Shipping Info

All of our packages are shipped via UPS Second Day Air or UPS Next Day Air if animals are included in the order. USPS is an option for plants and dry goods only.

UPS Second Day Air is a premium service that has two day delivery to nearly every address in the United States.

UPS Next Day Air is an overnight service to all continental addresses. We have been able to negotiate excellent rates with UPS, and our longtime customers will notice a 25%-60% savings when compared to our previous overnight shipping service. UPS Next Day Air is also guaranteed by 5pm the day after we ship. Since we pack overnight orders near the end of the day, this means your new fauna is only in transit for about 18 hours.

Tracking Numbers are sent to the customer via email once an order is being prepared for shipment.

 

Shipping Options:
UPS Second Day Air (Current handling time is 3-7 business days)
     - Pricing is by weight and will be calculated at checkout.
 
UPS Next Day Air (Delivery within 18 hours of being packed)
(Current handling time is 1-5 business days)

     - Pricing is by weight and will be calculated at checkout.

USPS 2-3 Day Mail (Only available for Plants and Dry Goods) (Handling time 3-7 business days)
 - Pricing is by weight and will be calculated at checkout.
Signatures are not required for any package (this includes both UPS and USPS shipments) but we highly encourage customers to be present to receive the package upon delivery if at all possible for the safety of our animals and plants.

 

PO Boxes: We do not ship to PO Boxes. If you enter a PO Box address during checkout, you will receive a message that says: "There are no shipping methods available for your cart or destination". 

 

Handling Time

     Our current handling time is 3 to 7 business days, although they can occasionally be longer. If you order with UPS Next Day Air (which is STRONGLY recommended during the winter as well as summer), your package will almost certainly ship within 1-5 business days. The only exception would be if temperatures are too extreme to safely ship the animals out. The handling time for a UPS Second Day Air order is variable based on outside temperatures, postal holidays, and the size of the order. During the summer and winter, UPS Second Day Air orders as well as USPS orders may have significant delays (up to 60 days in severe cases) before we can ship them to you due to extreme temperatures. 

 

Shipping Days: 
Monday (UPS Next Day Air, UPS 2nd Day Air and USPS 2-3 day mail)
Tuesday (UPS Next Day Air, UPS 2nd Day Air and USPS 2-3 day mail)
Wednesday (UPS Next Day Air, UPS 2nd Day Air and USPS 2-3 day mail)
Thursday (UPS Next Day Air only)
Saturday (USPS 2-3 day mail only)
We can not ship UPS shipments to arrive on Saturdays, Sundays, or Mondays at this time. UPS does not delivery to 90% of the country on weekends.
 
Alaska and Hawaii Customers
Shipping to Hawaii is not available due to severe governmental restrictions.
Shipping to Alaska is by Express Mail only. If you are ordering only plants or non-live products, please email us and we will make a custom invoice for you with much cheaper shipping.
 
UPS Next Day Air is STRONGLY recommended during winter months even if you are in a warmer state. It is also STRONGLY recommended during the summer months if you are in a hotter state. See paragraph on handling time for more information. UPS Next Day Air will be required for many of our fish starting in September 2016.

 

* Update * For the safety of our animals, we now ship live fish, freshwater crabs, cherax crayfish, and sulawesi snails exclusively via UPS Next Day Air. If your order contains any of these items, your cart will automatically adjust so that you will only see UPS Next Day Air as a shipping option during checkout.

 We are also offering a lower-rate USPS shipping option for Plants & Dry Goods at the moment. This option will only be available if there are no live animals in your cart during checkout.

 

     Orders are shipped in our choice of boxes, but we usually ship in a heavy duty 8" x 8" x 8" box. Your order may be separated into multiple boxes.  If we split your order into multiple shipments, you will not be charged anything extra!  We cover the cost of doing this to make sure your order arrives safe. We will also include heat packs with orders when temperatures warrant a heat pack to be included.

 

     In the event of any problems with your shipment, please > CONTACT US < and we will be happy to help. All orders come with our 100% Live Arrival Guarantee at no charge. You can read more about our 100% Live Arrival Guarantee on our Live Arrival Guarantee page.

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