General Care Discussion :: shipping turtles...

[mackadocious]

so i've found a home for my tough-girl turtle, but the adopter is in florida, over 12 hours from me so i will have to ship...i have some directions for shipping from a website we found out of long island that seem pretty reasonable, though i have to say i'm still a bit nervous about the whole shipping thing....anybody have any direct experience shipping live turtles??....

directions i have are a box w/in a box w/ styrafoam packing in both loose enough for air flow holes poked thru inside box w/ turtle wrapped in either sock or towel, etc. something they can't really move around in and being cold out, a hot pack in the box too...(low in chattanooga over next couple days is 45 degrees or higher)...

i've ordered a hot pack which may come by tuesday but may not come till later--this site recommended mailing out monday or tuesday afternoons--so i might have to wait till next week....i will call DHL tomorrow when i'm at work to find out if they have any recommendations, though i thought i'd see what people here have to say as well...

my only other option at this point is an individual running a rescue org. about 4 hours away whom i talked to earlier today and only has a 10g tank at this point for my 6" turtle, so i'm not too thrilled about her potential accommidations there....still waiting to find out about the adopter, though they have volunteered to pay for shipping so....

anyways, comments??

[untsmurf]

I don't have any experience about shipping, and I'm not sure if there's any info offered on the main site about it, though you could check. But if shipping doesn't work out, you could each drive half way to get it. A 6 hour drive really isn't that bad.

[mackadocious]

yeah i thought about that but that's 12 hours round trip, which IS a long drive...but, i totally forgot about my friends coming to town on their way to florida....they're gonna bring hank down for me to naples where the adopter's son will just so happen to be for the weekend, which works out perfectly....don't you just love when things fall into place??

[TheComputerGremlin]

Aww, yay for everything lining up just right!

[zoologist]

For future reference if you do need to ship, everything you said does sound right. Cept, i would use crumpled paper instead of packing peanuts (personal choice). Also, DHL does ship live animals which is pretty awesome

[geekyturtle]

I shipped one via FedEx - I just didn't mention it was a turtle, and it got to it's destination fine (overnight was about $50).

I also used crumpled paper instead of styrofoam, and a sock. I had an insulated box I got with an Omaha Steaks purchase and put some holes in it.

[steve]

Just an FYI, I don't think DHL accepts new deliveries from within the US.

[megcornell]

DHL has stopped doing strictly-US ground and air shipping. They'll still ship internationally including the U.S, but they don't ship domestically.