Shipping Policies & Guidelines

I have been shipping reptiles since 2001, and doing so as my only profession since 2004. We are good at it, we get great rates because of our volume, and I personally supervise (if not actually pack and box) every single reptile shipment that leaves our facility. I've shipped over 100,000 crested geckos alone, not to mention thousands of pythons, boas, and other reptiles.

While I realize other breeders may ship differently, or have different guidelines for temperature, we work within the constraint of having exactly zero DOA's with shipments that arrive the day they're supposed to. If a reptile that I shipped ever dies in transit, then I believe that means I did something wrong, even if it's a day late. I take that very seriously on a personal level, and I would no longer be able to do this for a living if we were killing geckos in the process. That being said, the guidelines for temperature that you see on this page are what I've found to work best while eliminating DOAs completely, except for rare instances when packages were lost or delayed by multiple days.

A lot of thought and care goes into our shipping procedures. We have taken into account the size of the deli cup, moisture levels inside the cup, packing materials, use of heat/cold packs, how the packs are placed inside the box, and even the way we tape our boxes shut. We strive for packaging that a reptile can survive in for several days, even though they are shipped FedEx Priority Overnight!

Thanks again for your business, and thanks a million for taking the safety of your new gecko(s) as serious as I do.

-Anthony

Our Regular Shipping Days

Safe shipping days are as follows:

• Monday for Tuesday arrival
• Tuesday for Wednesday arrival
• Wednesday for Thursday arrival

We do not ship on Thursdays for Friday arrival, due to the risk of delayed packages not being delivered until Monday. Friday for Saturday arrival presents the same risk, only it costs more for Saturday arrival and it could be Monday before you get the geckos, should a 24 hour delay occur. For this reason, we cannot safely ship on Thursdays or Fridays.

We are a small, high-production facility and I do not believe in rushing when I'm shipping live animals. Whether it's shipping or care, we do things correctly and efficiently, but never rushed - these are live animals and we have to always respect that first and foremost. We recommend scheduling your order as far in advance as you can, but please be aware that we're always at the mercy of the weather. :-)

Pickup at Your Local FedEx Ship Center Available
* Recommended *

We can ship to your nearest FedEx hub if you will not be at home to receive your shipment or if weather makes it more risky to have the geckos on a truck all day. 

If you wish to pick up at your local hub, you can edit the shipping address in your order to reflect the hub address. Simply log into your acreptiles.com account, click "My Orders" and select the order in question.  From the order page, you will be able to edit the shipping address.

FedEx Office locations DO NOT accept shipments of live animals.  You must ship to an actual "FedEx Ship Center" aka FedEx Hub. 

*** VERY IMPORTANT: WE ONLY SHIP TO THE SHIPPING ADDRESS INDICATED IN YOUR ORDER ***
We can ONLY ship to the shipping address that is indicated in your order.  Please make sure the shipping address on your order reflects the correct shipping address prior to shipping day.  You can view or edit the shipping address in your order by logging into my website and clicking on "My Orders".  Once there, simply click on the order in question and then you'll be able to edit the shipping address if necessary.

Local Pickup NOT Available - No Exceptions

All orders are shipped via FedEx Priority Overnight. Due to a number of reasons that range from safety to zoning restrictions, we are no longer able to allow local pickup, nor are we able to personally meet with you to deliver your order.  This is a well-thought-out policy and we do not make exceptions.

We do, however, offer $19 overnight shipping to area locals. Email Anthony for a coupon code!

"But shipping is too stressful!"  Not the way we do it.  In fact, reptiles are usually 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. That being the case, I would contend that our shipping method/procedure is far less stressful than being purchased at a reptile show.

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 when temperatures are safe.

Minimum Overnight Low: Above 32 F

Maximum Daytime High: 85 F for geckos and 90F for pythons.

* No refunds will be given due to delays due to lack safe weather conditions. We will gladly hold reptiles until it is safe to ship, but we cannot offer refunds due to shipping delays.

* If a customer files an "item not received" complaint with PayPal or their credit card company, their order(s) will be shipped immediately, without prior notice, on the next regular shipping day (Monday through Wednesday), and tracking will be provided to PayPal. These shipments will be packed to the best of our ability, using cold or heat packs, and adult signature will be required upon delivery. Shipping in these cases will be done solely at the customer's risk - all health and live arrival guarantees are forfeited. PayPal has described this behavior as "gross misuse" of their buyer protection policies, and customers who engage in this practice will be refused service here in the future.

Flat Rate Shipping Cost of $39

All reptile shipments, regardless of how many reptiles you order (or how many orders you place), can be shipped for a flat rate of just $39 to anywhere in the continental United States. Customers may combine unlimited auction wins into a single shipment.

Please Note: Because we are booking through SYR, and not directly with FedEx, there are no shipping charge refunds if a package is delivered later than stated on the FedEx tracking page. That's a minor tradeoff from the reptile-specific service and discounted shipping rates that we (and the rest of our industry) receive from SYR, and we appreciate your understanding.

What NOT to Expect on Delivery Day

Hint: The FedEx driver will NOT be waiting patiently at your door to hand you the box. :-)

We will occasionally have customers, who are almost always new to having reptiles shipped, complain "FedEx just left the package and didn't wait for me to come to the door!" In a few cases, customers ended up creating all kinds of drama between us and FedEx. We've even had a couple of extra-pissed-off individuals try to claim they didn't receive their package, when GPS delivery tracking information proved otherwise. While I understand it might sound like a convenient way to teach FedEx a lesson, it never works out that way - please don't be that guy.

With the advent of GPS delivery tracking, we no longer need a signature to prove you received the package, and we REALLY want to avoid having a box of reptiles go back on the FedEx truck if you aren't there. Long story short, it is much safer to leave a box of reptiles sitting on your porch than it is to put them back on the truck for the rest of the day. Please just make sure you're home, so that your reptiles aren't sitting outside for an extended period of time. We provide tracking numbers via email on shipping day, so that you can also track your shipment online, and see when it has been delivered, without actually standing by the door all morning.