Packaging
How To Ship An Animal With The Reptile Collective
Packing Animals With The Reptile Collective
Using Heat Packs And Cold Packs When Shipping Reptiles
Do I Have To Use ReptilesExpress Packaging?
Many people ask if they have to buy their boxes from ReptilesExpress to use our service.
The short answer is no.
However, you must use a box that has been tested and approved by FedEx for live animal shipping.
What's Different About The FedEx Approved Packaging?
- Styrofoam inserts give the box additional strength in transit and provides better insulation.
- The box has at least a 200 PSI crush test.
- The box must be White with Red Or Green Lettering.
- The box must be labeled properly (Live Animals).
FedEx itself does NOT sell reptile shipping boxes, but there are several other vendors that do.
Important & Interesting Note
If you ever get the chance to visit a FedEx hub, take it! The hubs are absolutely massive and it's such an awesome experience!
That being said, not all packages are treated the same in the FedEx Hub Conveyor system, which is why proper packaging is so important. White boxes get treated differently than others, as they are considered 'Perishable & Fragile' shipments. These white boxes are put on a different conveyor system that are not as high off the ground. If the package falls off the conveyor system by accident, they don't fall as far - therefore doing less damage in transit.
Please resist the temptation to save a few dollars and ship with the wrong box. These boxes were designed with the safety of your animal in mind.
Which Reptile Kit Should I Use To Ship My Animal?
This kit is ideal for individual or multiple small species of reptiles, amphibians, arachnids, and inverts, as well as babies of medium to large reptile and amphibian species; depending on whether you can pack the species together and the size of the animals.
The insulated box will hold one small bag or three 8 oz. deli cups, or two 12 oz. deli cups, or one 16 oz. and one 8 oz. deli cup.
This kit is ideal for shipping multiple small species or multiple baby reptiles. One or more sub adult small to medium species. One adult small to medium species.
The insulated box will hold either six 8oz. deli cups, two 16oz and two 8oz deli cups, four 12oz. deli cups, one medium bag or two to four small bags.
This kit is ideal for shipping multiple small bodied snakes, one to two medium bodied snakes, or multiple babies of most species.
The insulated box will hold either five 8oz. deli cups , three 12oz. deli cups, four 32oz. deli cups, two 48oz. deli cups, or one medium bag or two to three small bags.
This kit is ideal for multiple hatchling reptiles, multiple small species or one to two adult mid size reptiles. You could place an adult ball python, a few adult beardeds, or other medium species adult and sub-adults in this box.
The insulated box will hold three 32oz deli cups, twelve 8oz deli cups, eight 12oz deli cups, eight 16oz deli cups, one 32oz plus one 48oz deli cup, or one to two medium bags, 5-8 small bags, or one large bag.
This is our largest kit, ideal for larger numbers of hatchlings or small to medium reptiles, as well as adults of some species. Perfect for most pythons and boas (five feet and under), adult colubrids, adult beardeds, etc.
The insulated box will hold two 96oz deli cups, one 128oz deli cup, three 32oz deli cups, twelve 8oz deli cups, eight 12oz deli cups, eight 16oz deli cups, one 32oz plus one 48oz deli cup, or multiple small to medium bags, or one to two large bags depending on contents.
Proper packing of reptiles and amphibians for shipping is an art form. You should limit space for the reptile to move around or be jostled around while making the reptiles feel secure and unstressed. Placing too many animals in the same cup or bag can cause stress, injury or even death in transit, so please pack responsibly.