Shipping Snails?

[Flying_Diamond]

OK... so to start off with, I got some snails (red ramshorn I believe) from my uncle about 2 months ago... I only got 5, but now I have somewhere between 50-100 I believe, the largest aren't very big, only about the size of a small nickel. (yep, small nickel) So I am thinking about giving some away, or selling them on the classifieds on here, but I was wondering what I would have to do to ship them, like.. what would I ship them in, specifically. (EI: box, envelope, how much water, plants, food, ect?) I have all the resources for the shipping, I just don't know what to do to them to make sure they arrive safetly... Thanks.

 

[toddnbecka]

Just bag 'em in a ziploc with a wet (saturated w/tank water) paper towel. As long as they don't dry out they can breathe, and there isn't enough water for them to pollute in transit. As long as the temps are above freezing they don't need a heat pack. Box the bag, padded envelopes aren't particularly suitable for shipping most snails. MTS are the exception, their shells are almost impossible to crush, and they'll survive automated envelope processing w/no problems.

 

[Flying_Diamond]

Thank you. I have another quick question for anyone to answer... Would I have to ship them overnight, or would a two day delivery be OK? What's the longest they could live like that?

 

[kimmisc]

I ordered my europian ramshorns from ebay (red ramshorns are included in this) and they were not shipped overnight. The shipment took about 5 days to arrive, and they all lived.

Last week, I accidentally scooped up 2 of them when changing gravel, and they lived buried under dry gravel for 4 days. This will give you an idea of their hardiness. They're not fragile. The only concern I'd have is temperatures when shipping in the middle of summer or winter.

 

[Flying_Diamond]

Ok, thanks! I don't plan on shipping any during winter, and if I do during summer, I'll overnight them that way they have a fighting chance during the *cooler* hours of the day... Thanks for letting me know that, when I ship them I'll ship them 2 day with usps for about 5 bucks... much cheaper than 19 for overnight.