How to ship a baby dragon?

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ValBCN

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Soooo... my Laia's eggs have hatched and we have 16 lovely little, perfect dragons and one lovely little special needs baby dragon (he was born with a twirly-wirly tail). I've advertised them with great success and in a few weeks they'll go to their new homes. Some of them will need to travel and I would like to know what's the best, safest way to ship a little dragon? The whipment will be done via a reputable courier company with a specialised pet shipping service.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Which shipping company did you choose ? They will advise you on the boxes/styrofoam insulation so that will be taken care of. Shipyourreptiles is one , I used reptilesexpress in the past but not sure if they are still in operation. Here are the guidelines from SYR....

https://shipyourreptiles.com/en/get-help/get-help-shipping-standards


The day you ship, only feed one very small meal in the morning, or nothing at all. Pack the baby as close to actual shipping time as possible so it spends the least amount of time in the box. You'll need to know the hours that the shipping center is open and take the box there as late in the day [ without taking the chance of the place closing on you before you arrive ] You can use a small flat deli cup with shredded paper towels in it or find tiny boxes, like something that jewelry or other small items would be shipped/sold in. Check the weather in your state as well as the destination, and ship only Mon. -Wed. That way, if by chance it was sent on Thurs. and for some reason got held up, it wouldn't set in the warehouse over the weekend because Sat. delivery costs extra and Fedx/Ups will not deliver it. If it's below 65 out you'll need a small heat pack, but not the handwarmers from the store. Those get SUPER hot and can kill the baby. The shipping site sells everything you need, including the proper heat packs. You can open the heat pack about 1/2 hour before , shake it to activate it and wrap it loosely in newspaper. Make sure to add crumpled newspaper in the shipping box so the baby in his little container does not topple around on the journey. Poke a few small holes in the box, they don't actually need them but some people freak out if they think it's going to suffocate.
 

ValBCN

Member
Original Poster
I'm in Spain, so there's other companies here. THe most popular one is MRW, I need to call them and theyll come and pick up the box to my place. I need to call them yet to see if they give any advise on how to prepare the animals, but since most people seem to know next to nothing about reptiles and here, on the contrary, there's so many people who know a lot about this, I thought I would ask here first.
I have some disposable take away food boxes that should be a good size for this purpose.
Also, what's the minimum recommended age or size to ship a baby? I'm thinking of shipping in late October, when they're about 6 weeks old, but I'll delay it if necessary. The weather here will be reasonably warm until late October, but since I'm shipping to central Spain, it'll be colder there. The MRW vans are supposed to be 20C, and they supposedly provide vet care at their stopover place. I'll check weather before I ship, though.

Yes, I've been looking at heat packs in Amazon, but some seem too hot and others not hot enough...
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Oh, I assumed you were in the U.S. Here the only way to ship [ the recommended way ] is Fedex or UPS priority overnight, that way the box arrives at the destination at or before 10:30 a.m the very next morning. The dragon doesn't even spend one whole day in the box, more like 18-19 hours.

You say they have a stop over to be seen by a vet ? That's odd, you'd think that getting the baby to it's destination would be top priority, or maybe I misunderstood. And yes, 6 weeks old is O.K. to ship but only if they are at least 6-7" long and eating well. Eight weeks is better, but for large fast growers, 6 weeks is O.K. Take out containers are good but again, there should not be a lot of extra room in the box for the baby to slide around in. Here's a pretty good video, pay attention to the details :


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnhvADVED9A


But these heat packs are the most widely used + recommended for shipping .

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjb5I7lzdHdAhUFQIYKHTiEB2wYABAVGgJ2dQ&sig=AOD64_0kuMnw1L5dtClLsn7yaKbfTarC3Q&ctype=5&q=&ved=0ahUKEwij3IjlzdHdAhXQuFkKHSdyCFAQ9aACCDQ&adurl=
 

ValBCN

Member
Original Poster
Yes, the stopoever thing is a bit odd, I think it's where the van that picks your box up meets the van that will actually take it to destination, along with maybe other beasties that go in the same general direction, to make the trip worthwhile for them.

Thanks for all the information!
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Are the customers all located in your country ?

If so , Spain is a tiny country , I'd be getting these Spanish customers to come your place on an appointed day to collect the hatchlings in person.

If they are not resident in Spain , you need to do this correctly using an express animal courier service and make sure you and the customer have all the correct permits to do this. I don't know the rules in the EU , but I expect there are quaranteen considerations and export/ import rules that need to addressed.
Maybe it might be easier for EU customers (not resident in Spain) to collect in person and then taking the hatchling/s home becomes their problem.
 

ValBCN

Member
Original Poster
"Spain is a tiny country", :lol:
YTes, if you are in the US, of course Spain looks tiny, and (I am Southamerican myself) us people on the other side of the pond think nothing of driving 500km to do whatever. But most Spaniards think 500 km is a lot and would not drive so far to collect a dragon. So, unless they are willing to do it, I've decided I'm not sending them.
 

Gormagon

Extreme Poster
ValBCN":3sp8uv2y said:
"Spain is a tiny country", :lol:
YTes, if you are in the US, of course Spain looks tiny, and (I am Southamerican myself) us people on the other side of the pond think nothing of driving 500km to do whatever. But most Spaniards think 500 km is a lot and would not drive so far to collect a dragon. So, unless they are willing to do it, I've decided I'm not sending them.

That's only 310.6 miles :roll: :roll: :shock: :shock: , still quite a drive. For a 620 mile round trip, you had better be real serious about getting a dragon, LOL!!!
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
That would be a simple drive for Express mail. Shipping costs in the U.S for overnight priority for a dragon is average $ 40-$60 U.S.
 
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