I'm not sure if this post belongs here, but yesterday, I was able to successfully bring a black arowana from San Diego to Denver.
In case this has ever crossed your mind; here's how I did it.
Disclaimer: I do not recommend doing what I did, but thank God, the timing and exact circumstances worked in my favor.
1st It is under the TSA supervisor's discretion whether they will let you pass security. If the supervisor does not believe it is safe to do so, they will not allow you to bring the fish as carry on. It would probably be better for you to have the shop you buy the fish at package it for shipping and you check it in, but I wanted to save some money so I took the risk. (Please be aware that I have family in San Diego seeing me off who could have it shipped for me if I had difficulty getting passed security).
2nd I was fortunate enough to have given my wife as a one of her Christmas presents, a small zip up bag used to carry meals to parties and keep the food warm. So, thank God, I had this bag that was the perfect size to be stored in front of me in the airplane.
The bag is 14" x 9" x 5". It has some aluminum looking foamy interior. I was concerned, that I wouldn't have the right size containter as your standard ice box is too big for storage underneath the seat in front of you.
3rd I had already contacted the LFS, (Petzone San Diego) that I was going to buy one of their 8" black arowanas and that I was going to take it with me on the plane. So Paul, the LFS owner, kindly packed it up as he would for shipping by triple bagging the fish and using multiple rubberbands. He then, wrapped the bagged fish with newspaper and wrapped a heat pad with news paper which he placed in my wife's bag with the bagged fish.
4th At the TSA security I spoke to the agents and showed them my fish and they directed me to the supervisor. Under some Fido rule, she kindly let me bring my fish on board after asking me some questions and going through some special inspection.
Some of the questions asked were:
Ex. What kind of fish is it? (When I said black arowana it didn't go off too well 'cause it sounds like marijuana so I quickly said Osteoglossum Ferreirai and explained to them the origins of this fish.
Ex. Are you traveling outside the country?
5th After answer the questions I had to carry just the bagged fish (no newspaper and food carrier) across some detectors and then they checked the bag with some special device to check it for smells. Then, they wiped the bag with some sponge like device and finally they inspected the heat pack. After that I was cleared to take my arowana on my delayed flight to Denver and the aro is now home swimming around in a q tank.
In case this has ever crossed your mind; here's how I did it.
Disclaimer: I do not recommend doing what I did, but thank God, the timing and exact circumstances worked in my favor.
1st It is under the TSA supervisor's discretion whether they will let you pass security. If the supervisor does not believe it is safe to do so, they will not allow you to bring the fish as carry on. It would probably be better for you to have the shop you buy the fish at package it for shipping and you check it in, but I wanted to save some money so I took the risk. (Please be aware that I have family in San Diego seeing me off who could have it shipped for me if I had difficulty getting passed security).
2nd I was fortunate enough to have given my wife as a one of her Christmas presents, a small zip up bag used to carry meals to parties and keep the food warm. So, thank God, I had this bag that was the perfect size to be stored in front of me in the airplane.
The bag is 14" x 9" x 5". It has some aluminum looking foamy interior. I was concerned, that I wouldn't have the right size containter as your standard ice box is too big for storage underneath the seat in front of you.
3rd I had already contacted the LFS, (Petzone San Diego) that I was going to buy one of their 8" black arowanas and that I was going to take it with me on the plane. So Paul, the LFS owner, kindly packed it up as he would for shipping by triple bagging the fish and using multiple rubberbands. He then, wrapped the bagged fish with newspaper and wrapped a heat pad with news paper which he placed in my wife's bag with the bagged fish.
4th At the TSA security I spoke to the agents and showed them my fish and they directed me to the supervisor. Under some Fido rule, she kindly let me bring my fish on board after asking me some questions and going through some special inspection.
Some of the questions asked were:
Ex. What kind of fish is it? (When I said black arowana it didn't go off too well 'cause it sounds like marijuana so I quickly said Osteoglossum Ferreirai and explained to them the origins of this fish.
Ex. Are you traveling outside the country?
5th After answer the questions I had to carry just the bagged fish (no newspaper and food carrier) across some detectors and then they checked the bag with some special device to check it for smells. Then, they wiped the bag with some sponge like device and finally they inspected the heat pack. After that I was cleared to take my arowana on my delayed flight to Denver and the aro is now home swimming around in a q tank.
