I am looking at picking up a 12" archara cat. It's in Chicago, i'm in texas. The owner has never shipped a fish before and I am a little worried about trying this out. Any suggestions, anyone try this and do It successfully?
Shipping a large cat
- Thread starter Adam Bunch
- Start date
Someone posted about this before. If i remember correctly that memeber contacted Jeff rapps and he was able to help him out. Likely will need to be shipped via airport to airport due to the size. The other option is to call lfs and maybe can workout a deal to have it shipped.
Yea Jeff is being really cool and helping me and another member out by shipping to me tomorrow actually. He had had to drive to Jeff of course and we're both frequent customers of his so I imagine that helps some.
Exceptions occur but with someone who's never shipped a fish before, you chances of success are, I'd say, 1 out of a million, factoring in that the fish is sizable and has sharp spines.
Must find a reputable professional to have it shipped right.
That is if needed to be shipped economically. Otherwise, I'd get a large cooler, e.g. 15-20 gal, and make it into a watertight container, filled with water and pure oxygen half and half, and containing the fish. Or a watertight bucket with a screw-on lid with a rubber gasket/o-ring can be used, like the kind used to sell / ship hazardous materials - chlorine tabs for pool, potassium permanganate (iron filter regeneration agent), etc. The bucket can be wrapped in fiberglass insulation and placed in a cardboard box.
Must find a reputable professional to have it shipped right.
That is if needed to be shipped economically. Otherwise, I'd get a large cooler, e.g. 15-20 gal, and make it into a watertight container, filled with water and pure oxygen half and half, and containing the fish. Or a watertight bucket with a screw-on lid with a rubber gasket/o-ring can be used, like the kind used to sell / ship hazardous materials - chlorine tabs for pool, potassium permanganate (iron filter regeneration agent), etc. The bucket can be wrapped in fiberglass insulation and placed in a cardboard box.
I started shipping fish and it's super easy. Big fish like catfish need proper handling measures. Chicago no lfs or transhipper will ship for local unless you have a relationship with them. I'm from Chicago and if you want your cat with min risk do airport to airport it's only 63$
I decided against it, too risky. Even if I thought the guy would refund me if DOA, it would be a terrible shame if it died. Better someone in Chicago pick it up.
Shipping a 12 inch catfish is not really that differcult. All you really need outside of the normal would be a stingray/puncture resistant bag.