Shipping my cham.

Neard122

New Member
I moved to a new house half way across the country and I am shipping my cham ( who has been staying with my friends while me and my family moved) to that house hopefully this week. This is my first time shipping a reptile and I am using Ship Your Reptiles. I do not know what shipping kit I should get. My cham is a 4 year old female and she is a veiled chameleon. If you have any recomendations on what shipping kit to get, it would be very helpful.

Here is a link to all the shipping kits: https://www.shipyourreptiles.com/shop/shipping_kits_1-5/product
 
I don't like bags but most everyone does. I ship in solid sided containers. You can use ZipLock food storage containers. Just drill lots of little holes around the top and make sure there aren't any rough edges.

The trouble with shipping bigger chameleons is finding a plastic deli cup big enough. Once you have a deli cup (or ZipLock container) the right size, find the box to fit.

I never use heat packs, instead I use Phase 22 packs available at Ship Your Reptiles. Much more expensive, but better in many ways and they are reusable.

Phase 22 packs change state (freeze or thaw) at 22C or about 72F. Changing state from a solid to a liquid uses a lot of energy and energy in a chameleon box is heat. Changing from liquid to solid does the exact opposite and releases energy (heat). This all happens around 72F so the box is kept at a more even temperature. I don't like the heat packs included in the kit you showed because they can get really hot and kill your chameleon. Heat kills a LOT of animals in shipping but cold rarely does. A veiled will do quite well with a drop down into the low 40s.

Drill a few holes about the size of a pencil in the outer box. I tend to drill 8 holes, depending on the temperatures.

I put a crumpled wad of paper towels in the bottom and give two mist sprays of the chameleon and the paper towels before I close up the box. I tape the lid shut.

Read through Ship Your Reptiles guidelines. It all seems so confusing the first time, but it makes sense the more familiar you are with it. Go through everything so you feel safe.

I ship to a FedEx Ship Center where they are held for pick up. This is the absolutely safest way to ship especially in temperatures that area on either extreme. I go to the FedEx web site "Find Locations." At the top where they ask for an address or zip to find the nearest location, there is a purple button that says, "I want to..." Hit that button and a drop down menu will pop up. Check "Hold at location" AND "Ship Dangerous Goods." That will give you locations close to you that will hold a live reptile. Since you are new to this, double check with Ship Your Reptiles that that particular facility is licensed to hold reptiles. Then just book a shipment. Do a trial run and fill it out without paying for it and you will feel a lot more confident on the day you are shipping. Find a FedEx Ship Center near you that accepts live reptiles (use the "Find a Location" feature on the FedEx web site again) and take your packed up baby sometime in the evening.

I check weather highs and lows from my location, Memphis (since most packages go through Memphis) and any other likely hub city plus the destination city.

I avoid putting chameleons on a truck so pick up and deliver to FedEx Ship Centers.

Good luck. I know it is scary.
 
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