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snail mail (and plants)



At 03:48 PM 8/20/98 -0400, Aquatic Plants Digest wrote:
>Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 13:57:18 -0400
>From: Beverly Erlebacher <bae at cs_toronto.edu>
>
>I've been mailing MTSs around Canada for the past year or two, and I can
>tell you these guys are tough.  I fast them for a few days, then pack them
>as above, without sealing the bag.  I basically fill the bag with water,
>drain it, and fold the top over to retain moisture and allow a little air
>exchange.  Be sure to use styrofoam peanuts and not the new dissolving 
>starch kind!  I put the bag in a flat cardboard box or bubble plastic padded
>envelope.  Some got lost and took 10 days to get to an area in the middle
>of a 30C+ (85F+) heat wave, but they mostly survived.  Ramshorn snails
>seem to be far more delicate than these indestructible MTSs.
>
>I haven't had particularly good results mailing plants, but one method
>that seems to be fairly effective is to wrap them in wet newspaper in 
>an unsealed plastic bag.  They deteriorate in the dark pretty quickly,
>so I'd recommend 2-day service if you can manage it.

Do you ask them for a snail mail address ?

I've had remshorns mailed to me. They croaked.

OTOH, I've had Crypts mailed to me from Holland
that didn't exactly get here quickly, but did very 
well. 

Each crypt was wrapped in damp newspaper and then put
in a small plastic bag. Each of these bags was then placed
in one big bag.

For shipping, to 8 x 10 pieces of corregated cardboard
had sandwhiched between them some styrofoam leaving
a square recess in the middle, that is the interior
perimeter has a 1" or so lining of styrofoam.

The bag was placed in the middle, and it was held together
with a bit of tape and mailed.

In theory you need a phytosanitary certificate, but it
seems as if you mark the sender address Dr. firstname lastname
and the recipient xxxyyzz Botanical Laoboratories, c/o
Dr. firstname lastname and mark the customs slip "Aquatic plants
for research, non CITES" then they just go through unmolested.

--
Richard J. Sexton
richard at aquaria_net
Bannockburn, Ontario, Canada                       +1 (613) 473 1719