Shipping Policies & Guidelines
First of all, I have been shipping reptiles since 2001, so your geckos are in good hands. I personally pack and box every reptile shipment that leaves our facility, which means I've now shipped over 200,000 crested geckos, not to mention thousands of pythons, boas, and other reptiles.
While I realize other breeders may do things differently or have different guidelines for temperatures, we work within the constraints of having exactly zero DOA's, even when there's a delay. If a reptile that I shipped ever dies in transit, then I believe that means I didn't do my job properly, 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 accepted a certain number of DOA 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
- Monday for Tuesday arrival
- Tuesday for Wednesday arrival
- Wednesday for Thursday arrival
Please note that Wednesdays normally book up several weeks in advance due to regular distributor shipments on Wednesdays leaving fewer spots open on the schedule.
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.
IMPORTANT: WE CAN ONLY SHIP TO THE SHIPPING ADDRESS INDICATED IN YOUR ORDER
We can ONLY ship to a FedEx hub OR 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.
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.
"But shipping is too stressful!" Not the way we do it. Generally speaking, geckos 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. That being the case, I would contend that our shipping method/procedure is far less stressful than being displayed and purchased at a reptile show.
Safe Shipping Temperature Guidelines
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 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.
PLEASE NOTE: We determine risk by looking at DAYTIME HIGH temperatures, not the temperature it should be the morning of arrival. Customers often try to bend the guidelines on safe shipping temperatures by telling me that the temperature won't be over 90 until after the geckos should be delivered. The problem with this is that, if there's a delay, the geckos could very easily die from exposure to heat. Unfortunately, it has become increasingly common for FedEx to have 24 hour delays on priority overnight shipments. Due to the ethical obligations I have to the geckos I make my living from, I will not knowingly ship them in weather conditions that make it relatively certain they won't survive in the event of a delay. Please don't ask me to take that risk.
No refunds will be given due to delays caused by scheduling difficulties due to unsafe weather conditions. We will gladly hold reptiles until it is safe to ship, but we do not offer refunds due to shipping delays.
- If a customer files an "item not received" complaint with PayPal or their credit card company, we may issue a refund or we may ship the order without further notice on the next regular shipping day (Monday through Wednesday) with tracking number provided to both the customer and to PayPal.
- If we are forced to ship an order in this situation, it 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. Likewise, customers who engage in this practice will be refused sales and service here in the future.
Flat Rate Shipping for Any Number of Reptiles
$49 to a FedEx Ship Center
$55 to all other US addresses
After 23 years of charging $39 for shipping, rising costs have finally outpaced the discounts we got for doing more and more volume over the years. We get a slight discount for shipping to a FedEx Ship Center (hub), which we're passing on to you, if you so choose.
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 $49/55 to anywhere in the continental United States. Customers may combine unlimited auction wins into a single shipment.
*** NO SHIPPING REFUNDS AVAILABLE ***
Contrary to popular belief, there are no refunds from FedEx if a live animal shipment doesn't arrive on time. In fact, FedEx is late so often that we don't get so much so apology anymore. lol - In all seriousness, though, we almost never see health issues caused by shipping, much less DOAs. While FedEx almost never kills a gecko, they are known for killing peoples' days by making them wait around all day. This is why we highly recommend shipping to a FedEx ship center, so that you can pick the package up at your convenience.
PLEASE NOTE: If we're shipping to your home, please do not expect the FedEx driver to be waiting patiently at your door to hand you the box.
We will occasionally have customers tell us that FedEx just left the package on the porch and didn't wait for them to come to the door. This is completely normal unless we ask for signature on delivery, which we purposely do not do.
Here's why: FedEx now uses GPS to track deliveries and delivery location, so there's no longer the need for a signature to ensure they're at the correct address. We also want to avoid having a box of geckos go back on the FedEx truck if you aren't there. Long story short, it is safer to leave a box of reptiles sitting on your porch than it is to put them back on a hot 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 (you'll receive it by 7pm CDT 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. You can also sign up for text notifications on the FedEx website, once tracking has been provided.