AVAILABLE SHIPPING DAYS

• We ship geckos on Monday, Tuesday and *Wednesday each week. 
  *Please note that Wednesdays are almost always booked solid 3-4 weeks in advance due to our distributor and export orders being limited to Wednesdays (in order to keep the more popular Mondays and Tuesdays open consistently for everyone else).

• We Cannot Ship on Thursdays or Fridays
  We cannot safely ship on Thursdays for Friday arrival or Friday for Saturday arrival, due to the risk of delayed packages not being delivered until Monday.  This practice is now not only against our company policy, but is actually prohibited by MorphMarket Shipping (our shipping label provider) according to their agreement with FedEx.

• We ship FedEx Priority Overnight, meaning shipments will arrive the following day.
  If you request Monday shipment, your order will arrive on Tuesday, etc. Shipping to your local hub will now be required if weather is on the hot or cold end of the safe range (listed below).

SCHEDULING TIMELINES

WHOLESALE ORDERS
Please allow a minimum of 1-2 weeks to schedule shipment of wholesale orders.  Normally one week is sufficient time, but there are instances when weather and/or holidays will cause delays. As always, I appreciate your understanding and I guarantee your wholesale shipment will be well worth the wait.  If you need something sooner, we may be able to facilitate that, but please check with Anthony (contact info in bottom right corner of website menu) before placing an order.

NON-WHOLESALE ORDERS
We can typically get non-wholesale orders out the next available ship date, as these orders generally only take a few minutes to pack. 

Requested Ship Dates Not Automatically Guaranteed
We ship hundreds, if not a thousand plus, geckos per week, so the shipping schedule can become incredibly hectic at times, particularly after weather has been uncooperative for extended periods. As such, the schedule can then fill up a week or two ahead of time as weather improves.  Most of the time, we're able to ship individual geckos within the week,  or wholesale with a week's notice, but if that's a requirement, please be sure to confirm with Anthony that your shipping date is available BEFORE making any changes to your schedule, such as requesting a day off of work.

Please note - if we were shipping non-living items, we'd just hire extra shipping help temporarily, any time we get behind.  Shipping a lot of live animals to a lot of different people is something where experience and organization is a must - in other words, you don't want temporary help - you want me - doing that part, and I can only do so much. :-)   

I absolutely hate being behind on shipping, but there are only so many hours in a day (I'll put in 14 of them when needed), so we have to set limits on the shipping schedule to know for sure that we will be able to get them packed, labeled and dropped off at the hub in time that evening. The last thing you want after a day of packing geckos is to arrive at the hub 5 minutes after the cutoff - then you have a day's worth of boxes to unpack and repack tomorrow - and tomorrow's schedule is full too.  

3 STEPS FOR SCHEDULING YOUR SHIPMENT

To schedule your shipment, simply email anthony@acreptiles.com and include the following info...

1. LIST THE DATE (OR RANGE OF DATES) THAT YOU WOULD LIKE US TO SHIP.

For the safety of our geckos, we always want to make absolutely sure that we aren't booking a shipment to arrive on a day you're going to be away. If you tell us to ship "as soon as possible", that will not secure a spot on the schedule at that time. We will still have to check back with you before we add you to the schedule for a particular day.  

TIPS FOR CHOOSING A SHIPPING DATE
I never mind working with you to find the best date, but if you're in a hurry to get on the schedule before it fills up, a couple of things might help facilitate that. 

• If there happens to be a range of dates that will work for you, include that in your email. 
  That works out especially well because we can just schedule you for the soonest available, and safest, of those dates.  We will then let you know what date you're scheduled for without a lot of emailing back and forth.  
  
  *Remember, Wednesday for Thursday arrival books up a couple weeks out, if not more, so there's usually a good 3 weeks lead-time for Wednesday shipments.  As such, Wednesday isn't usually a good date to quickly reschedule a shipment.

• Avoid requesting shipment on days that weather is not going to be safe.
  Check your forecast and ours (64014) to determine the most likely dates that shipping will be safe, and try to avoid requesting shipment on dates that will not.  If you request a date that ends up being too hot/cold, we will be happy to reschedule you, but we may have to schedule you for the following week if there's no room left on the schedule for the following shipping day.  See temperature guidelines below on this page if you're unsure what's safe.

2. LIST ALL ORDER NUMBERS THAT WE'RE SHIPPING

VERY IMPORTANT - If you place another order after you've scheduled your shipment, you must email us with an updated shipping request so that we can put that new order number on the schedule. Otherwise, it will likely not ship with your previous order(s).

3. LIST THE TOTAL NUMBER OF GECKOS EXPECTED
This helps avoid any confusion on shipping day that might cause some of your geckos not to be shipped. PLEASE don't forget to mention any bonuses we agreed to send, wholesale geckos, etc.

*PLEASE BE SURE TO EMAIL AN UPDATED SCHEDULING REQUEST IF YOU ORDER MORE GECKOS.
If you place a new order after you've scheduled your shipment, please be sure to email us again with your newly revised list of order numbers and total number of geckos you're expecting, so that we can add your new order to the schedule.

SHIPPING PROCESS & GUIDELINES

I may not reply to your scheduling email right away. Please don't panic.

I am not ignoring you, I promise! :-)  Because I have to schedule shipments on the back-end of our website from a computer, I will flag emails for later review, often from my phone, and then do the scheduling in batches.  This enables me to plan my shipments out carefully, so that we can fit in as many orders as is safely possible on a given day - and hopefully never end up running out of time and having to postpone orders at the last minute. 

If shipping day comes and you still haven't heard back about your shipment, please shoot me a text!
My personal cell number is 816-509-0712. Please mention your name and order number if we haven't already texted before.  Texts are preferable to phone calls. My phone gets terrible (if any) reception out in our metal building. Texting is far more reliable.

Shipments are ALWAYS Scheduled "Pending Safe Weather Conditions"

Because temperatures are literally a matter of life and death for the geckos I'm hatching and selling, I never guarantee shipping by a certain date and I always reserve the right to postpone a shipment if I feel it's in the best interest of the geckos.  I have spent countless hours (cumulative days) of my life rescheduling shipments and emailing customers, but I can only sleep at night if I know geckos aren't dying because of careless shipping practices. 

If, on shipping day, we determine that we cannot safely ship your package due to unsafe temperatures, we have no choice but to postpone and reschedule. I *seriously* hate doing this, but sometimes that's the only ethical option.

Safe Shipping Temperatures

All Shipment Scheduling Pending Safe Weather Conditions
Safe shipping temperatures are something we take very seriously here - they are literally a matter of life or death. We only ship geckos when temperatures are safe. It is your responsibility to know your weather conditions and to only schedule shipping when temperatures are safe.

Minimum OVERNIGHT LOW: Above 32 F

*Maximum DAYTIME HIGH: 85 F or lower for hatchlings - 90 F or lower for adults.

A NOTE ON DAYTIME HIGH VS. MORNING TEMPERATURES
I've been doing this professionally for 20+ years.  The temperature guidelines above are based on my hands-on experience of shipping hundreds of thousands of geckos.  We have taken into account the temperature on the truck, the limitations of insulated boxes and heat/cold packs, all of it.  The bottom line is that when Daytime Highs or Nighttime Lows fall outside the ranges listed here, gecko health cannot be guaranteed - which is an ethical problem, as much as it is a customer satisfaction one.

The temperature ranges we've determined to be safe are listed by the DAYTIME HIGH and NIGHT TIME LOW temperatures (Summer/Winter).  These aren't ideal ranges for geckos to be kept at, but outside air temperatures that we know to be reasonably safe, even in the event of a delay.

You cannot rely on the temperature it should be on the morning of arrival.
What the temperature should be in the morning is often brought up. In the summer, the temperature usually doesn't get to 90 (almost anywhere) until after the geckos should have been delivered.  The problem is the "should" part. If there's a one day delay, which happen quite regularly, the geckos in the box could very easily die from overheating. Unfortunately, this isn't a hypothetical concern - we do see delays on a regular basis, and I've seen what happens when we rely on FedEx to get them there before cold packs melt and they get delayed.

Shipping for pickup at your local FedEx Ship Center is highly recommended
(Required when daytime high temperatures are 80 degrees or higher.)

I always recommend that we ship to a FedEx Ship Center (aka hub) for pickup on all gecko shipments, especially when temperatures are less than ideal (cold or hot).  This keeps the geckos off of a hot truck, prevents you from having to wait around for a delivery truck and it enables you to get pick up your geckos at your convenience that day (they'll be kept indoors until you pick up).   

This isn't something I only preach.  I take an hour out of my day, each and every shipping day, in order to drive geckos to the hub, just to keep them off of a hot or cold truck.  As tempting as it is to let the driver come pick up our shipments, I've been doing this 20+ years and I've seen the difference that one truck ride can make.

If you don't know the address of your nearest FedEx Ship Center, don't even worry about it - I can find the closest hub for you as I'm booking your shipment, and then I'll send you the address on shipping day, which is the day before your gecko(s) will arrive. 

Flat Rate Shipping 

We ship only within the United States . We ship FedEx Overnight to your door for $49 or your local hub for $55.  There is no limit to the number of animals/orders for that shipping charge.  If you want to place another order to be shipped with an existing one, you'll see that option available (at no charge) when you complete checkout. 

No Shipping Refunds for Late Deliveries

Contrary to popular belief, we do not receive refunds from FedEx if a live animal shipment doesn't arrive on time.  In fact, FedEx is late on such a regular basis that I wouldn't have time to report every incident.  We pack and ship assuming this will happen, so we almost never see health issues or DOA's due to a delay - temperature guidelines are key here, by the way.

While FedEx almost never kills a gecko, they do kill a lot of time (days) for people by making them wait around all day for a package that might not arrive until the next day.  This is why I highly recommend shipping to a FedEx ship center (hub), so that you can pick the package up at your convenience.  Having geckos delivered to your door sounds convenient until you've been waiting 6 hours and you find out they're not going to be there until tomorrow, and you realize you'll have to wait around again.

ALL ORDERS ARE DELIVERED BY FEDEX
All orders are shipped via FedEx Priority Overnight, either to your local FedEx Ship Center or your home.  

We do not offer local pickup and we do not make in-person gecko deliveries under any circumstances.

Local Pickup Not Available

Due to a number of reasons that range from security and zoning restrictions to insurance policies, we do not offer the option of picking up orders at our facility.

In-Person Delivery Not Available

This is something we've actually had people insist on me meeting them to hand-deliver a gecko, and then throw insult-filled tantrums, after being told that I won't make an exception for them.  Believe me - or ask them - that doesn't work.  If you're a breeder yourself, keep reading and you'll never do it again either.

This is a highly risky and inconsiderate proposal for a customer to insist upon and I strongly encourage other breeders not to take part in this practice.  Here's why:

1. If the customer pays in advance via credit card, PayPal, etc., then you're setting yourself up for a fraudulent chargeback because you'll have no proof of having shipped their order.  Been there, done that. You will lose your money.

2. If you agree to let the customer pay when you meet, you're setting yourself up to be robbed.  If you think that's far-fetched, then you should read this article.  

3. And then there's the time involved.  Even if there weren't the above risks, which are dealbreakers for me, I sell hundreds of geckos every week and would have to do this for every customer who requests it, which would be physically impossible. We sell to a lot of customers in our area who are fine paying shipping - and they usually get a free gecko or two for being local and shipping being a bit cheaper for us.

"Shipping is too stressful!" 
I call BS - and if you're a breeder, don't fall for it.  Shipping a reptile is far less stressful for them than being displayed and purchased at a reptile show.  Reptiles I ship are only in transit roughly 14-16 hours when we ship them cross country. If they're not leaving the KC metro area, they'll usually only be in the box 10-12 hours, nor will they be loaded onto an airplane.  If you think it's ethical to take reptiles to reptile shows, then shipping them shouldn't be something you fear.

I personally appreciate your patience and cooperation while we get your geckos to you safely and in the best of health.

I know how exciting it is to get a new gecko (or 10) and I know the torture of having to wait all too well.  I've gone plenty of nights without sleep because I was so excited for new geckos to show up. :-)

-Anthony