Packing Shrimp for Shipping - A Guide

 

At some point in their hobby, most people will want to sell some shrimp, whether to help to pay for their hobby, reduce stocking levels, or both.  However many people do not know how to pack shrimp to ship via mail or courier, in this guide I will discuss one way of doing this.

 

 

Before trying to pack any live creature,  you need to get everything together and within easy reach.  The quicker you can pack them once they are out of their old home, the better for them.

 

You will need:-

 

A box of a suitaable size

Some form of loose fill packing material

2 Fish bags

Sheets of newspaper

*Styrofoam (polystyrene) sheeting of about 1.5-2 cms thickness

Nets with which to catch the shrimp

If the nights (or days) are likely to get cooler than 18 degrees celsius a heat pack (in very cold weather, do not ship shrimp at all)

Scissors

Packing tape (I use Fragile tape, as you will need to mark the package as fragile in some way anyway)

A bowl in which to put the shrimp you have caught, and to use to prop up your fish bag once filled

A role of normal sellotape

 

 

 

This is sort of a part of step 1, but it is easier to discuss these steps seperately.

 

 

First of all, assemble your box and place some loose fill packing material into the bottom of the box:-

 

 

This is going to form a base to protext the bottom of everything else that goes in there, and also a layer of insulation.

 

Next, fill your bowl with a reasonable quantity of water in which you want to pack your shrimp (use enough water to fit the number of shrimp you are packing), this should be from the tank in which the shrimp have been living to avoid stressing them with different water:-

 

It is a good idea to make sure you put something in with the shrimp for them to hang on to during transit, I like to use a piece of moss for this and place this in the bowl of water.  If using breathing bags this is useful as the moss will also serve to keep the water quality up during shipping.  If however you are using normal fish bags, then I suggest using a small piece of filter sponge.

 

 

 

FIrst of all, I would suggest using the largest net that you can maneuver in the tank.  Shrimp are very fast, and very good jumpers, and will easily escape smaller nets.  A small net however is useful to 'encourage' shrimp to leave areas of the tank where there is not space to use a larger net.

 

Now, at this point an extra pair of hands comes in very useful, to hold your bowl of water for you:-

 

 

If you can't find an extra pair of hands, then put the bowl as near to the tank as possible.  Again a remind, shrimp are good jumpers, so caution is advised!

 

Catch your shrimp, and place them in the waiting bowl until you have the correct number of shrimp;-

 

 

 

Again an extra pair of hands is very useful at this point.  Get somebody to hold the bag extended, open and at an angle.  Now pour the shrimp and water down the side of the bag, taking care that all of the shrimp go into the bag and into the water at the bottom.  Shrimp are good at clinging on to things, and you might need to give them a hand to get into the bag.  Take care whilst pouring, you don't want to hurt your shrimp.

 

Alternatively you can include step 4 into step 3.  Don't use a bowl and put the shrimp directly into the bag.  I however find that once in a bag they are VERY hard to count.

 

Once your shrimp are bagged, give them the once over to check that they appear to be happy still:-

 

 

Now tie the bag with a tight not, this is easily done if you twist the end of the bag repeatedly first.  If you are using normal fish bags then you need to trap plenty of air in the bag as well.  If however like me you decide to use breathing bags, then the aim is to have the bag tied with as little air as possible in there.  Why you might ask?  Well during transit, the more air in the bag the more the water will slosh around, buffeting and stressing the shrimp.  With breathing bags gases can move into, and out of, the water through the walls of the bag, meaning no need for lots of air in the bag, and so offering another degree of protection and an infinite supply of air so to speak.  This is where the bowl comes in useful again, put the bag in the bowl whilst you prepare for the next part of this step:-

 

 

Now cut 2 lengths of normal sellotape about 3 inches long, lift the bag from the bowl and use 1 length of sellotape to tape up each corner to remove the corner completely.  Small animals can crawl/swim into corners where they can become trapped and then get crushed very easily.  Taping corners is always a good thing to do:-

 

 

Now you could take a chance and leave the backing at this point, but personally I prefer to double bag shrimp (suggestion from Ballpc: wrap the inner bag with a sheet of newspaper to prevent the breathing bags from touching, as if they touch it can effect the ability of the bags to 'breath').  This adds an extra layer protecting against punctures and leaks, no need to tape the corners on the outer bag though :-

 

 

 

 

Time to get that box sorted.  First off, remove the heat pack from it's plastic wrapper and give it a gentle shake:-

 

 

 

 

 

Now place the wrapped heat pack into the box, 'shuffle' it down into the loose fill material a bit, and then put some more loose fill on top of this to create some space between the pack and the bag:-

 

 

You might be wondering why you need to wrap the heat pack if you are covering it anyway.  The loose fill will shift during transit, and there is a risk that the bag will move into contact with the heat pack if you do not wrap it.

 

Now place the bagged shrimp onto the middle area on top of this layer of loose fill, and fill the box completely with your loose fill packing material to the very top, like so:-

 

 

Not only does this material protect the bags from been buffeted or punctured, but it also adds a layer of all important insulation.  Some folks like to be green, and so use shredded newspaper.  Personally though, I place the needs of my shrimp above this in priority, and so use polystyrene loose fill as I believe that the foam structure of this gives superior insulation and protection.

 

 

Time to close that box up, and tape it up well:-

 

 

As mentioned ealier in this article, I like to use Fragile tape for this.  You need to label the box VERY clearly as fragile, and this tape fills this purpose nicely, as well as functioning as packing tape.

 

There you have it, your shrimp are boxed and ready to hit (not literaly you hope at this point) the road.  All you need to do now is put an address, and return address (very important when shipping shrimp, if they can't deliver you want them bringing back to you, not chucking in a skip!) on the box, and you are ready to go.  A tip, if you are sending to more than one person, mark the box at this point to identify it, or add the address label before you start packing for the other person.  Too many folks get sent the wrong shrimp thanks to the packer getting them mixed up.  A brown box will look exactly the same as another brown box, unless you mark or label it in some way.

 

 

 

Well there you have it, your shrimp are now packed and ready to go.  Oh, and as an alternative to using a carboard box you can also use a polystrene (styrofoam) box, but these are more expensive and so push up the cost of shipping.  Most people will not want to pay £18 for shipping in the UK, hence I use cardboard boxes.  If shipping overseas however I recommend charging more and using a polystyrene (styrofoam) box.

 

Oh and don't forget to send them by a next day service (or for international shipping, the fastest service that you can find) as you don't want them out in the 'cold' for more than 1 night, not least as most heat packs only last for 24 hours, plus over time the water quality in the bag will drop, so the more time the shrimp are in it, the more risk there is that they will arrive dead, or die within days of arrival.

 

Ade