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How To Ship Bettas

80K views 96 replies 50 participants last post by  hrutan 
#1 ·
How To Ship Fish

What you will need:
- Shipping bags
- A heat pack
- Styrofoam
- Packing materical such as bubble wrap or foam shipping beads
- Newspaper
- Tape
- Shipping Box

Step One: Take the Styrofoam and cut it so that it can line all sides of the shipping box, top, bottom and all four sides, and then add you packing material.




Step Two: Take your shipping bags( you will need 2 per fish) and place the fish you wish to ship in a bag along with water from the tank they are in. Always use their tank water, not fresh water, they’re less likely to stress out that way. Fill the bag about 1/3 of the way, just enough to cover the fish and give them a bit of room for movement. Tie the bag shut, making sure to trap plenty of air in the bag.



Then flip the bag and fish upside down and, tied side first, place the bag inside of the second shipping bag.



Then tie the second bag tightly, and your fishie is already to go.




Step Three: Place the fish inside the shipping box, making sure the shipping bag and fish are snug in the box and that they won’t move around too much once the box is sealed.




Step Four: Take the heat pack remove the outer plastic covering and activate the heat pack.




Wrap the heat pack in a layer of newpaper (I’ve used looseleaf to demonstrate because I don’t have any newspaper at the moment) and then tape the newspaper covered heat pack to the piece of Styrofoam that will cover the top of the package.





Step Five: Place the last piece of Styrofoam on top and tape up the box and ship out the package.





Some Useful Shipping Tips:

- Fast the fish for a couple of days before shipping. This will decrease their chance of becoming constipated and developing swim bladder issues due to the stress from shipping.
- Its not necessary to mark the box being shipping with “fragile” and “live fish” I have personally shipped fish both ways with no problem so it’s a personal preference.
 
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#59 ·
I use heat packs from October to mid April. Heat packs can kill though so use plenty of "stuff" between it and the bags. I use two pieces of paper over the heat pack, a plastic liner, and shredded paper in the liner, then I add the bags.
 
#61 ·
The 72 hour heat packs are excellent for Priority in the winter. Linda Olson uses the 40 hour on all shipments but the shorter the time the hotter they get. A 72 hour takes a few days to reach maximum temperature and can burn for almost a week in a 1 inch styro lined 7x7x6 box (I experimented).
 
#63 ·
I'm on page 5 and I have seen no mention of not enough packing material in that box. If the box got turned upside down, the fish would be touching the heat pack!..and it would be bouncing around.

If I'm shipping in winter, I'll use a 24hr heat pack and ship express. If buyer wants priority in winter...sorry you can't have my fish.

Lori
 
#64 ·
I'm actually working on new stickies for several topics, this will be one of them :)
 
#66 ·
There's debate on where the heat pack should go. Linda Olson (transhipper in the US) puts them under, however the heat pack instructions say to place them on the box lid. I've done experiments with them and TBH it doesn't matter where it goes as long as it never comes into contact with the fish bags.
 
#68 ·
I use newspaper as packing material.

I buy all my shipping supplies from www.kensfish.com. I use the 4" x 18" bags.
 
#71 ·
I use 2mil. 3mil are harder to tie and leak more easily.
 
#72 ·
In the summer going from e coast to idaho, can you do priority? and does it need a cold pack? Will a young fish be ok?

Not sure if this is the place to post. Also, what about shipping snails? Are they as fragile as Betta? I was asked if they could b3 shipped in a priority box. I assume yes if it has room for insulation in the form of bubbles, or peanuts? I dont really know though.
 
#84 ·
Hi, just a quick question - when they hip to you from aquabid, do they come to your door or is there specific shippers you need to go to in order to pick up your fish?

Sorry for the bother, just a little confused (especially since it's winter in canada) and wasn't sure where to post the question and since you deal with aquabid...
 
#83 ·
I do have a question. I have looked up shipping fish and came across polystyrene insulation, plus styrofoam. Is there anything different? I know polystyrene is usually used for houses.

Now, since we in Canada seem to be having some troubles with the shipping companies we desperately need to over compensate for their lack of care.

Would "LIVE FISH" labelled on the outside cause more of a problem, because they feel an urge to check it out? Are we able to label "keep at room temperature" or something like that on the outside?

I'm also going to do test runs on which packing method works best.
 
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