You can ship non-venomous reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, fish, and corals within the United States. We do not do any import or export shipping.

You can ship dry goods related to the reptile industry, such as food, bedding, cages, and housing materials.

You cannot ship illegal drugs, batteries, liquor, aerosols, firearms and ammunition, fireworks, explosives, mammals (dogs, cats), birds, dry ice, nor venomous reptiles.

ShipYourReptiles.com is approved for the shipping of live non-venomous reptiles and reptile supplies to and from business and residential addresses.

You must follow all ShipYourReptiles.com Shipping Standards.

You must also follow all FedEx rules and restrictions. For more details, see the FedEx site.

Very large, heavy, or powerful animals may need special shipping arrangements that cannot be done through Shipyourreptiles.com.

Pythons or boas larger than 4 inches in diameter or 8 feet in length cannot be shipped with Shipyourreptiles.com.

To ship a larger reptile you must build or buy a strong wooden crate and ship it using a freight service such as Delta Air Cargo.

If in doubt about whether or not your animal is restricted, contact Customer Service at 303-730-2125 or write to info@shipyourreptiles.com.

ShipYourReptiles offers the following FedEx shipping services:

• Priority Overnight

• 2Day

• Express Saver (three day)

• Ground (to business addresses)

• Home Delivery (to residential addresses)

Live shipments must be sent via Priority Overnight. Failure to use Priority Overnight for live shipments will void insurance coverage. Shipping is within the United States. We do not do any import or export shipping.

All live animals must be shipped FedEx Priority Overnight, Monday through Thursday. An overnight Friday shipment would not arrive until Monday and that is not permitted.

Absolutely no venomous reptiles are to be shipped through FedEx or shipyourreptiles.com. 

Absolutely no mammals may be shipped through shipyourreptiles.com.

You must use a new, or like new, cardboard box with an interior of insulating foam. The foam insulation must be tight fitting and at least ¾ inch thick. The box should not bear markings that indicate dangerous or illegal content.

The box must be large enough to contain the deli cup or cloth reptile bag, adequate packing material to protect the animal, the heat or cold pack and the foam insulation.

ShipYourReptiles.com has three different box variations approved for live shipping: an insulated white box with red lettering; an insulated white box with green lettering and preprinted Lacey Act/IATA labeling; and an insulated plain brown box rated at 275lb burst strength.

US Postal boxes, Amazon.com boxes, even FedEx branded boxes are NOT ALLOWED for live shipments and are specifically prohibited. Using these prohibited boxes may get your shipment refused or stopped during transit, endangering the life of your animal and the status of our FedEx account. Using a thin cardboard box, or one of the boxes mentioned, nullifies any SYR Insurance coverage.

All shipping supplies and shipping kits sold on shipyourreptiles.com are specifically approved and certified by FedEx and meet the reptile shipping standards developed by Ship Your Reptiles. If you use a Ship Your Reptiles shipping kit according to our directions, you know you are shipping your reptile as safely and reliably as possible.

Shipping Kits 

You may use your own shipping supplies, but they must meet or exceed the standards developed by Shipyourreptiles.com:

Cardboard box is new, or like new, with a minimum burst strength of 275 lbs.

There are no markings that indicate dangerous or illegal contents (no alcohol boxes).

Box must not have any kind of warning or hazardous material markings or stickers.

Box must be labeled in accordance with the Lacey Act. (See FAQ on Lacey Act for more information.)

Insulation lining must be tight fitting and at least ¾ inch thick. The insulating lining must cover all four sides of the inside of the cardboard box as well as the top and bottom.

If needed, heat or cold packs must be used according to Shipyourreptiles.com Shipping Standards.

You must use a “triple container.”

1. The deli cup or cloth reptile bag.

2. The insulating foam container.

3. The cardboard box.

You must seal the box adequately.

All shipping labels must be fully legible.

Do not use boxes from the US Postal service, "Priority Mail" or "Express Mail", they are too thin. They do not meet FedEx box standards and are NOT ALLOWED for live reptile shipments. They do not protect the live reptile sufficiently. Using a non-approved box nullifies any SYR Insurance coverage.

If you have any doubts, use the supplies available on ShipYourReptiles.com.

Remember: What you do affects the entire reptile hobby and industry. The general public has a right to live their lives without encountering a reptile that’s escaped from improper packaging. Every time someone ships a reptile with substandard packaging, and that reptile escapes, dies, scares or harms someone, that reflects poorly on all reptile hobbyists. It also furthers legislative efforts to ban reptiles entirely.

Take responsibility. Do your part. Pack your reptile properly. Make sure it reaches its destination safely. It’s good for the reptile, it’s good for the recipient, and it’s good for you.

You may be breaking the law if you ship live species that are considered illegal, invasive, or otherwise restricted by state or local authorities.

Penalties can be steep and there is no legal protection for not knowing which.

Do your homework!

To get started, call the destination's local U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service or United States Department of Agriculture office. These links will help you reach the right office:

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service office directory

United States Department of Agriculture service center locator

For information about invasive species, check out United States Department of Agriculture National Invasive Species Information Center.

Some people in the general public are afraid of reptiles. At ShipYourReptiles.com we have worked hard to prove that properly packaged non-venomous reptiles are safe and reliable to ship and reptile breeders and hobbyists are legitimate shipping customers. We are approved to ship live non-venomous reptiles but you must follow safe reptile packaging standards.

Remember: What you do affects the entire reptile hobby and industry. The general public has a right to live their lives without encountering a reptile that’s escaped from improper packaging. Every time someone ships a reptile with substandard packaging, and that reptile escapes, dies, scares or harms someone, that reflects poorly on all reptile hobbyists. It also furthers legislative efforts to ban reptiles entirely.

Take responsibility. Do your part. Pack your reptile properly. Make sure it reaches its destination safely. It’s good for the reptile, the recipient, and you.

The Lacey Act is one of the broadest and most comprehensive tools in the federal chest to combat wildlife crime. 

It was first introduced in the US House of Representatives in the spring of 1900 by Iowa Congressman John Lacey and signed into law by President William McKinley on May 25th, 1900. Its original purpose was to preserve native game and wild birds by making it a federal crime to poach game in one state with the intention of selling it in another. It sought to add weight to state laws already in existence for the protection of game and birds. It also addressed concerns about potential problems that can arise with the introduction of non-native, or exotic species of birds and animals into the native ecosystems. 

The Lacey Act has been amended several times since it was first signed into law, broadening its definitions and increasing the penalties it could exact. In 1969, the act was expanded to include mollusks, crustaceans, amphibians, and reptiles. 

Here are some quick facts about the Lacey Act as it stands today: 

Protects both wildlife and plants

Prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, possessed, transported, or sold

Works with federal, state, and foreign laws protecting wildlife

Prohibits the falsification of documents for wildlife shipments (criminal penalties)

Prohibits the failure to properly mark wildlife shipments (civil penalties)

Administered by the Departments of Interior, Commerce, and Agriculture, which includes the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service

In March 2012, the US Fish & Wildlife Service used the weight of the Lacey Act to enact a ban on the importation and interstate transportation of several species of large constrictor snakes. 

Immediately, the United States Association of Reptiles Keepers (USARK) went to work to protest the overreach of the USF&W and its misinterpretation of the Lacey Act. Years of hearings, briefs and appeals followed, even as USF&W added more constrictors to their list. Finally, on April 7th of 2017, the United States Court of Appeals sided with USARK and the ban against interstate travel of large constrictors was lifted. 

Despite the attempt to use the Lacey Act as a means to control exotic pet ownership and trade in the US, it remains a critical piece of legislature for the protection of wild flora and fauna and has a significant impact on anyone wishing to own and trade exotic animals. The rules imposed on us by this act should not be ignored or taken lightly. Doing so can result in the confiscation of animals in transit, fines, and even jail time. 

Make sure you are familiar with state laws regarding the transportation of exotic animals. If you ship snakes to Hawaii, you are not only breaking Hawaiian state law, you will also break federal law via the Lacey Act, and will be subject to penalties from both. 

Label all shipments appropriately, with the scientific AND common names of all the animals in the package, as well as quantities of each. Be sure to include the appropriate IATA label.  

As keepers of exotic animals, it is critical for us to do so responsibly. That responsibility lies not only in providing proper food and housing, but also in respecting public safety, being sensitive to common phobias, and obeying the laws of our states and nation. In today’s climate of knee-jerk legislation, let’s not give the law-makers any ammunition to use against us! 

Learn more about the Lacey Act: 

• USARK Lawsuit

• Lawsuit Update, Responsible Herpetoculture, Shipping and More

• Overview of the Lacey Act

To be compliant with the Lacey Act, legally a live package needs to be labeled with the word Wildlife and include quantity and species listed either externally or immediately available on a packing list under the top flap. To meet expectations of the most stringent states, we strongly suggest labeling all domestic U.S. live animal packages with "Wildlife - Live Harmless Animals" with quantity and species listed with both scientific and common names clearly visible on the outside of the box. Failing to do so may lead to delay, return, confiscation, fines or legal summons. 

You can add this labeling manually but the easiest way to do this is with our Lacey/IATA label, which can be purchased here, or you may download a single label during checkout. 

Yes you need to use a Lacey Act / IATA label.

IATA stands for International Air Transport Association. This Association works with its airline members and the air transport industry as a whole to promote safe, reliable, secure, and economical air travel for the benefit of the world's consumers. They have developed a variety of standardized labels to indicate potentially dangerous or hazardous materials being shipped via air.

The US Fish & Wildlife Service has ruled that all shipments containing live animals must be labeled according to IATA standards. For our purposes, this includes reptile and aquatic creatures. A label with an image representing reptiles or aquatic animals must be included on every live shipment.

You can purchase our Lacey Act/IATA labels as stickers or you can print your own using this downloadable Lacey Act label pdf.

Be sure to include one of these labels on every live shipment and check the appropriate box indicating its contents.

The general public has a right to live their lives without encountering a reptile that’s escaped from improper packaging. Every time someone ships a reptile with substandard packaging, and that reptile escapes, dies, scares or harms someone, that reflects poorly on ALL reptile hobbyists. It also furthers legislative efforts to ban reptiles entirely.
  
Take responsibility. Do your part. Pack your reptile properly. Make sure it reaches its destination safely. It’s good for the reptile, it’s good for the recipient, and it’s good for you.

You may need a heat pack or cold pack inside your package depending on the type of animal you are shipping and the daytime high temperature at your location and at the destination.

Be aware of the temperature requirements and safe temperature range for the species you are shipping. If you have questions about a specific species or weather condition, consult Ship Your Reptiles staff for more detailed guidelines and parameters.

It is the responsibility of the shipper to adequately package shipments for all temperature extremes and handling conditions. DO NOT OVERUSE HEAT PACKS!

6 Critical Points for Heat Pack Use

1. Heat packs should never come into direct contact with the animal bag/container.

2. There should always be crumpled newspaper or other packaging material between the heat pack and animal bag/container.

3. Heat pack should never be placed under an animal bag/container, as it will result in high likelihood of DOA.

4. Heat pack should be taped securely to underside of the styrofoam lid. DO NOT cover the red stripe with tape!

5. Failure to comply with the above points will INVALIDATE Live Arrival Insurance.

6. Lastly, we do not recommend heat pack use in any box smaller than the 12x9x6. If you need a heat pack with your shipment, you should use the 12x9x6 box or larger.

These guidelines are according to daytime HIGH temperatures. If either the ORIGIN or DESTINATION temperature is 70 degrees farenheit or higher, DO NOT use a heat pack. Shipping outside of these temperature guidelines nullifies any SYR Insurance. If your daytime high temperatures straddle two categories, please contact us for instructions that remain within insurance parameters, qualifications, and guidelines.

Guidelines:

Below 38°F: Do no’t ship. Wait for warmer weather.

38-69°F: Use a heat pack per our directions.

70-91°F: DO NOT use heat pack.

92-100°F: Ship to a "FedEx Ship Center" facility (NOT a FedEx Office, Pak Mail, Mail Boxes Etc. or other satellite/franchise location). Your shipment will arrive early in the morning and be kept inside until the recipient picks it up. Search for a FedEx staffed facility near you. Read the IMPORTANT NOTE below.*

Over 100°F: Don’t ship. Wait for cooler weather.

Amphibians and other species from cooler moist climates.

Below 38°F: Do not ship. Wait for warmer weather.

38-60°F: Use a heat pack per our directions.

60-80°F: DO NOT use a heat pack. No cold pack required.

80-92°F: Use a cold pack per our directions.

Over 92°F: Don’t ship. Wait for cooler weather.

NOTE: When the daytime high temperature at your destination is between 92 and 100 degrees farenhei, you should not ship to typical residential or business locations and you should not ship amphibians at all. Any time spent on a delivery truck during the heat of the day can be detrimental to the health of your reptile. However, you can ship to a "FedEx Ship Center" facility (NOT a FedEx Office, Pak Mail, Mail Boxes Etc. or other satellite/franchise location). Your shipment will arrive early in the morning and be kept inside until the recepient picks it up. 

If you want to have your package held for pickup at a FedEx facility, be sure to enter "FedEx Ship Center" in the Organization field and "HOLD AT FACILITY" in the second address field, like this:

When the daytime high temperature at your location is between 92 and 100 degrees farenheit, live shipments must be dropped off at a FedEx counter very late in the day (after 5 p.m.). A hot weather shipment (over 92 degrees farenheit but under 100 degrees farenheit at either origin or destination) will be covered under our Ship Your Reptiles Insurance policy only if the parameters mentioned here are followed.

Search for a FedEx staffed facility near you.

ShipYourReptiles.com offers 40- and 72-hour heat packs.

40-hour heat packs are most often used for reptile shipping. Reptiles must be shipped Priority Overnight, and the 40-hour heat pack is appropriate. Heat packs of less than 40-hour duration do NOT meet the SYR Shipping Standards.

To ship live reptiles, do not use 12- or 24-hour packs available at local BigBox stores or ski shops. These packs are hand warmrs, not shipping tools. 12- and 24-hour packs DO NOT provide the necessary heat nor duration for a successful live shipment. These also peak at a much higher temperature than shipping heat packs (180F) and endangure the life of live shipments. 

Heat packs work through a chemical reaction between the contents of the heat pack and oxygen in the surrounding air. Oxygen flow is regulated through the perforated red line. Never cover the red line with tape or anything else.

Pre-start your heat pack two hours before shipping.

Shake it up well and place it in a folded towel so it can generate a quick, solid heat.

The heat pack will not heat up properly if you leave it in open air.

The heat pack must be well started before you tape it to the underside of the top insulation panel and seal your box. Do not tape over the perforated red line. The red line should face the interior of the box.

Notes:

Do not overuse heat packs!

Use only one heat pack per box unless you are using our largest box, the 30"x16"x10", where two heat packs can be used if needed. 

Two heat packs in a box 16x16x8 or smaller will cause the box to get too hot and can kill the animal.

In a small or medium sized box, multiple heat packs will increase the ambient temperature of the box into dangerous territory.

Review the chart below for the temperatures that a single heat pack puts out. More is absolutely not better, just much, much hotter.

The purpose of a heat pack is NOT to warm or heat the box, it is to prevent it from getting cold. You want a temperate box, NOT a hot box!

If the temperatures are near the lower end of the SYR guidelines, doubling the insulation or having the shipment held at a FedEx facility will minimize the chances for a DOA.

DOAs are often caused by improper use of heat packs during the winter. Using too many heat packs in a box can cause the inside of the box to overheat.Heat packs use oxygen and using more than needed may consume all the oxygen in the box and have fatal consequences for the animal.

6 Critical Points for Heat Pack Use

1. Heat packs should never come into direct contact with the animal bag/container.

2. There should always be crumpled newspaper or other packaging material between the heat pack and animal bag/container.

3. Heat pack should never be placed under an animal bag/container, as it will result in high likelihood of DOA.

4. Heat pack should be taped securely to underside of the styrofoam lid. DO NOT cover the red stripe with tape!

5. Failure to comply with the above points will INVALIDATE Live Arrival Insurance.

6. Lastly, we do not recommend heat pack use in any box smaller than the 12x9x6. If you need a heat pack with your shipment, you should use the 12x9x6 box or larger.

Note: New heat packs are soft and feel like loose powder. Used heat packs are hard. If your heat pack is hard, it has been compromised. Use a new one.

Chart of heat pack surface temperatures for the various heat pack sizes:

NOTE – The following non-compliance of heat-pack use will INVALIDATE any SYR Insurance:

Use of hand-warmers, foot-warmers, or any heat pack with less than 40-hour duration.

Use of more than one heat pack in any box smaller than our #5 size.

Failure to provide specific ventilation (four quarter-inch holes, two at each end of the box).

Placing the heat pack at the bottom of the shipping box and/or in direct contact with the animal or the container for the animal

Attaching the heat pack facing the wrong way or covering the red stripe with tape.

Soak pack in water for a minimum of 15 minutes until it is fully saturated.

Put the cold pack in your freezer, plastic side down, overnight. It should be fully frozen.

Pack your animal, but do not place the cold pack until you are ready for pickup or dropoff. This keeps the cold pack frozen longer.

When you are ready to seal the package, wrap the cold pack in newspaper to absorb condensation. Tape the pack to the underside of the top insulation panel. Make sure there is packing material (crumpled newspaper) between the cold pack and the deli cup or cloth reptile bag.

Note: Using this site, you may NOT ship a package containing dry ice.

Phase 24 Packs (brand name of some Ph24 packs is Cryopak) are very versatile phase-change material packs that can be used in different ways depending on what you need them to do.

Ph24 packs try to stabilize the shipment at temps between 68°F to 75°F (or approx 24°C, hence the name Phase24). At 72°F, the pack is in a gel-like state (think slushy texture), but when it is below 72°F, it becomes solid and opaque white, and when warmed above 72°F, it becomes clear and liquid.

Over time, a Ph24 will work to regain and maintain its gel-like state at 72°F. When used warm, a Ph24 will try to release heat to get back down to 72°F, and when used in its solid state, it will try to absorb heat to get back up to 72°F. When used at room temperature or in its gel-like state, it will help reduce temperature changes within your box and helps to keep the internal temperature of your shipment closer to 72° than without it. 

 Using a Phase 24 pack when shipping from warm to cold:

They can act as a buffer when used in conjunction with a heat pack, such as for shipments where temps are too warm for normal heat pack use at the origin but you still need a heat pack on the receiving end. While this is a tricky situation, as long as you use a bigger box (~12x9x6 or larger) and your temps are not too hot, placing a solid Ph24 in between the heat pack and the animal will allow the Ph24 to absorb much of the heat on your end where you do not want active heating, while still allowing the heat pack to fulfill its purpose on the receiving end.

●    You can chill a Ph24 by popping it in the fridge (not the freezer) until it becomes solid and opaque.

Using a Phase 24 pack when shipping from cold to warm:

They can be used warm (clear and liquid) to act as a warming element for when you're shipping from cooler temps to hotter temps where the use of a heat pack on the receiving end would be too dangerous.

●   To warm a Ph24, place it in a bowl of warm (not boiling) water until it becomes liquid and clear

Using a Phase 24 pack as a stabilizer:

When used at room temp (~72°F) and the Ph24 is in its slushy form, you can include it by itself in your shipment to generally help keep the temps in the box stable--since reptiles are cold blooded, they absorb any heat change in the box. The pack will then act as an extra thermal mass (basically an extra 'body') so that any heat change can be absorbed across multiple 'bodies' rather than just the reptile by itself.

Tips and Tricks:

●   Once your Ph24 is solid or liquid, depending, that is enough - there is no benefit to making it “colder” or “hotter” and you risk damaging the pack with extreme temperatures.

●   Ph24 packs are quite safe and can be placed anywhere in the box, but should be secured in place in the box wherever you put them - you can even put them below, on top of, or right next to the animal or its container.

●   Multiple packs can be used in a single shipment, and they are generally more effective when used in multiples in larger boxes.

●   Over time and as the Ph24 changes phases, small microtears can happen in the plastic as the solid state packs can have hard and  sharp edges - seal your pack in a zip top baggie before putting them in your box to avoid any leaks in transit! 

Pros and Cons of Phase 24 packs:

PROS:

●   Safe for use with all shipments.

●   Helps maintain steady, stable internal temperatures.

●   No shelf-life or expiration date.

●   They are reusable.

●   They can make the difference between being able to ship or not when dealing with trickier temps. ● They are really hard to mess up.

CONS:

●   They work best if more than one is used. The more used, the more stable the temps. If you only have a few on hand, using a smaller box will help keep the pack more effective.

●   They are not a fix-all and can only help to a limit; more extreme temperatures may simply be too hard to mitigate.

●   They are roughly the size and weight of a 72-hour heat pack and will add weight to your shipment. 

Reach out with any questions or concerns!