How To Ship Bettas

[HopeInHeart]

Are the heat packs the same thing as hand and toe warmers? Or are they different?

[dramaqueen]

I think they are pretty similar but I've never seen the hand warmers.

[dr2b]

I knew I saw these pictures before: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread....packing&page=2

If you are going to use someone's work - ALWAYS credit them to it....

[dramaqueen]

I agree!

[DefyingGravity]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Zenandra have a different user name originally? Or is that another member?

[MrVampire181]

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-...eature=related

(Part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noITP...eature=related
(Part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHjau...eature=related

(Part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgmrn...eature=related
(Part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKZKm...eature=related
(Part 3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICU93...eature=related

*Most of the videos are not for bettas. Remember to adjust the methods of shipment to fit bettas.

[DazzleKitty]

I have always wondered how you guys do this. I have had a dog 'shipped' to me (aka flown to me, haha!). But I had no idea how you guys did fish. Very interesting.

[MrVampire181]

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.

[FloridaBettas239]

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...

[MrVampire181]

Bettas also only use so much air so that in transit there's enough air to last a betta weeks!