# can i ship live shrimps without breathing bags?



## jessy_K (Jan 20, 2016)

I need to ship my shrimps from San Diego to bay area with expedited shipping (1 or 2 business days)

so i screwed up by not starting early, and now i have to ship them within the next week but all online options for buying breathing bags i found would never reach me in time

can i ship my shrimps without breathing bags and is there any alternatives?


----------



## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Yes, fish bag. The moving of the box helps oxygen. Breather bag better but this is doable


----------



## jessy_K (Jan 20, 2016)

where do i find fish bags? is it the same ones they use at pet stores?


----------



## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

Have you looked at buypetshrimp.com? He has really low prices on longlife breathers and he can probably get them to you before the week is out.
http://buypetshrimp.com/shipping-bags/


----------



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

You would ship them just like you would fish (same kind of bag, any bag really). Just have a small portion of water for them to stay in, with a good amount of air pocket at the top. The sloshing of the water in the bag helps "atmospheric" exchange to provide more oxygen, but that action can't supply/dictate the amount of oxygen inside the sealed bag, so provide a decent amount of air pocket in the bag.

Good thing is that shrimp don't use very much oxygen as fish do, so you can get away with bagging in less air. Good idea to use a decent amount of water mainly to decrease temperature fluctuation in such a little volume of water in the bag. Shrimp pollution is not much, so it's not a big worry, but temp swings are the biggest danger for the shrimp.

Insulate well to keep temps stable as possible as well as securing the bag from juggling around so much. Use a good amount of water. And put in some plants or something for the shrimps to hold onto during shipment. Go to a fish store and see if you can buy or get a "fish bag" from them. I believe there are quite a few local shrimp sellers in the SD area that might can try contacting for breather bags though.


----------



## Acro (Jul 7, 2012)

Get normal fish bags at a pet store. They will often give them to you for free if you ask. Just be sure to be specific on the number of bags you want (always double bag with normal plastic bags).
Good Luck! 



.


----------



## qawsican (May 31, 2016)

I've had RCS juvis shipped from California all the way to New York in double ziplock bags. All arrived safe and sound.


----------



## Acro (Jul 7, 2012)

qawsican said:


> I've had RCS juvis shipped from California all the way to New York in double ziplock bags. All arrived safe and sound.


In ziplock bags! If the box gets a little squished, those ziplocks will pop open!
Glad they made it in good shape to you that time . . .



.


----------



## qawsican (May 31, 2016)

Acro said:


> In ziplock bags! If the box gets a little squished, those ziplocks will pop open!
> Glad they made it in good shape to you that time . . .
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah the seller actually sealed the ziplock opening by melting it with heat or something so it wouldn't open accidentally.Then he double layered it with another ziplock bag with the opening sealed again, wrapped it in a ton of paper towel for cushion, sealed it in another larger ziplock bag, then put it in the shipping box and sent it to me. Came from Cali to NY in 2 days and everything was good.


----------



## Acro (Jul 7, 2012)

qawsican said:


> Yeah the seller actually sealed the ziplock opening by melting it with heat or something so it wouldn't open accidentally.Then he double layered it with another ziplock bag with the opening sealed again, wrapped it in a ton of paper towel for cushion, sealed it in another larger ziplock bag, then put it in the shipping box and sent it to me. Came from Cali to NY in 2 days and everything was good.


Wow . . . more work than I like to do, but if it works for him, why not?!? lol



.


----------



## jessy_K (Jan 20, 2016)

late update:

i just went to petsmart and the staff gave me the bag they use for fish for free, and i double bagged my shrimps and put them in an insulated box. 

shipped on wednesday, they got there on friday, and I unpacked on saturday, 

a few smaller cherries died, other cherries are alive but looked extremely stressed out, CRS seemed alright, the one amano i had looked more than fine 

so yeh when i go back to san diego in september i'm definitely driving them instead of shipping


----------



## FreshwaterAdvice (Jun 15, 2016)

jessy_K said:


> late update:
> 
> i just went to petsmart and the staff gave me the bag they use for fish for free, and i double bagged my shrimps and put them in an insulated box.
> 
> ...


Driving them is obviously the better option as opposed to shipping them. However, if shipping them is an additional convenience, i.e. the entire trip driving would be done just for the fish you could ship the fish easily and as long as you take the time to do it right there should be no issue.


----------

