Shipping Turtles
We typically recommend that turtles and tortoises (and all reptiles) are shipped only during mild weather months. We typically try to ship and receive animals during April, May, June, September, and October.
- Place the animal carefully into a pillow case or cloth bag. (Occasionally, we place smaller turtles into a small cardboard box, similar in size to a shoe box that has been perforated with lots of holes and stuffed full of damp sphagnum moss.) Place the animals so that they are fairly tightly packed inside. This prevents them from banging their legs around or injuring their head or neck when the boxed is moved around.
* Safe, disposable heat packs are available from reptile supply websites and in the hunter supply sections of larger stores. They are relatively safe to use and will help keep the animals warm during their journey. They can also overheat, especially inside smaller boxes, so care must be taken when shipping with heat packs.
- Place the bag or small box into a larger, Styrofoam-lined cardboard shipping box. (These boxes are available on the internet or through your local pet store as they are used to transport tropical fish. They usually cost from $8.00 to $10.00 each.)
- Fill in around the pillow case or small box with packing material such as biodegradable “peanuts” or wadded up newspaper. Again, make sure that the animals cannot bang around inside the box. They don't need to crawl or stretch out as they travel. If they can breathe easily and not get injured when the box is bounced around, they will be safest.
- Tape the box shut securely with strapping tape.
- During hot months, we perforate each side of the outer box and Styrofoam liner with six to eight holes about the diameter of a pencil. Make sure the holes are in the outer cardboard box and the inner Styrofoam liner. During cooler months or when traveling during a cold night, we only add two or three perforations in each side. Most reptile shippers feel that the small openings around the flaps of the box and Styrofoam lid offer enough air in and out during the relatively short travel time.
- Label the box LIVE HARMLESS REPTILES or LIVE TURTLES and PERISHABLE and note which end is up on the top and sides of the box. (We often add PLEASE AVOID EXTREME HEAT or PLEASE AVOID EXTREME COLD as well.)
