shipping turtles
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Just out of curiousity, when someone buys DBTs or any turtle, for that matter, how do you ship them? Heehee, I have visions of showing up at the post office with a box, strapping tape, and bubble wrap (j/k).
— In diamondbackterrapins@egroups.com, “Rowena Tan ”
It’s always interesting to see how each person ships turtles. I’ve received adults set loose inside shredded, dampened newspaper inside a styrofoam cooler. Some of these have done quite a bit of damage to the box by the time they arrive! Several dealers have shipped adults to me wrapped snuggly in cloth “snake” sacks surrounded by crumpled newspaper. These do seem to keep the adults quieter and calmer. Like Chun notes, most of the hatchlings I’ve received have come one or two inside of clear plastic containers with a couple of air holes punched around the side (these are sold by suppliers for this purpose) and a piece of damp paper towel inside. I’ve received some hatchlings set inside of damp grass in a box. They all seemed to find a hiding a place in the grass mat and were o.k. It was interesting picking through the thick ball of grass to find all of the tiny mud and musk turtles I got in that shipment! I’ve been told that people have lost turtles by transporting them in a car in a container with water due to drowning. On a related note, what shippers do those on this list use and prefer? Most shippers I’ve dealt with seem to use Airborne overnight for turtles. Some of the dealers that ship prepaid typically ask $25.00 for shipping. When I’ve been billed by Airborne directly for the shipment, its $39.95 or more. Some of the dealers say that Airborne will keep boxes marked “Live” inside of the delivery truck cab with heat or air conditioning as appropriate. I’ve not been able to confirm this, but I’ve never had any turtles arrive dead, either. One shipper sent turtles to me in the U.S. mail, express. The local postmaster looked it up and found a regulation specifically prohibiting turtles from the mail, but most other reptiles and live birds of all sizes are allowed. The shipper’s postmaster ruled that turtles were o.k. and allowed the shipment on that end. I got them with no problem, but I’m curious if anyone else has dealt with the USPS on turtles? I’ve not yet had a shipper include either a hot or cold pack. Do these work well? Chun-Ming Chew wrote:
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