I understand this is MorphMarket and the site thrives off of people selling and shipping reptiles. I personally have had three packages of reptiles delivered to me without a problem. The longest one was in the box from seller to my hub for 12 hrs. I prefer to pickup my animals when I can and avoid shipping stress. Obviously that limits me to the local market. My question though is coast to coast something that sits well with you? All current situations aside, I understand people get them sent all the time no problem. And without imports to the US and exports to other countrys we wouldn’t have some species/ morphs. Which are even longer shipping times and stressful situations. A little piece of it doesn’t sit well with me regardless. Wether it’s for an hour or twenty, on a train, truck or plane. It’s weird and it must feel weird packing one up into a box the first time. I don’t want to be comfortable with things in the hobby because it’s the current norm. I am becoming comfortable with the idea of it because it’s the only practical way to spread them around. It just makes me think of the pictures of bird smugglers with birds sewn into their clothing. I mean it’s hard to sell the idea that we have the animals best interests in mind doing things like this.
Reptiles aren’t birds, or cats or dogs. I am going to talk about snakes because that is what I know. They have a much slower metabolism. Most can go days without food or water. They aren’t nearly as active. Mother ball pythons sit on eggs for two months without moving. A snake in shed won’t move for days. After a big meal snakes mostly sit for a few days. Many do better when kept in tight quarters and when nervous go to a cramped area for security. When I used to go herping when I was younger we flipped a lot of rocks and pieces of wood. That was where we found reptiles under rocks. The point I’m trying to make is that they can handle being put in a bag with somewhat limited movement fairly well. In fact some of my snakes were literally eating hours after they were removed from the bag. I do feel that every thing possible should be done to ensure that the animal is kept as comfortable and safe as possible.
I really admire that way of thinking.
Around 8 years ago I had a snake shipped to me from down south. I contacted the seller and we exchanged our views on the hobby and other snake related issues. I developed trust with this seller and thought a long distance trip would be ok because he seemed so passionate. When the snake arrived, the only thing in the box he shipped was a snake in a bag, barley even tied shut. She managed to escape that bag and ended up being dead on arrival. I understand the shipping company could also be at fault, but after that experience I don’t buy from people who will only ship their reptiles. It’s not that I don’t necessarily agree with it, because in the end it’s the most common way to deliver a snake to a buyer.
But after that experience I’ve only driven to pick up my snakes. I’ve taken 17 hour drives before for just a single gene snake. To me personally I’d rather put that snake in a tub with my supervision and trust myself before putting that trust in a shipping company or seller. I also think it shows the seller you’re committed to giving that reptile a proper home.
I also don’t ship my snakes I’ve produced. I’d rather drive and meet the buyer in person so I can get a feel for who they are. I feel the human interaction can tell you a lot about whether that individual will take care of something you put time and effort into producing. I’ve turned down sales from such meetings.
Overall shipping is needed in our hobby. People don’t usually have the time to drive and pick up their snakes, and like you said we would not have as many reptiles without importation from other countries. And in most cases the reptiles that are shipped come completely unharmed and the little stress they feel during shipping can easily be corrected with letting them settle in for a week or two. So even tho it’s not my preferred option, I still see the need for shipping reptiles. A lot of people wouldn’t be able to own some of these species if we didn’t have a way to ship them to the customers.
I am not really getting this?
My question though is coast to coast something that sits well with you
Whether you ship in the state next to yours or across country the animal will spend the same amount of time in a box granted there are no delays.
Priority overnight drop off deadline is 7 pm, delivery guarantee is 10.30 AM in most places , 9 AM if picked up at the hub.
So when I drop off snakes at 6.30 PM whether I ship them to North Carolina or California it’s gonna be the same.
I just want to point out that some of the reptile couriers vans and trucks are kitted out better than some people’s in-house set ups.
I know at least one here in the UK has spent a lot of money and put a lot of effort into making it as smooth for the reptiles as possible.
I honestly haven’t looked at any snakes across country. I was worried more or less the type of travel putting them through. Being thrown on a plane and put in the air. I guess the potential to loose or have a delayed package is the same regardless of origin. I personally havn’t had any come far enough for that. I’m very ignorant to it. It’s something that is awkward to me but like I said I’m growing comfortable with it but, I still don’t like the whole idea of shoving them into box’s and handing them over to be shipped.
We have things like this or hiring a long haul driver but it’s not the norm here or readily available. I’m sure if I was into the multi thousand dollar reptiles it would be more of an option.
If you can find a reliable service it definitely makes you feel a lot less stressed.
Expos really help if you can find a local courier attending.
I had 2 snakes come from Germany to the UK and it cost £70/$90 and neither of them were near the £1000 price range, I just had to wait a few months for the expo date.
I guess it depends on how patient the buyer is in that moment.
Hopefully one day one of these services will win the lottery and expand to international shipping 
Sswondering
Ssblalpython
shippingisscary