I've had all of mine, minus the ones I've bought in person, shipped to the hub. I know FedEx occasionally contracts drivers to make deliveries and the ones that have delivered to my house with random E-Bay crap I've bought aren't the top of the barrel, to put it politely. I've also had the regular FedEx drivers not knock, ring the bell or anything of the sort; one just tossed the package on the porch from five feet or so and then proceeded to get an earful from my wife...who was expecting some clothes or shoes or lotion or who knows what and though her stuff should be "treated with care" according to her, lol! Glad you got your snake okay and most importantly, alive; I'd say chalk it up to a lesson learned and if you're able to make the trip to your FedEx hub and don't mind driving it, I'd go for that option in the future, save the headache.