Shipping

NOTE: The information on this page is here to explain in detail how H.G.H. ships reptiles to you, the customer. I DO NOT ship USPS; Postal regulations prohibit the shipment of reptiles thru the mail with the exception of lizards. We DO NOT offer the option to ship our lizards with the USPS for the main reason being that, even with overnight priority, the package is still treated as mail, and no special arrangements are in place to ensure temperature control for the animals.

The intent of this page is to describe how HomeGrownHerps packages and ships reptiles thru FedEx. We DO NOT cut corners when it comes to shipping.

The only box we use is one that is lined with Styrofoam insulation. This will ensure safe shipment of the animal. The insulation forms a buffer between the animal and the outside temperatures, and protects it from sudden changes in the temperature as well as maintains temperatures generated from the heat or cold pack.

For the Styrofoam lining we use either blue board or celo-tex insulation, about 1/2 inch in thickness. Below is a series of photos showing what a "ready to ship" box looks like.



All animals shipped are well-hydrated 24 hours prior to being shipped. And we refrain from feeding them 5-7 days before shipping. Depending on the size of the animal, It is packed either in a breathable sack (snake bag or pillow case) or for the smaller animals a deli cup works fine. Some form of bedding or other material is used inside the container/sack to cushion the animal from being jostled, and to absorb any fecal matter that may be passed en-route. We use either paper towels or newspaper.

We make sure the container is cushioned on the top, bottom and four sides. This limits movement during transit. As pictured we use crumpled/shredded newspaper.

The larger adult snakes are shipped in the snake bag, and again - with wadded up newspaper for cushion, and to absorb any fecal matter that may be passed en-route.

We use heat / cold packs as necessary, depending on the temperatures the package will be exposed to during transit. As a general rule, if the temperatures are between 65 and 80 degrees I do not use either. When the destination is Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana Tennessee, North and South Carolina I use a 20-hour heat pack. When shipping to all other states I use the 40-hour heat pack. I found this to work well. During time of extreme cold I use the 40-hour heat pack to all states, this gives a time cushion in case of any unforeseen delays during transit. The cool packs do not have a specific length of time that they stay cold, But they will keep the lined box cool enough during transit, since the box usually picked up after the hottest part of the day and is delivered before the hottest part of the following day. In most cases , boxes are delivered between 10:30 & 12:30 the next day.

When using cold packs we wrap them in newspaper and place them in a zip-lock bag as to make sure the condensation does not leak thru the box. When using both, the heat and cool pack newspaper padding is placed between the animal and heat / cool pack to ensure that the animal is not exposed to the extreme of the heat pack and extreme cold of the ice pack.


We ship everything FedEx Priority Overnight. We have had to jump thru some hoops to become certified to be able to ship reptiles "legally", but it has been well worth the effort. We use the methods outlined here to ship ALL our reptiles, and to this day, have had no major mishaps or lost any animals using FedEx as our carrier.