HOW TO SHIP REPTILES LIKE A PRO

As a new breeder shipping is one of the things you would be doing often and its very important to make a good impression when the customer opens or receive the shipment.

Its always good to share the fun and joy of having these awesome creatures as pets. Here at JB Exotics majority of our snakes are shipped out throughout the country. past a couple weeks I have been getting a lot of questions from people about the right way of shipping snakes. shipping a live animal is always a scary thing to do and can be very challenging if you're doing it for the first time. Everyone has so many questions like how many holes do I need for the animal to breathe, will the animal be too hot/cold? Is the box too big? Hopefully this post will answer all your questions and by the end you will be able to ship any snake/ gecko in the future with no problems. Here are the basic things and what they are used for while shipping.

1. THE BOX !!
The first thing that you need to ship an animal Is a box, duh. While shipping multiple animals, Make sure it is the right size for the animal and make sure the box is big enough for the animals to have their own space and can just move their body to get comfy if they have to. Other thing to keep in mind is to always use a box that's meant to be used for shipping reptiles. I once got a boa in an amazon box and let me tell you it wasn't a good expression for me or the animal. On the other hand if you send an animal in an amazon box the shipping company will treat it as a amazon package which no one wants.

2. INSULATED LINING
If you're using the boxes made for shipping reptiles, they already come lined with styrofoam on the inside of the box, this acts as an insulting layer which helps maintain the temperature inside the box and it helps the box lining to get some girth to it which protects the snake/ animal travelling inside. It literally acts like a padding .

3. FILLINGS
Another important thing to remember is to have some kind of fillings such as cotton fill or crumbled up newspaper which prevents the snake or the animal from moving around that much inside and also act as an absorbent if the snake urinates while travelling, it keeps the surface inside the box clean.

4. BAG/ DELI CUP
You need a right size bag for the animal that is gonna be shipped, the bags are breathable with a tie-knot on the top, you should zip-tie it up to make sure the animal doesn't come out, just in case.

5. LABELS
Last but not the least, you need the right labels for you shipment, because even if everything else is perfect, if your labels aren't right the shipment won't be delivered to your desired location. Make sure to double check the information before shipping out the animal. your shipping provider will provide you with the labels for the shipment.
There are usually 3 labels, one for live animal declaration, one for wildlife declaration stating that no venomous or non-registered animal is being shippedNow you have all the things that are needed for shipping lets get to how to get everything together for the shipment.

1. Make 4 holes on all 4 sides of the box with a screwdriver all the way inside the styrofoam.
2. Take the animal and put it in the carrying bag provided and tie the knot on top. Then take a zip tie and tie it on top of the knot to seal the bag just so you can be sure they wouldn't come out in time of travel.
3. Next step is to prepare the box, make sure the styrofoam is secure and then take a piece of paper towel and line it along the lining of the inside of the box that acts as absorbent if the snake urinates.
4. Then take the bag with the snake inside and keep is securely in the paper towel lining.
5. Add the paper fillings to cover the empty space in the box make sure not to add too much that it suffocates the snake inside.
6. Close the top lid and seal the box with packing tape.
7. Add the labels in the packing pocket provided or stick them directly on the box taping them so they are secure.
8. And your shipment is ready to be shipped !!