How to Ship a Live Seahorse

You can ship a seahorse within the United States, but make sure it is a next-day delivery.

Buy a seahorse online, and your new aquarium centerpiece will undergo a period of darkness and confusion. But that doesn't mean everything is destined to be a nightmare. Aquarium dealers and consumers have known for decades that you can send sea life through the mail as long as you take several precautions. Just make sure the seahorse undergoing the journey isn't endangered or threatened -- a felony -- and design your shipping container with the seahorse's comfort in mind.

Things You'll Need

• Corrugated cardboard box with Styrofoam inner container
• Two plastic bladder bags (minimum thickness: 4 mils) with metal clips
• Oxygen tank with regulator
• Utility knife
• Packing tape

Instructions

1. Select a healthy seahorse to undergo a journey by next-day mail. You must select next-day mail.

2. Find a cardboard box with a Styrofoam core that fits snugly inside the box.

3. Open the halves of your Styrofoam core, and use a utility knife to cut out a space inside that will accommodate your seahorse's bag and nothing else. Make sure that whichever way the box is oriented, there's enough headroom for your seahorse be upright in the water.

4. Fill a bladder bag one-third full with the aquarium water your seahorse is accustomed to.

5. Place the seahorse in the bag. Crimp the bag's mouth tightly around the nozzle for your oxygen tank and fill the remaining two-thirds of the bag with pure oxygen.

6. Clip the bag tight, leaving about 1 inch of slack over the clip. Place this bag inside another clear bag and clip the outer bag tightly too, with slack to spare.

7. Place the seahorse inside the Styrofoam cut-out and make sure the fit is correct. Tape the bag with packing tape to the Styrofoam to ensure it won't be tossed around during shipping.

8. Place the Styrofoam core inside the cardboard box and seal it tightly with packing tape.

Tips & Warnings

• Ship live animals or fish via next-day mail. This is the standard maintained by most shipping companies and aquatics dealers.

• Don't put more than one seahorse in a bag, with just one bag in a box. Otherwise, you could lose two lives and your money.

References

• Aquarium Fish: Shipping Aquarium Fish
• Tropical Fish Auction: Shipping Aquarium Fish
• Aquatic Community: Sea Horse Information

Resources

• UPS: Shipping Live Animals
• International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources: Red List of Threatened Species