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 Shipping Meller's Chameleons
Few shipping or carrier services carry live reptiles knowingly. UPS does carry live animals Mondays through Thursdays, via Next Day Air (overnight).
http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/prepare/guidelines/animals.html
FedEx does not knowingly accept live animals from private citizens. They do occasional live transport between institutions and zoos, as per their own regulations. They make some exceptions for business-to-business reptile shipments that also use FedEx tested and approved packaging.
http://www.fedex.com/us/services/terms/popup_tc_us_body.html#liveanimals
After you have decided which carrier to use, consult your local weather and that of the destination:
http://home.accuweather.com/
Weather will dictate which days you can ship within the limits of the carrier's live animal shipping days. For chameleons, I ship with ice packs on days that will be 77F to 85F. I do not ship on days over 85F because the back of carrier trucks are not air conditioned and get extremely hot. Because melleri can be sensitive to heat, and heat packs quickly raise box temps to 80F or more, I do not use heat packs or ship on days colder than 65F.
Confirm that the recipient will be present at the address to receive the box when it is expected to arrive. Get the recipient's shipping payment after getting an online or phone estimate from the carrier.
These photos show packaging suitable for a juvenile melleri:
Packing materials and their dimensions: Glad FoodSaver, polyfil quilt batting, cheesecloth, wet folded papertowel, rubber band.
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Place juvenile on cheesecloth center
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Gather batting around juvenile- it helps demobilize them from bumping their rostrums, and encourages a sleep state.
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Pull up corners of cheesecloth into bundle.
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Place bundle on top of wet paper towel, into plastic FoodSaver.
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Pull cheesecloth ends out over lip of container
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Secure with lid and band- lid has 12 holes punched from inside out, to prevent scratching any noses.
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Place FoodSavers in insulated shipping box.
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Add styrofoam packing peanuts.
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Place ice pack on top.
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Add styrofoam lid and unpacking instructions.
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Securely tape closed and mark outside of box with species name, common name, and temperature tolerance.
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