Good shipping practices.

[danswan]

I am of the mindset that mantids should *always* be shipped via overnight shipping, however, I've noticed that not all believe that.

I also believe Ooths should also be shipped via a faster-than normal method, just in case.

It seems irresponsible to me to ship any living thing via standard "Air".

What are everyone else's thoughts on this?

 

[infinity]

ooo, sounds like this is edging towards a *name n shame* post!.. I agree totally though- anyone that's been on a plane for more than a few hours knows how painful it is towards the end- insects the same - especially live insects.

Ooths, not sure about- I think here it's SENSIBLE so send them quicker but *humane* isn't an issue here. It's just sensible because the shorter the time in transit, the less chance there is of experiencing adverse conditions and making it unlikely to hatch

 

[robo mantis]

one time i ordered 4 live budwing nymphs normal shipping (in the winter) from deshawn they were my first mantids and all 4 survived shipping :shock:

 

[Rick]

Certain times of the year I will request that people send me mantids two or three day priority instead of overnight. Overnight shipping is expensive and is not always needed. When I request they be shipped to me two-three day I always tell the seller that I won't hold them responsible if they arrive dead. I usually send stuff overnight because I pay less than $10 to ship stuff overnight.

 

[padkison]

I base shipping mainly on the value of the shipment, the weather and the distance traveled. Overnight doesn't seem necessary for a lot of shipments.

Ooths would seem to be able to handle longer transit times, but I am no expert on mantids.

 

[yen_saw]

Shipping via express will almost guarantee arrival the next day or ocassionaly second day due to the location. Priority mail can take up to a week during busy season. So i always offer guarantee live arrival using express mail but cannot do that with priority mail especially when the parcel can be left under the heat when no one is at home taking the parcel. Recently, I have one parcel from Grubco which took a week to arrive using priority mail.

As for ootheca, i am doing a little experiment with Graham on when is the best time to ship an ootheca i.e. better hatching rate when shipped fresh ooth or 2-week-old ooth. What I found out so far is that the hatching rate is better when shipping an ooth that is close to hatching compare to freshly laid ooth. This is only based on my personal experience.