I’m really worried I had a female snake shipped overnight with ups… but they delayed her she was supposed to be here Friday, they delayed her AGAIN Saturday…. Now she’s supposed to be here Monday….all this time they wouldn’t let me come get her… as they can’t find the box it’s on a trailer…… But my biggest concern is they didn’t put her somewhere for live animals… even though her box CLEARLY says it…. They put her on a conveyor belt and put her in a trailer with all the other boxes to be delivered on Monday… it’s supposed to get to 30 degrees in my area tonight…… is there any possible way she may survive?... She was born the end of august… so she’s only a couple
Months old….
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Are you sure it went through ups? If it was sent overnight the person you bought it from should have shipped it via FedEx. I don’t believe ups does live animal shipments like Fedex does
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Agree with @nswilkerson1. If UPS was used, and not informed it is live, then this would fall on the sender. Just because the box says “live” does not mean they will handle it that way. Especially if the don’t ship live animals. Being in the box that long should not be a problem, the cold could be. When it arrives, if all is good, definitely let it settle in for at least a week or two before handling or trying to feed. This would have been a very stressful transfer. Make sure everything is set up and ready to go, heat on and hides ready to be used. Do not try to add extra heat to compensate for the lack of during shipping. Please let us know when it arrives and how things are going.
And welcome to the community. You will find lots of good advice and information here.
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I had a female I got last year that was so cold I initially thought she had passed. The seller didn’t ship her with a heat pack and it was 30-40F here. Good news is that she didn’t die, but to help not shock her I slipped her, bag and all, under my shirt against my skin. She’s one of the linch pins of my project, and she was so cold she wasn’t about to waste energy to nip me.
My wife, an RVT, suggested the skin contact on the way home and then letting her warm up in the house until her movements returned to normal (for a ball python in a bag. Lol). Then into the rack she went after a thorough body check to make sure all was well.
Not so sure if it made a difference or not, but my girl is doing great now without any signs of coming to damage from the cold. She was older than your girl, but here’s hoping yours makes it through too!
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I had a M/F pair that was shipped UPS in the worst of packaging (auto parts box lined with GREASE), in the same bag, no heat pack (below freezing there & here) and waited an extra day but my scaly children arrived alive. I was fortunate after an especially long two month settle-in period they finally both ate, thrived and realized I was not the enemy, lol. However, it states on UPS’s site that NO snake, venomous or non-venomous is allowed to be shipped through them. Here’s the link: How To Ship Plants and Animals | UPS - United States . I hope your new baby arrives sooner rather than later and is okay! Please do keep us updated
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There are a couple of companies that UPS still ships for because of how long they have been shipping for and volume of packages. The ones who still are allowed to us UPS should have know better than to ship on a Thursday though
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Thank you for clarifying, I was unaware of exceptions!
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Update she’s arrived DOA with rigor mortis already setting in…
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I am so sorry, I was waiting to hear an update to see if she made it safely
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That is not the news we was hoping to hear. Sorry for the bad outcome.
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I’m so sorry. I was hoping she would make it to you safely, if a bit cold.
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I’m so sorry! I just saw this thread. It sounded bad from the start but I was hoping for a happy ending anyway. I hope the seller will make things right. It sounds like a lot of things went wrong. Document everything thoroughly, including temperature of the box when you received it, if possible.
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I am so, so sorry. This seriously makes me sad and frustrated. That poor girl had no reason to die. Personally I wouldn’t ever do shipping business with anyone shipping UPS, especially after hearing this (and things like it.) I’ve had great experiences shipping animals, but I also wouldn’t allow shipments after September here (Iowa) as it just gets too cold, sometimes randomly.
Regardless, sending good vibes. RIP to the poor baby.
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Bless your heart, which is probably broken. I had a bad feeling about this from the get go. As @caryl said, documentation is important. I hope you are reimbursed for this tragedy. My heart breaks for that little snake.
@caryl I am retired but I worked at Petsmart during the spring and summer of 2020 in pet care just for something to do. We received a shipment of ball pythons from the “wholesaler” one day and when I opened the box (FedEx) there were 6 beautiful little dead ball pythons babies inside, each one in a deli cup. It looked like they had melted in their own feces. The smell was nauseating.
Of course this was during the summer of 90 degree weather. But here is the sad sickening part. The “overnight” shipment turned into 5 days. And the box was labeled properly “live animals “.
So see @starriverson things happen sometimes that are out of our control. However , if you think that the seller has some accountability for this dead animal, then make sure it happens.
All the best to you 
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Amen @joosh13 I did receive a snake I purchased from a seller that only ships UPS. However I had the snake shipped to a holding UPS facility and I collected it there.
I use a FedEx holding facility as well. I have a little green tree frog being shipped out to me tomorrow (Tuesday) for Wednesday morning delivery/pickup at the hub.
I breathe a sigh of relief when I open the box and see my little live critter. Up until then, I am always nervous.
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This might be a stupid question, but…are you sure she’s actually dead? I know that when snakes get very cold, they can often look dead, as they don’t move much if at all and will sometimes even be rather stiff. I’d recommend leaving her at room temp for a few hours and seeing if there’s any change, just to be sure.
EDIT: Be sure to leave her at room temp. If she is alive after all, she’s very cold, and putting her straight into a heated enclosure could shock her system. So just leave her in her shipping bag/deli at room temp to start. If she “resurrects,” you can put her in the enclosure once she’s at room temperature. If there are still no signs of life after being at room temp for a while, then unfortunately she has indeed passed away.
In any case, I’m really sorry this happened.
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Wow! That is something I never thought of! @starriverson it’s worth a try……
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Always. No matter how many I’ve gotten. And, though I always package properly and follow safe shipping protocol and only use FedEx Priority Overnight on Tuesday or Wednesday and pay attention to weather and other possible delays and say prayers ---- I always breathe a sigh of relief when I hear from a buyer that their animal arrived safely. No matter how many I’ve shipped. Always.
@caron that’s a terrible experience. I’m so sorry that happened for all concerned.
@starriverson, I’m so sorry. This is truly heartbreaking. I hope that you won’t give up.
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When I pick up my animal at the hub I open the box while I am still in the parking lot and I take a picture of the animal to send to the seller/breeder. I like to develop a rapport with them out of courtesy.
I like your logo “Bright Hope”.
All the best to you!
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Some older breeders grandfathered into the UPS shipping reptiles. Some can ship UPS…