Flying with fish/inverts

[PiggyPuffin]

I'm planning on bringing some sexy shrimp, pom-pom crabs and snails with me from a LFS in FL back to IL on a non-stop flight (total travel time < 8 hrs). Does anyone have any experience with flying with reef critters through TSA? The TSA website says they are allowed, but gives absolutely no details beyond that. I believe I'm limited to 4 oz of liquid per "bottle" even if it is carrying a live animal.

 

[ihavecrabs]

I'm planning on bringing some sexy shrimp, pom-pom crabs and snails with me from a LFS in FL back to IL on a non-stop flight (total travel time < 8 hrs). Does anyone have any experience with flying with reef critters through TSA? The TSA website says they are allowed, but gives absolutely no details beyond that. I believe I'm limited to 4 oz of liquid per "bottle" even if it is carrying a live animal.

Airline will be the biggest concern. I avoided telling my airline (I think Southwest).

As far as TSA goes, it is up to their supervisor on duty. They will give you a full body pat-down, enjoy.. They do need to see into the container to see there is something alive. They may also as for a liquid sample. Since mine was bagged, they didn't but did wipe everything down for residue.

I wrote an article on my experience in the Article section: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/flying-with-coral-tsa-experience.442/

 

[ihavecrabs]

Also, there is no limit on water for animals. I had probably two cups of liquid total.

 

[MSB123]

Also, there is no limit on water for animals. I had probably two cups of liquid total.

+1
I brought some coral and a clownfish back through TSA from Chicago to LA. They will check it out, and they were pretty interested in what I had (in a good way ;))

 

[ihavecrabs]

+1
I brought some coral and a clownfish back through TSA from Chicago to LA. They will check it out, and they were pretty interested in what I had (in a good way ;))

Hopefully not too interested, otherwise they may keep it and not let you fly with it! lol

 

[PiggyPuffin]

I was unsure about the water limit per bag and total. I won't need much water this time, but certainly will need more for fish if I do this again.

 

[REEFIN RIOS]

I was unsure about the water limit per bag and total. I won't need much water this time, but certainly will need more for fish if I do this again.

I know I’m a bit late, but I flew to Orlando to go to WWC , I brought home about 1000$ worth of corals, in TSA approved containers, and they came with a paper that showed we were allowed to take them on the flight with us. At first TSA where like that’s to much water and needs to be less than 3 oz, but we explained, and all they did was swab my dads hands, and had to open the contianer to check the air or sum, but overall let us through!
Hope that helps.
Also if your bring corals home, put a hermit crab in there to prove there is something alive (besides the coral) that needs that much water.

Lucas

 

[PiggyPuffin]

I forgot to update this thread... We had a good experience with TSA. They were very interested in what the creatures were and we didn't have any issues. It did take longer than usual to process us, so keep that in mind when planning your travels.

When we got to the scanners we announced to TSA that we had "live animals in water", they then processed the animals separately. We went threw the security line normally. The animals were taken out of the cooler bag, inspected, swabbed down, and the cooler bag put through the X-ray. We chatted, joked, told them what they were, repacked our critters, and went on our merry way.

We brought threw a small selection of crabs, snails, and shrimps. All were in bags containing 3 oz of water. As @REEFIN RIOS mentioned, it would be a good idea to place a small snail or hermit in with corals, just so the average layperson can see for themselves that something is alive in each bag.

Maybe we'll try some small fish next...