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A few days before bagging, prepare the water you will need. Add the salt & water treatments that you normally use for water changes. The day you are going to ship test the water and add preventive meds if you use them (I don’t). If you wait until the last minute to make your water the odds are you’ll be in a hurry and make a mistake. I lost 2 fish because I improperly prepared their water at 4 a.m. I have a 5 gallon bucket that I keep my shipping tools in. It sits on top shelf, out of the way until it’s time to get busy. These are the items I find useful. Bags – 3 x 15 open ended poly bags 1.5 mills thick I have used many different sizes and thicknesses and I like these best. A small punch cup – liberated from a punch bowl set It holds just the right amount of water for 1 betta A large neck funnel small enough to fit into the bag and big enough for a betta to go through. A pair of scissors A medium permanent marker Small air pump and 3 foot of air tubing A medium fish net Scotch tape Heat packs (cold packs are in the freezer) Tape – 3” fiberglass reinforced shipping A towel Step 1 dump everything out onto the table. Step 2 fill the punch glass with water Step 3 Inspect your betta and make sure he is in good health. Even if you do a great job of packing, the stress of shipping can kill a weak fish I lost one fish that I should not have shipped. Step 4 over the now empty bucket, pour the betta & water into the net. If you miss the net your betta falls into the bucket of water and you have to catch him. Step 5 dump the betta from the net into the punch cup on the table – try not to miss. Step 6 Use the perm ant marker to label the a bag with the betta ID Step 7 Slide the bag around the neck of the funnel and hold the top of bag, bottom of funnel in one hand. Step 8 Pour the punch cup of water and Betta into the funnel and make sure he gets to the bottom of the bag. Step 9 remove the funnel and insert the air tubing. Hold the bag around the tubing until it is full. Don't blow the bag up like a baloon, that fills it with CO2 and the betta needs O2. Step 10 remove the air tubing twist the top of the bag about 5 inches down from the top and tie the bag in a knot. Make the bag a little soft (not plump like a balloon) and it will be a lot easier to insert it into the second bag. Pull this knot extra tight so that no leak will occur. Step 11 Use the scissors to cut off the unused top of the bag. Step 12 Place 3 fingers inside the neck of the second bag and stretch it open just a bit. This is harder to do in the thick bags. Step 13 Invert the 1st bag and insert it into the 2nd bag so that the knot is at the bottom of the second bag. Slide the second bag over the first like applying a condom. Step 14 There is no need to squeeze the air out of the bottom corners, but do twist the top until it pinches down the corners on the first bag and the bags are plump like a balloon before tieing the second bag knot and pulling it very tight. I injured one of my fish by leaving wrinkles in the bag to grab and tear his fins. Step 15 Use an insulated shipping box. Bigger is better. Add a cold pack or a heat pack if the temperature is extreme. I lost 2 fish because I shipped them to Florida in August without a cold pack. Step 16 Roll the bag in a sheet of newspaper and tape the ends down. Step 17 Place the fish on a 45 degree incline inside the shipping box. There is no guarantee that a sign “This side UP” will help. I try to pack my fish so that no matter which way is up, the bags are not flat. Step 18 Fill all the voids with wadded newspaper. Newspaper is cheap and it makes good insulation. Having the bags bounce around inside the box is not good. Step 19 Place return information, supplies, and paperwork inside a big zip lock plastic bag. The entry forms and checks are no good if the ink gets wet and smears such that no one can read it. Step 20 Tape the shipping box with strong tape, label it with permanent ink and a phone number. I had a call once from the airport. Someone wanted to know what was in my box before they would accept it. Bagging Bettas is easy to do, but doing it correctly is important because your beauties can be injured or die in transit if you don’t bag them properly. Experience is what you get, when you don’t get what you want. I hope you all will use this hard won experience to safeguard your lovely bettas. |