Questions about Shipping

Not sure if this is in the right category. seems like it fits here though.

I've been searching for breeders and mouseries the past few days, finding that there are little to no breeders or mouseries in Michigan sadly but I did come across some breeders and mouseries shipping mice 'at the buyers expense' and I was a bit put off by that statement but now I'm curious about how it all works, exactly how safe it is, if anyone here ships, what are the usual costs, ect.

I do have a breeder within driving distance in mind to go to right now but there are specific breeds I really want that i don't think the breeders near me have or will have in stock any time soon and if I wanted the breed badly enough I was starting to consider having one shipped.

I just don't know anything about the process and was wondering if I could get some insight and opinions about it. A friend of mine is telling me it's safe, save for a day without food or water during the travel. I have two females settled in with one of a trio recently passed away. These girls are super sweet and welcome strangers with open paws. Right now I'm very very interested in female black tans, rex's, tri-colors or long hairs. any help at all would be great!

Shipping is quite expensive, running $125 to $200, not counting the breeder's travel expenses involved in getting them to the airport for you. I've shipped twice, to CA and to the East Coast, and probably wouldn't do it again without serious extenuating circumstances. You can go pretty far on $125 to $200 in gasoline, and black tans, rexes, and longhairs aren't terribly uncommon. Tris are a little harder to get your hands on, though again, you could probably get what you're looking for by paying less than that. Delta Dash is how mice are shipped usually, though some other carriers also take mice. Right now, most breeders who are able to travel that far are gearing up for Rodentfest, which would definitely be in the same price-range as shipping, depending on your mileage.

When I've shipped sugar gliders it was always $165.00 plus the cost of the crate unless you want to insure the shipment, which means you need a health certificate from the vet (usually about $50.00) and then you pay based on your 'declared value'.

I've never lost an animal in shipping. I've shipped several times including dead of winter in NY (below freezing) and dead of summer in Arizona (routinely 120).

I used the pet safe program from (formally known as) Continential.

They go from climate controlled rooms to climate controlled cars, to climate controlled planes (last things on), then first ones off at the destination.

I've had success with this.

I -heard- that there is a new "rodent rate" for shipping, $75.00 for one crate for rodents. I'm planning on calling this week to find out about this (if I remember). *fingers crossed* that the price actually went down!