legality of shipping tarantulas

Weapon-X

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
774
hi everyone i need help badly on this issue, heres whats going on, i ship tarantulas all the time through my post office okay,but, yesterday this new lady who just started working there made me wait 2 hours in the post office to see if she could legaly ship them after this whole ordeal she said she would call me the next day and tell me(i was pretty dam pissed), so today i go there and she tells me that i can't legaly ship them through the post office?(she said this came from their office in chicago), can you send them through ups legaly?(i have some t's that i need to ship), if i have to i will put them into boxes marked fragile and tell them they are christmas presents(figurines or something), this is ridiculous please help me out on this, hoe am i supposed to sell t's if this bs is happening, first thing monday i'm going to ups and straight out lieing if they ask whats in the package, please i need your help(can i get paperwork stating that its legal?), thanks---Jeff
 

looseyfur

Arachnofur
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 10, 2002
Messages
436
shipping livestock

shipping livestock through UPs is perfectly legal. The post office I am not so sure about and then again to think ofit, the post office and their lack of ability to do anything worth a shit makes me hesitant to use them anyhow. I say circumvent them altogther.

happyhunting
Loos3yfur
e.;P
 

jwb121377

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 20, 2002
Messages
905
I always lie for that very reason. Well I don't lie I just don't tell what's in the box. It's really none of there bussniess, and I have never had anyone out right ask.
 
Last edited:

Weapon-X

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
774
re

okay then then its gonna have to be ups first thing monday, thanks guys---Jeff
 

Wade

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
2,929
The problem with these huge government agencies is you rarely get the same answer twice from the same person. What I heard was that the USPS started subcontracting through Fedex, and Fedex doesn't take live animal shipments of any kind, so this is why they don't do it anymore. I have, however, recieved clearly marked live animals through fedex before, so this is very inconsistant.

Many folks (myself included) continue to use the USPS anyway. I never write "Live animals" or anything on the box. There is no need to punch any holes, either, especially for spiders. Plenty of air in there already. I used to mark the boxes "fragile", but I have heard horror stories of employees (of all overnight shippers, not just the USPS) deliberatle abusing boxes so marked. The solution? I just pack everything with the assumtion that it IS going to be abused. The less attention a box attracts, the better. A box marked "live spiders" may cause postal employees to be afraid to handle it!

Dr. Breene (of the ATS) stated once that he has had the most sucess shipping when he doesnt write anything on the box beyond the address.

Wade
 

Gillian

Arachnoblessed
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Messages
1,123
Jeff,
According to their website (USPS), its illegal to ship t's, pedes, & scorps. However, I marked Joy's spider fragile, and told them it was a family heirloom. Hey, it worked. Besides, chicks, quail, and other fowl are routinely shipped through the USPS. Granted, they are considered farm animals. But coccidiosis, and salmonella are a much bigger threat, as far as I'm concerned.

Peace,
Gillian
 

Haploman

ArachnoEarthTiger
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 25, 2002
Messages
161
lol ok heres the scoop

Jeff,
Yes it is illegal to ship T's thru USPS, heres how I do it, damn just dont say anything if they ask tell em your shipping crickets or shot glasses that someone bidded on ebay , T's dont make a sound so how will they know lol. If I have a problem with USPS I'll just ship thru airborne express the their employee watched me pack up a large scolopendra subpinipes and a scolopendra gigantea. Airborne Express is easy, they come to your house and they will ship anything its easy as that
 

dilleo

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 26, 2002
Messages
111
I'd just say their dead insects, or like you're shipping some extremely rare paper or something gay like that. I do it all the time.

-Jeremy
 

JacenBeers

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 1, 2002
Messages
1,264
Associating homosexuallity with something you consider silly is not a very cool thing to do, dilleo.
 

Lycanthrope

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2002
Messages
622
i have used usps to send ts, in fact thats how i sent out my male C.paganus for mating. i also just yesterday recieved a shipment of 5 usambara slings via usps. not to say when i go there i didnt answer 600 questions, but they do ship live animals for me.
 

Gillian

Arachnoblessed
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Messages
1,123
straight from the horse's mouth

Hi all,
I found this online. Now, even though it IS illegal, its not like they are going to escape.

Peace,
Gillian


All snakes, turtles, and poisonous reptiles are nonmailable.
525.4 Poisonous Insects and Spiders
All poisonous insects and spiders, except scorpions under limited circumstances (see 526.5), are nonmailable. Other nonpoisonous and nondisease-conveying insects are permitted as stated in DMM C022.3.8 and in Exhibit 526.6.


(poisonous???
:rolleyes: )
 

Gillian

Arachnoblessed
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Messages
1,123
Originally posted by monantony
Poisonous? I guess they are to an extent if the employees intend on ingesting them.... Sorry, I had an SB moment !
Tony
*LOL*
 

Immortal_sin

Arachnotemptress
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 17, 2002
Messages
3,952
if they ask me if it's 'poisenous' I say NO! And I am not lying either LOL
Airborne has the same rules, but I ship spiders with them all the time. I never bother to put anything on the box, I just pack them really really well.
If I can toss it in the air and catch it, without anything happening, then it can probably survive shipping abuse.
 

Vayu Son

Avatar of Anansi
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
808
down here

just mark the package "Live, harmless millipedes. Fragile. Keep 70f-80f, avoid extreme temps."

-V
 

Code Monkey

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
3,783
Originally posted by Immortal_sin
if they ask me if it's 'poisenous' I say NO! And I am not lying either LOL
Actually, the whole "poisonous only applies to ingested material" is Breene's (and by extension the ATS's) pet definition. I can't find any other source for this bit of info.

Foelix's Biology of Spiders has no issues with calling spiders and tarantulas poisonous, same for a number of invertebrate and general bio books I've got around the house. Webster's even defines them as synonyms of one another.

If you think that claiming that your tarantulas aren't poisonous because they're actually venomous is going to count for squat, give it up.
 

conipto

ArachnoPrincess
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 27, 2002
Messages
1,256
Yeah, when it comes to the law, you can rarely powergame your way out of it. I think the best way is to go with unmarked boxes, and hope for the best.

Bill
 

arachnopunks

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 10, 2002
Messages
391
We recently ran into a similar situation at USPS. We have been using them to send and receive spiders for a few years now without any problems. The last time we went to send one out, it was in a plain box marked "fragile." When the lady asked us what was in the box, we were not prepared to give an answer so my husband told her the truth. She goes to the back and then comes back up and starts to get the box ready. All of the sudden, she walks to the back again and comes out with this paper stating that for USPS to ship live animals they must be shipped in a special box and must be packaged according to USDA regulations. She was all hung up on the fact that we didn't leave airholes in the box for the spider to breath. We tried explaining that they were inside strong plastic containers (with airholes) inside the box and that we shipped according to the ATS book for shipping spiders. She didn't care so we left and are using Airborne now. The driver knew what it was and even seemed kind of intererested. My fear about shipping w/USPS is that they irratiate the mail in some places. I don't know what that would do to a spider but I imagine it is not good. From now on it is Ariborne all the time.
 

Gail

Arachnopixie
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
556
I agree that Airborne Express is the way to go - not just for spiders - for anything. They are cheaper, faster and more reliable than USPS, Fedex or UPS. They will come right to your door to pick up a package if you can't get to a drop box (for a $3.00 fee) and they never ask me what's in the box. You can ship Next Day, Second Day, Standard Ground. You can set up an account with them online for free - they supply you with all of your shipping supplies FOR FREE - this includes airbills to print from your computer, boxes, padded envelopes, etc. etc. - try that at USPS - they charge you for a fricking envelope. Best of all, they invoice you and send the bill so you can pay it just like any other bill each month. I have an account with them and I love it, use it for everything from shipping spiders to sending mom her Christmas gifts :D
The whole stink about USPS merging with Fedex is a bunch of crap in my opinion. There was all sorts of hell going on in the poultry industry because when the merge first happened USPS, which had been delivering chicks since the beginning of time, said, sorry, we aren't going to do that anymore because Fedex doesn't like to deal with live animals. Well, the poultry industry had all sorts of lobbying going on, and rightly said that if Fedex wanted to take a chunk of the USPS market then they couldn't pick and chose which chunk they wanted. If USPS delivered chicks then Fedex had to agree to do it as well. I don't know what the final outcome of that was however - has anyone else heard? From what I had been reading back when it was going on the poultry industry was fearing that if they couldn't ship USPS that it was going to kill a lot of the hatcheries due to major increases in shipping costs through other carriers or the inability to ship at all.

Gail
 

Weapon-X

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
774
re

cool, hey gail do you think you could give me the adress to that airborne exspress site?, thanks--Jeff
 
Top