I recently ordered some invertebrates on line, This included urchins, hermits, snails and a cleaner shrimp. The order was being shipped from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin and weather was predicted to be seasonable for early March. When the order arrived, the water temp was 69degF. The cleaner shrimp and one of the urchins were dead. I suspect many of the snails were also dead but that's harder to determine since they can stay closed up for several days and be ok. The price of the shrimp and urchin was reimbursed but I'm sure there have been other losses as well.
It seems that the shipping method should have been designed to keep the water warmer than this but there was only 1 heat pack, insulation was only 1" thick (the low end of what I've seen- it is sometimes as much as 1.5" IME), and the box was quite small without a lot of water in each bag. Is it reasonable for a shipper to expect that the livestock would survive that much of a temp drop?
Allen
It seems that the shipping method should have been designed to keep the water warmer than this but there was only 1 heat pack, insulation was only 1" thick (the low end of what I've seen- it is sometimes as much as 1.5" IME), and the box was quite small without a lot of water in each bag. Is it reasonable for a shipper to expect that the livestock would survive that much of a temp drop?
Allen