How to Ship a Live Animal

Most people have never thought about shipping a live animal through the United States Postal Service (USPS). However, with some careful planning, you can ship certain live animals through the mail. Here's how to do it.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Know the United States postal Service regulations for shipping live animals. You can only ship birds and cold-blooded animals. This includes baby alligators (no more than 20 inches in length), salamanders, lizards and snails. These animals must not need any water, food or special attention during shipping. In addition, they can't cause any sanitary problems or emit any noxious odors.
2. Use the appropriate packaging for shipment. The container used to ship a live animal must be double walled, corrugated and pass at least a 275-pound test. It also must be composed of weather resistant fiberboard, have appropriate ventilation and must prevent the live animal from escaping or being crushed during shipment.
3. Label the package correctly. All packages that contain live animals must have a content description on the outside of the package, as well as a return address.
4. Take your package to your local post office for shipment. The postal worker will be able to help you select the appropriate postage for your shipment.
5. Understand that the USPS is not required to accept any live animal for shipment even if it meets all shipment criteria. If the postal worker feels that the animal that you want to ship may not be able to make it to its destination alive, they can refuse shipment. This could be because of weather conditions, inappropriate packaging or too long of a transit time.

Tips & Warnings

• For more information on the guidelines for shipping a live animal, refer to the Domestic Mail Manual, section 601 titled "Mailability," on the website for the United States Postal Service or ask a local postal worker.
• For a complete list of the live animals that can be shipped, visit the website for the United States Postal Service.