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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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#3 ·
Good post :) useful because I have to move to a new province this month and winter in Canada...well you know lol. But do you know where to get those little heat pads??

I am driving so it shouldn't be too bad if I can't find them because they will be on my knee, it's just roughly a 3 hour drive, just thought they could be used as precaution
 
#7 ·
Isn't this already a thread in the breeding section?
 
#9 ·
Yeah that's what I thought... heck my mind has been so shot lately - I wasn't sure if I was correct or if I dreamed it haha. Darn school :)
 
#11 ·
Are the heat packs the same thing as hand and toe warmers? Or are they different?
 
#13 ·
#15 ·
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Zenandra have a different user name originally? Or is that another member?
 
#16 ·
I just thought I'd bump this thread and point out a few things.

First the fish has too much water in the bag, the post does say fill the bag with 1/3 water but the fish in the pic has too much water. Unless you plan on shipping your fish horizontally (laying on their sides, this is how that Thai and Linda Olson ship) only fill your bag 1/3 of the way with water.

Second heat rises so it's smart to place the heat pack wrapped in newspaper on the bottom of the box. Remember heat packs can get up to 150*F so it's extrememely important not to let the heat pack come into contact with the fish bag. But you can also tape it to the box lid like in this post.

Third is you don't want the fish's bag to feel like a balloon, you want to leave it a little squishy so it can expand during shipping.

A good tip I got from the IBC handbook is to place each bag in a brown paper bag and roll it up...this keeps the fish isolated and insulated. You can also roll the bags in news paper.

Here's some good videos on shipping fish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T4BOxO55TY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6i3-SbZwMc&feature=related

(Part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noITPnaAqHY&feature=related
(Part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHjauKYqYdo&feature=related

(Part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgmrnM3-HtQ&feature=related
(Part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKZKmCi51OQ&feature=related
(Part 3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICU933UgE8s&feature=related

*Most of the videos are not for bettas. Remember to adjust the methods of shipment to fit bettas.
 
#18 ·
Yup, it's pretty simple, bettas are very good travelers. I've only shipped a few times but I have had many shipped to me, not one DOA.
 
#19 ·
Another good thing to remember is only ship fish monday-wensday
This makes sure your fish dont get left at the post office over the weekend.
And then like others said, You only want a couple spoon fulls of water in the bag, Bettas breath air, actually that is where they get most of there air is from the surface not the water, This is what allows them to be in dirty water and stuff. Anyway my friend owns a pet store and when the bettas come in. There in a bag with a couple spoon fulls of water, Just enought to keep the fish wet and the rest is AIR... Because other fish breath air from the water, You need to put a lot of water in the bag and a lot of air if there being shipped far. But a betta needs a lot of air space and a little of water, Just enough to keep them wet. They need a lot of air in the bag so they dont run out... They will use up air in a shipping bag faster than any fish...
 
#20 ·
Bettas also only use so much air so that in transit there's enough air to last a betta weeks!
 
#21 ·
I never heard that, So you would leave your betta in a sealed bag for weeks?
Anyway even if the betta made it, The bad part is. And this is where bettas that bite there tail during shipping. They are sitting in the dark, In a little bag with there tail hitting them in the face some times. They don't no which way is up. Could you imagin if you were locked in a black room that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, And then the room is tossed around getting shipped to another country or state.. Very stressful and crazy..
 
#22 ·
I was just saying that, should there be a delay in the mail the fish would survive at least a week or more. I wouldn't leave a betta in a bag longer than they need to be but I have kept imports in then for up to 3 days during acclimation (insanely slow).

Also if you lay the bag flat in the box it gives them a bit more room, and a little less depth so they can just lift their head to take a breath and their fins won't be smacked around as much. I've never had a betta arrive with shredded fins when shipped this way.
 
#24 ·
As I have seen, the heat pack is only good for 40 hours. I will travel on a boat which will last to 3 days, does it is still okay to used heat packs? or I will just replace it after 40 hours. It might get stressed. Please advice?
 
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