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Cold weather shipping question

I said I was going to test the freezer because the fridge should be around 35*. I know I can ship at 35*. I want to know about colder.

I agree with Jeff. I think the most damage is done in the truck itself. I think the same is true in the heat of the summer. I deliver my packages to the airport and they are put on a plane within half an hour. They don’t spend much time sitting around on the dock.
 
I generally prefer winter over summer shipping. Heat packs are much more effective than cold packs.

If the overnight low in the destination AND Memphis is around 20F or so, AND there are no travel advisories in either place that might delay the shipment, then I feel pretty comfortable, ESPECIALLY if they pick up at FedEx. I am more worried about an overactive heat pack than I am about the cold, except during extended transport in unheated trucks. I always try to convince customers to pick up at the staffed FedEx office. But if I am on the fence about weather being too hot or cold, then I will require them to pick up at FedEx. But in most cases, fairly cold weather with delivery to a business address that is guaranteed 10:30 a.m. delivery is acceptable to me.

I am always sure to separate the snake from the heat pack with several layers of crumpled newspaper, or even bubblewrap. I would rather the snake come in a little chilled than cooked.

I occasionally ship ball pythons - that is much trickier. Corns (and most North American colubrids) are not harmed by reasonable chilling (on an empty stomach).

I have had very good success with these guidelines, as long as FedEx gets it delivered reasonably close to promised delivery time. But I have even had them (rarely) delay by a day with no adverse results.

Hope that helps a little.
 
The coldest weather I ever shipped in was a predicted 20 degree low on my end (Oregon) with a predicted 9 degree low on their end (Minnesota). I packed up the hatchling snake in a smaller box with blue board insulation and a 40 hour heat pack taped near the top of the package. The snake did just fine, and the people still send me updates from time to time!
 
You know what I've seen Carol do- put an empty deli cup in as a spacer, and the heat pack in a deli cup. Luckily she makes this clear on the cups, what they contain, so I don't have to hope she accidentally packed in an amel cinder as a little gift!!

I think I have summer shipping under control, but I haven't had to deal with winter, yet. So far I've insisted the snakes were picked up at Fed Ex staffed locations, and luckily they've gone to CS.com members who were understanding of my worries.
 
I've shipped in 40 degree weather. Always allow the heat pack at least 30 minutes to activate before putting it in the box or it will deplete the oxygen levels. I also would not put it on the top of the box as it can really cook them if it falls off the top or lays on top of the snakes. I always attach it to one side of the box and put a lot of shredded paper in between. Never had a problem. I won't ship in lower than 40 degrees or if the weather is bad where delays might occur.
 
wade said:
I lost a sale today on a pair of Taiwan Beauties because I told the guy a 32* minimum and he said that wouldn’t be till April. I’m just feeling frustrated I guess.

Would you ship if the buyer assumed responsibility for a dead snake?
Click to expand...

I bought my hypo lavender from Carol last year sometime around Dec or Jan and had to wait until March I think it was for shipping temps to be OK. In my opinion it's better safe than sorry. IF you do decide to ship in non-optimal temps, I'd make sure the buyer assumes responsibility and that they know what that entails.
 
I’m doing some tests today to see what really happens inside the box. I am very surprised at what I am finding out so far. And disappointed I might add.

I started with one of my normal shipping boxes. It is an 8” cube. It is lined with 1’ thick Styrofoam. Inside I have three deli cups surrounded by crumpled newspaper. The thermometer probe is in the center cup. I have taped a 40-hour heat pack to the underside of the top foam.

At the beginning, everything was at room temperature. 73.8 degrees. It took 2 hours before the heat pack was offering enough heat to change that temperature. That surprised me, I thought they kicked in faster than that.

The next thing that surprised me was that the insulation only offered about ½ hour of protection. When I put the box in the fridge, the temperature would start to go down with in a few minutes and would be in the mid 30’s within 30 minutes. If I bring it back out it starts going back up within minutes. I am really disappointed with the insulation. It doesn’t seem to be slowing the transfer of heat enough to even matter.

I’m still messing with it. I’ll add more later.
 
Do you have any of that blueboard insulation to try? It's much more sturdy than the white fluffy stuff we usually use. That's what I used the one time I dared to ship when it was really cold... and the snake did fine. Interesting experiment! Thanks for sharing!
 
Wade, I believe the styrofoam insulates a little bit, but the actual purpose is to strengthen the box from crushing, without adding weight. (I learned this from getting my package tested at Fed Ex- they crush it with 400#!!) It is my understanding that the heat pack needs air and jostling to work well, so if it is placed in a deli cup, not wrapped in newspaper, that can happen. I tested one when I sent Inez up to Maine, and it got so warm I ended up not using it. And I had it sandwiched between the outer wall of styrofoam and another inner wall I'd added to try to tone it down a little...It was a pretty big one from LLL.
 
I have it taped to the underside of the foam lid with the red line fully exposed. I did it exactly the way they show you to in the Ship Your Reptiles video. I know the 40 hr packs are susposed to start out slower than the 36 or 24 hr packs. Two hours is a lot more that I expected.

I have taken the box out of the fridge and set it on the counter. It took it 20 minutes to warm up from 34* to 78*. That is all. I'm going to wait now and see how hot it gets due to the heat pack.

It is a 40 pack, UniHeat brand. I got it from Superior Enterprises.
 
wade said:
I’m doing some tests today to see what really happens inside the box. I am very surprised at what I am finding out so far. And disappointed I might add.

I started with one of my normal shipping boxes. It is an 8” cube. It is lined with 1’ thick Styrofoam. Inside I have three deli cups surrounded by crumpled newspaper. The thermometer probe is in the center cup. I have taped a 40-hour heat pack to the underside of the top foam.

At the beginning, everything was at room temperature. 73.8 degrees. It took 2 hours before the heat pack was offering enough heat to change that temperature. That surprised me, I thought they kicked in faster than that.

The next thing that surprised me was that the insulation only offered about ½ hour of protection. When I put the box in the fridge, the temperature would start to go down with in a few minutes and would be in the mid 30’s within 30 minutes. If I bring it back out it starts going back up within minutes. I am really disappointed with the insulation. It doesn’t seem to be slowing the transfer of heat enough to even matter.

I’m still messing with it. I’ll add more later.
Click to expand...

Go to Home Depot or Lowes and get the insulation board made for walls, it's much better quality. Did you shake the heat pack before putting it in? Also, it needs oxygen to work, so if it's wrapped in paper it won't work, and if it's in a totally sealed box it will suck up all the O2 and suffocate itself and the snake...
 
Dang, I type slow, lol... I had a few in our last shipment that were faulty, and I had to start each one a couple hours before packing up the snakes to make sure they were working...
 
I got the 1" styrofoam board at Home Depot. The heat pack is not sealed up!!! The heat pack is taped to the underside of the top foam lid. The red line (the breathing side) is exposed completely. Yes I shook it.

This is not my first rodeo. I have been doing this for 25 years, I know how to build a box.
 
OK, The box has been sitting at room temperature (72*)for 45 minutes. The inside of the box is now at 84.1* So the heat pack is in fact adding heat to the box. It's been in there for 4 hours. The temperature is still rising so I'm going to wait and see how hot it will get. Then put it back in the fridge.
 
I'd be interested to see what the results were of this experiment with a heatpack loosely wrapped in newspaper. This is the method I have seen used, I never saw the SYR video.
Honestly, if the temps are above freezing on both ends of the transaction and memphis (fed ex hub) and there are no snow or ice storms that might delay planes, I don't worry so much about shipping. The temps in my brumation room have reached 40 and even got down to high 30's a few times this year, when I had some heating issues. All my corns seem to have gotten through it OK.
 
This video is exactly how I packed my box only I used a better box. My insulation is 1" thick and it is denser foam than the foam that you get from Superior Enterprises.

 
OK I let the box sit on the kitchen counter. The temp climbed above room temperature for several hours and finally topped out at 89* I don’t think it would have gotten any hotter if I left it all day.

I put the box back in the fridge. The temp dropped from 89 to 51* in about an hour. At that point it stayed. I just looked and it is still 51 after two hours.

In my humble opinion, 89 to 51 may not be ideal but for a 16 hour trip if it stays within that range, I can live with that, and so can the snakes.

That is in the fridge at about 34*. Now I’m going to move to the freezer at 0* F. She how that works.
 
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