysocki saying that he ships every day of the year and has no issues. So to make up for the temps I put in two heat packs, 1.5 inch styrofoam insulation and shredded the newspaper instead of just crumpling it up for padding, so that more heat can circulate throughout. Still added holes on the sides, and I can tell you how everything worked out at around 10 am tomorrow.

[Darkice]

Im in Nebraska also. During the winter i wont ship or recieve because you never know if the package will get stuck somewhere because of bad weather.
Or sit outside for long periods of time. You can add another heat pack but the temps will climb too high inside the box.
Shipping can be done during freezing temps but i dont like to risk it.

[Oxylepy]

Personally I only consider low 70s and higher to be BP ordering temperatures, however it is quite possible to order one, it would, however, be suggested that the snake be packaged with a 3 day heat pack.

[Ginevive]

Shipping is always at the descretion of the seller, in my opinion. I just sold a snake, and shipped her Fedex (overnight) from northern California, to Maine. I used the standard foam-insulated cardboard box (bought at East Bay Vivarium) and one 40-hour heatpack. I punched airholes through the box (and foam.) The contents can get unbearably hot inside if this is not done.

[WingedWolfPsion]

I ship during the winter, and only avoid the coldest periods (below 0 F) temperatures. I use 40 hour heat packs, and I use enough of them to compensate for the weather--in MOST cases, only one is necessary for a 12 X 9 X 6 box.
I buy the heat packs and insulated boxes from SYR or directly from Superior Enterprise.
If a package is delayed one day, there is still enough heat to get them safely to their destination. 60 and 72 hour heat packs are also available, for those who are especially paranoid.

Important tips: pay attention to the temperatures both where you are shipping from, and at the destination. Put off shipping if the variation is so extreme that an animal might overheat with heat packs at one end, and freeze at the other.

Mark the boxes correctly as containing live animals, and advise on the labeling that they be kept out of extreme temperatures and sunlight, and not placed on truck floors (which can get hot).

Ship no later in the week than Wednesday, to avoid a box potentially sitting somewhere over a weekend.

I personally would have no problem at all shipping from FL to NE right now. I would use a 40 hour heat pack, and drop the box off at the UPS hub--I use ShipYourReptiles.com (or Fed Ex hub, if you have a reptile shipping cert with them). Drop it off later in the day, about 5 PM, so that it won't sit in the office very long. So long as the temps in FL aren't above the low 80s, it should be safe to ship them from there. They'll go out around sunset, and they'll be on a plane before they are likely to overheat.

[seeya205]

I would call the carrier and find out when is the deadline for shipping that day and drop them off at that time to avoid sitting too long!