05.12.2021

How to ship spiders and insects safely even in winter with cold temperatures.

In some FB groups there have been recent discussions about shipping live spiders in the cold season. Generally, one should refrain from shipping (invertebrate) animals at temperatures around freezing or colder. However, it can happen that shipping becomes necessary, e.g. if someone needs food insects or an adult male spider should get to a distant female.

Based on 30 years of professional experience in year-round shipping of exotic animals and invertebrates, we would like to explain in the following how to bring animals of the mentioned groups alive to the recipient even at slightly sub-zero temperatures.

At the current winter temperatures, shipping should be done ONLY in a so-called Styrofoam box with heat packs. The Styrobox should not be chosen too large, so that it warms up quickly. The following explanations are based on the article by Kramer & von Wirth 2018.

How do commercial powder heatpacks work?

Heat packs work by oxidizing iron. This is nothing more than rust - only in the heatpack, the iron is present as a powder, which greatly increases its reaction surface. This means that the process can take place much faster than, for example, on an old iron hinge. Thus, in addition to coal and salt as additives and reaction accelerators, fine iron powder is filled into an air-permeable textile bag, which in turn is placed in an air-tight plastic bag, which is then sealed airtight in a plastic bag. When the heatpack is removed from it for use, the iron powder reacts with the oxygen in the air and heat is released.

To ensure that the heatpack does not completely consume the oxygen from the Styrobox, which the animal also needs to breathe, pierce an approximately 1 cm hole (Pic 2) in the center of the bottom of the box with a round, pointed object (Pic 1). The hole is now "sealed" with the heatpack after it has been shaken and squeezed a few times so that the oxygen in the air is well distributed in the heatpack and it can therefore start to heat up. One simply sticks this with an adhesive tape on the hole (Pic 3). This ensures that the Heatpack gets its oxygen for heating but the cold outside air cannot enter the Styrobox. The heatpack and hole should not be attached to the lid or sides of the box, as warm air is known to rise and thus may not be fully available to the transported animal.

A drainage (e.g. egg carton, crumpled newspaper, etc.) is then placed between the heatpack and the animals, as the heatpack can become very warm (Pic 8*) and the container with the animals should under no circumstances therefore stand directly on the heatpack (Pic 4). Then the animals to be shipped - well packed - are placed on the drainage (Pic 5) and the remaining free space is well padded with packing material (Pic 6). Finally, the Styrobox is closed with the appropriate lid and provided with a shipping label (Pic 7). In addition, the Styrobox can also be packed in a cardboard box and then provided with a shipping label. Under no circumstances, however, should it be completely wrapped in foil, as the oxygen supply from the outside is then no longer guaranteed! The animals are then sent ALWAYS by express delivery. We personally advise shipping with private (animal) express services such as "General Overnight" or "The Courier", because the transit times of the packages with delivery within 24 h are, in our experience, much faster with these services than with the former state carrier. When creating the express label, the recipient's telephone number should be indicated so that the delivery person can call the recipient if the recipient cannot be found in person. However, as a general rule, the recipient should be informed when the package is expected to arrive so that someone at the recipient's address can receive the package.

*The temperature shown was measured after 30 minutes on a heatpack lying on a tabletop. In a styrobox, the heatpack can get up to 60 degrees!

LITERATURE:

Kramer, J. & V. von Wirth (2018): Heatpacks – Fluch oder Segen? Handhabung und sicherer Gebrauch. ARACHNE (23) 1, pp. 18 - 21