8-1-10

 Packing & Shipping Methods Explained


I want to share my packing & shipping methods because I find this to be one of the most stressful parts of the hobby from the standpoint of both buyer and seller. I have shipped lots of animals all over the United States and I have also waited for many animals to arrive from all over the United States. We always talk about the stress that our animals endure during shipping but I think we humans may suffer even more. Frankly, I think the modern process of shipping a boa across the country from buyer to seller in 20 hours or less is amazing and works surprisingly well. The key is having the right materials and paying attention to the details. I have invested more time than I want to know in learning what materials to use and what details to pay attention to. Much of what I learned came from paying careful attention to what I liked and disliked about the packing and shipping methods used by the sellers whom I purchased my animals from. For a beginner, it can be an overwhelming number of questions:

  1. What makes for the best shipping container? How large should the container be? What arrangement of insulation works best? Where do I buy the shipping containers?.....these questions were a major project and took a long time until I was satisfied.

  2. What is best for securing the animal within the container? What makes a good snake bag? What size bag should I use? How do I secure the bag?

  3. Do I use heat packs? How many heat packs should I use? Where do I place the heat packs in the container? Where do I buy the heat packs?

  4. Do I punch holes in the container? How many holes? Where do I place them?

  5. What shipping company do I use? What are their policies? How do I establish an account? How do I obtain prices and tracking numbers?

Yikes! It makes you want to give up. Be patient. You will be surprised how easy it is once all the details come together.

There are many types of shipping containers that can do the job but I wanted the one that I felt would do the job the best. The animals are too important to leave things to chance. An average container will show its weaknesses when the weather gets either hot or cold. Containers that are 6 panels of styrofoam pieced together inside a box will usually have a good bit of exchange between the air inside the container and the hot or cold air that we are trying to protect the animal from. The job of the styrofoam is to limit heat exchange with the surroundings. During the summer, we are trying to limit the entrance of heat into the container from the surroundings. During the winter, we are trying to limit the exit of heat from the container to the surroundings. The containers I use are molded two piece units that fit together to seal out the surroundings. They come with cardboard boxes made specifically for these containers. They have been used in the pet fish trade for years. They are not cheap but I think they are well worth it. They also were not easy to find. A frustrating part of the hobby is that when some folks find a good product, they want to hold it as a "trade secret" so they have some competitive advantage. In this case especially, I am glad to share. If it saves the lives of a few animals each summer and winter then it was certainly worth it. These containers must be ordered in bundles and shipped by freight. They are not heavy but they do take up a large volume on a truck and you will be charged for that space. The freight charges for my order (shipped to NC) were $250. Additionally, the big rig could not access my neighborhood to deliver them so I had to make multiple trips to their receiving facility in my pickup truck.

Call Tom Conley - sales manager for Life-Like Products. He works out of their St. Petersburg Florida office. They have a dizzying array of product offerings in their "ProPak" line. Tell Tom that I sent you.

Here is what I ordered:
For small animals:
Item #27635    PP16 Foam Shipper
L = 11.75”  W = 8.25”   H = 7.13”      wall = 0.75”     capacity = 0.40 cubic ft

For larger animals:
Item #28904    TFB1 Nested Foam Shipper
L = 15.63”  W = 15.63”   H = 7.5”     wall = 0.75”     capacity = 0.95 cubic ft
 
UPDATE:
I have found a new supplier of the ProPak line that doesn't require bulk orders: Providence Packaging

The fitted, two piece ProPak insulated shipping container as well as the carton are shown in the following three photos:

I also have a larger size ProPak container shown in the following four photos. In one of the photos, there is a piece of newspaper in the bottom of the container for size reference.

 
 

Here are the materials I have on hand when I prepare a shipment:

  1. shipping container

  2. snake bag

  3. preprinted shipping label - FedEx allows you to do everything on-line (schedule a pickup, prepare a shipment, print the shipping label, track the shipment, and pay your bill)

  4. heat packs (if required) - go ahead and open them so they begin to warm up

  5. newspaper

  6. scissors

  7. packing tape

  8. electrical tape

  9. ice pick (if required)

 
 

I tape the heat packs to one side of the bottom of the container using standard grade electrical tape. The heat packs will take some time to get to "full strength". The packs contain mostly iron powder. The chemical reaction begins when you open the package and allow oxygen to react with the iron inside the container. The reaction involves the oxidation of the iron (rusting!) to form iron oxide which is an exothermic reaction. I tape them to one side to create a warm side and a cool side to the bottom of the container. If you're interested, you can see the results of a heat pack experiment I performed a while back:

Heat pack experiment

 
 

The surface temperature of the heat pack can reach 130-140 *F so I cover the bottom with layers of newspaper. I will come back to this further down. For now, give the heat packs time to reach their peak.

 
 

While I wait for the heat packs, I tear strips of newspaper. These strips go inside the snake bag. They have four purposes:

  1. If the animal urinates or defecates in transit, the paper will soak up the liquid materials so the animal won't stay wet.

  2. Provides the animal with a greater sense of security as they can nestle amongst the paper and "hide".

  3. Provides cushioning for the animal if the box gets jostled around.

  4. Allows the animal to thermoregulate by moving towards/away from the heat packs.

A note about snake bags. I like bags that are as clean and white as possible. As a buyer, I am very interested in determining if an animal may be harboring mites. With a white bag, I can reverse roll it (like a snake shedding its skin) and look for mites that got adventurous during the journey. Dark bags make this impossible. I also dislike the white bags that have the little flecks in the material that give you false alarms. I am still trying different sources of snake bags so I am not going to make a recommendation here yet. I also like to use bags that are large enough to allow the animal to relocate itself on the bottom of container. Remember, there is a warm side and a cool side.
 

Now you can take a temperature gun and measure the surface temps on the floor of the container. I look for the hottest areas to be in the 90's.

 
 

I secure the snake bag  by twisting the bag and then wrapping it tightly with electrical tape. I also "double back" the top of the bag and wrap it a second time.

 
 

This is a part of the process that I am definitely still evaluating. Is it necessary to create "air holes"? I'm not sure. I do know that I would rather not because this simply weakens your insulation system and allows some heat exchange with the surroundings. If I do "poke holes", then I make four small ones in the lid of the styrofoam. I do not make holes in the outer cardboard box. The important question: how much oxygen will a boa use in 20 hours or less? Well actually: how much oxygen will a boa AND the heat packs use in that time period? Being relatively small and cold-blooded, a boa's metabolism does not have great oxygen needs. How much oxygen do the heat packs use? I think I will need to plan some more experiments and calculations for this part of the process.

 
 

You can see the four little holes in the lid after the container is placed in the outer box.

 
 

This is the labeling on the outer box. You can also choose a box labeled "Live Harmless Reptile", "Tropical Fish", or just a plain unlabeled box.

 
 

This one is ready to go. Below is part of an actual email message I received from a buyer in Michigan. The animal was shipped in November. He also received another shipment from California on the same morning.

Buyer's comment:
"The container you sent him in is VERY nice. where did you get them? For cold weather deliveries they are perfect. This is why:

top of package (after opening container) 77.2*F
bag temp 80.1*f
body temp 82.0*F

I used a micro-temp gun from tempgun.com.

The other package I received had three neonates, temps:

#1 60.1*F
#2 60.0*F
#3 58.6*F

The other person used the box like I sent you and only one heat pack."

Read about more temperature readings from my shipments.....

 
 

The shipping materials take up a good portion of my attic. Occasionally during mild weather, I will re-use other shipping containers that I have received but I will always use my ProPak containers for shipments during the warmer and cooler months.