“If a customer wishes to use UPS through ShipYourReptiles.com, we are happy to oblige however, if their are any problems for which UPS is at fault, our Live Arrival Guarantee is void. For more information on why this is our policy, click here.”

We do not wish to discourage our customers by refusing to offer the service, however we will not be held liable for the mishaps that have resulted when we have attempted to use UPS. Customers may choose UPS over FedEx at their own risk and agree to these terms upon sending payment.

In instance one, our first shipment using SYR and UPS, the package was misplaced here in Pennsylvania. Luckily the snake was not going to a customer, but out on breeding loan. She took two days to arrive to her location even though she was just going a few states south. She did arrive in good health and our shipping fees were refunded by SYR, but lost packages (particularily when they contain live animals) are unacceptable to us. Shipping is stressful enough without the added worry of a company delivering packages 1-2 days beyond there scheduled delivery date.

Instance two happened just this past week and is far more of a serious matter then a single shipment arriving a day late. We were to receive a group of 10 ball pythons from a close friend who is to start Army boot camp next week. They were to arrive on Wednesday, however on Tuesday a phone call was made from the UPS Store the snakes were dropped off at…The UPS Store had opened the box and was refusing to ship the snakes because it is against UPS policy.

While it is against UPS standard policy, we had been led to believe that SYR had received an exemption to ship snakes under their account. UPS does accept the legged variety of reptile, but has a specific policy against the shipment of snakes. At the time of this writing, no documents have been provided showing SYR’s exemption to this policy. We are specifically looking for an official UPS document that gives users of SYR permission to ship snakes and can be included with each and every shipment to prevent problems.

SYR handled the situation quickly and apologized for the problem. A representative from SYR scheduled a pickup at the shippers location for the following day (Wednesday) with the same tracking number. On Wednesday the snakes were picked up without a concern, however the tracking number had been flagged from the day before and as soon as it was scanned at the UPS facility it was stopped, opened and refused. Messages were left on the shippers phone notifying her that if she did not retrieve her snakes by 10pm EST they would be turned over to Animal Control. Sadly the shipper did not receive the messages until the animals had already been turned over to Animal Control.

The shipper paid a $162 fee and picked up the 10 snakes from Animal Control Thursday afternoon (they were unavailable for pickup until 2pm EST). The snakes at this time appear no worse for wear from their stressful ordeal. We are attempting a final attempt at shipment on Monday and do not plan on using SYR again.

ShipYourReptiles.com has refunded the shipping fees and has agreed to provide a reimbursement for the Animal Control fees. We have not yet been provided an official, solid explanation as to why this happened or how it will be prevented by SYR in the future. This is ultimately why we will not send or receive snakes through UPS; we can not and will not risk the safety of our animals.

We would like to repeat that UPS does accept the legged variety of reptile, so you should have little trouble using SYR’s service for them.

While every time we ship out an animal we are taking a risk, it is our responsibility to minimize that risk as best we can.