How do i ship my axolots

hi i have about 200 axolotl juvies on pellets now and i was wonder what are good methods of shipping them and adults? ice pack? breather bags? pure oxygen? i'v never shipped live fish before. So alot of details would be nice. also good solutions to put into the water to keep it fresh for their trip.

If you haven't read it already, this article is a great place to start: Caudata Culture Articles - Shipping

Helpful tips for shipping juvenile/adult axolotls can be found in this thread: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...discussion/83464-shipping-adult-axolotls.html

There are many more threads on shipping axolotls. The search function is a good tool, and will assist you in your search.

Welcome to the forum! :happy:

Right now is an especially difficult time of year for shipping them, because it's hot. I would strongly urge you NOT to ship any adults at this time of year, it's just too risky. If you've never shipped before, you need to do a lot of homework well ahead of time (and it seems that you are doing this, so good job!)

Your first task is to find a source of good insulated boxes. You can sometimes get free ones from clinical labs, research labs, vet clinics, or freecycle.

If you do try to ship in the summer you do it with a Ice Packs, 2 inch thick styro boxes with a close fitting lid and only ship next day air. When you use Fed Ex make the person receiving them pick them up at the Fed Ex depot. Don't let it sit cooking on a Fed Ex truck for 12 hours and Never Ever try it when the Temps are going to be over 90. I find nice styro boxes at hospitals and doctors offices for free. They ship medicine and vaccines in them so they are nice and thick. O2 is good. I've shipped fish and tiger sal larvae that way. They survived 20 hours in the bag. The real problem is Fed Ex and the Post office will lose a box here and there for a day or even a week. At these summer temps a extra day on a shipping truck means certain death and you will find yourself replacing animals. That gets expensive and time consuming very fast.

I only use FedEx overnight priority. I can track the shipment and most are delivered between 10 am and Noon. Based on our local delivery, I don't use UPS. We don't get delivery until almost 4 pm. Plus I handle alot of "mail" at work and I always feel like I need to wear gloves to handle the packets from UPS :dizzy: It's spendy, but if someone isn't prepared to pay for secure shipping then I'm not confident that they are willing to properly take care of my critters.

Fed Ex says my packages will get here between 10-12noon too but they lie. I am on the end of the route and I get my stuff at 6pm.

I found this video of how someone else shipped their axolotl, which seemed to work out fine for them. I believe the seller that is being referred to in the video ships USPS priority mail.
New Axolotl! - YouTube