Apple snails: how do I ship?

I have some three-month old apple snails that a friend is interested in
getting from me, but I need to ship them to her. How on earth does one
go about shipping these little guys? Priority mail, I'm assuming, but
what's the best spill-proof method for a group of five snails? Each
snail is roughly 1 cm.

I have never mailed a live animal before and I'm completely at a loss
here.

--
Threnody

Blog at: http://purlsbeforeswine.blogspot.com/

Threnody wrote:
I have some three-month old apple snails that a friend is interested in
getting from me, but I need to ship them to her. How on earth does one
go about shipping these little guys? Priority mail, I'm assuming, but
what's the best spill-proof method for a group of five snails? Each
snail is roughly 1 cm.

I have never mailed a live animal before and I'm completely at a loss
here.

Ship them like the pros, in double fish bags. First, take your snails
in some tank water to LFS and see if they will bag them for you with
oxygen for a small fee. If not, most LFS will sell small fish bags for
a very small amount of money. Without oxygen, I'd double bag each snail
in its own bag since they'll have to go for two days.

To bag, put some tankwater and a snail in the bag. Hold the top open,
grab around it quickly, and slide your hand down the bag to catch some
air in it. You want about 1/3 water and 2/3 air. Twist the top and tie
it in a knot. Put that bag knot-down in the second bag and knot that
one too.

Then pack with peanuts or something to cushion and ship them priority as
you would anything else. It's summertime so you don't have to worry
about temps and doubled fish bags are pretty sturdy. Good luck!

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Here is how I do it.

Get yourself down to your local supermarket and buy a cheap plastic
food container with lid. I use a Tesco 330ml one.
Only 45pence!

Take container and put a few air holes in the lid only.

Put in the container some damp cotton wool under and over the snails
(or some paper towel) to line the inside with and to stop the snail
being thrown about.

Put container in a jiffy bag and send 1st class post.
If the inside of the bag gets wet, you've used too much water.

The snails don't mind being out of water as long as they are kept moist
and warm.

They tend to go into a sleep when sent like this.

When your friend gets them, tell him to take the container, remove the
lining and fill it slightly with the tank water so the snails are *not*
covered.
Turn the snails so that their trapdoor is visible.

Place container in the tank with the lid off so that it floats.

In a few hours or less the snails will 'come to' as the tank water
warms up the snails and they will move about and righten themselves.

They can then be placed in the tank directly without fear of them
drowning due to them being still asleep.

If you place Apple snails in bags of water then they can drown if they
can't get access to air perhaps due to rough transport.