Holiday Shipping Restrictions
**Orders sent during a Holiday week have a higher likelihood of experiencing a carrier related delay. Only Next Day Priority service has guarantees that provide a refund (oe replacement shipment) for carrier related delays.**
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With the holiday season upon us we want to provide clear information regarding when we will be able to ship orders of live banded crickets and when live feeder cricket orders will need to be held for a longer available shipping window. Due to how the holidays land this year no shipments estimated to take more than 2 business days will be shipped during any holiday week. These decisions are based on the available carrier services from the USPS, FedEx and UPS.Â
As always, per our shipping policies, we only ship live crickets when they will not needlessly sit at shipping hubs for a day or longer, before they continue on their final destination. These pointless transit delays unnecessarily increases mortality rates substantially, increases stress on the crickets, and makes the feeder crickets less beneficial to your pets. Â
~This time of year shipping availability can also be affected by prohibitive overnight low temperatures and we will continue to post weather related alerts as announcement banners at the top of our website when we are delaying shipments.
Christmas Week (12/22 - 12/28)
| Day | Shipping | In Store Pick Up |
| Monday (12/22) | 1 & 2 Day | Appointments Available |
| Tuesday (12/23) | 1 Day** | Appointments Available |
| Wednesday (12/24) | No Shipping | NO AVAILABLITY |
| Thursday (12/25) | No Shipping | NO AVAILABLITY |
| Friday (12/26) | No Shipping | NO AVAILABLITY |
| Saturday (12/27) | No Shipping | NO AVAILABLITY |
| Sunday (12/28) | No Shipping | NO AVAILABLITY |
**Orders placed after 12 noon (CST) on Tuesday, 12/23 will be shipped Monday, 12/29 and Tuesday 12/30 (weather permitting).
New Year's Day Week (12/29 - 1/4)
| Day | Shipping | In Store Pick Up |
| Monday (12/29) | 1 & 2 Day | Appointments Available |
| Tuesday (12/30) | 1 Day*** | Appointments Available |
| Wednesday (12/31) | No Shipping | AM Appointments Available |
| Thursday (1/1) | No Shipping | NO AVAILABLITY |
| Friday (1/2) | No Shipping | NO AVAILABLITY |
| Saturday (1/3) | No Shipping | Appointments Available |
| Sunday (1/4) | No Shipping | Appointments Available |
***Orders placed after 12 noon (CST) on Tuesday, 12/30 will be shipped Monday, 1/5 (weather permitting).
Subscriptions
Please be sure to review your subscriptions for upcoming order dates during the holidays. You may find it necessary to cancel your existing subscription and create a new subscription to be sure that live feeder crickets arrive when you need them. You also may consider pausing your existing subscription, or tell the system to 'skip' specific upcoming orders, and then place manual orders during the holidays to have your live banded crickets delivered before your existing supply is gone.
Successful Delivery
The most important part of successfully shipping live crickets is getting them inside a warm environment immediately upon carrier delivery. Your shipment of live banded crickets is packed for the expected conditions during transit. Their packaging is not sufficient for being outside, exposed to winter winds and other negative environmental factors.Â
Once inside open the packaging sleeve immediately and confirm that the heat pack is still warm to the touch. If the heat pack is not still warm your crickets may have entered into a state of diapause (a temporary hibernation type state of low metabolic activity and suspended development). Gently transfer your crickets to a suitable cricket cage and keep the cage at room temperature. Crickets can take as long as 4 hours to exit their diapause state.