Re: [Killietalk] Killietalk Digest, Vol 50, Issue 10

[gregory askew <karmafarmaquatics at yahoo_com>]

    In case anybody cares....
   
  I ship out maybe 20 boxes of live aquatics per week, and maybe another 30 or so with just live foods, plants, or eggs/dry stuff. All by USPS.
   
  My fish, shrimp, and snails get a sticker that says "Live aquatics. Please be carefull!". I don't keep it a secret that there are fish inside the box..... unless they are going internationally, in which case I do keep it a secret.
   
  The 3 post offices I use most often don't give me any trouble at all. They just take the boxes. Some go by Priority, some go by Express.
   
  But occasionally I go to a new post office (or sometimes get an over-ambitious employee at one of my regular post offices) and they give me problems. I was told once by a postal manager that they will take them "only by Express mail and only if it is less than 80 degrees". 
   
  My personal opinion, from experience, is that there are really no clear regulations on shipping fish..... or if there is, most postal employees are not familiar with them. 
   
  So with the Post office, it just depends on where you go and which employee serves you; if they are cool or not. 
   
  But FedEx's policy specifies that FedEx DOES accept live fish, however they only accept it from a FedEx store with FedEx employees (not an authorized ship center, like a mailbox place) and they are suppossed to check your packing, to make sure fish are bagged properly and styro boxed. 
   
  Unfortunately FedEx is very expensive!!


       
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