Live Animal Policy

LIVE ANIMAL POLICY

IMPORTANT! Failure to read the terms and conditions of purchase from Big Apple Herp, whether intentional or accidental, will in no way be a reason that they are altered or void.

Big Apple Pet Supply makes every attempt to sell reptiles, frogs, tarantulas & scorpions that are captive bred. When they are not captive bred we make best efforts to notate in the option selectoin that they are farm raised (FR) and/or field collected (FC) species but are not responsible for any error in notation.

Reptiles come with a 3 day health guarantee after arrival and Amphibians, Tarantulas & Scorpions are a live arrival only guarantee. Guarantees on Live Reptiles & Amphibians are void when night time temperatures are listed to fall below 40 or daytime temperatures above 80 degrees. FROGS, TOADS & SALAMANDERS do not have any live arrival or health guarantees June thru August or October thru February.

Notification of any issue must be made within 6 hours of delivery in the rare case of a DOA and within 72 hours of arrival if claiming under the 3 day health guarantee. Either guarantee requires without any exceptions that you supply several digital pictures (3 angles) of the reptile, amphibian, scorpion or tarantula on its back (belly up), from the side and from the top belly down. We may require a 10 second video of the animal on it's back on top of the Fedex box as well.

Keep Your Box!!! - All of these photos MUST be taken on top of the box with the Fedex Label visible next to the animal (NO EXCEPTIONS under any circumstances). You may send notification, photos and claim by TEXT ONLY 24 hours, 365 days a year. Live Arrival Guarantee is only provided when a shipment has been signed for on the first delivery attempt. It is mandatory that you be there and sign for your delivery.

Any guarantees are void if you do not house the reptile, amphibian, tarantula or scorpion in a proper environment (ie. Keeping a Bearded Dragon in a Tupperware container is not acceptable). This includes housing the animal or amphibian with proper heating, lighting, bedding and accessories. We will ask for a photo of your complete setup if a live animal guarantee claim is made.

Big Apple Pet Supply uses the best standard of packaging to ensure that your reptile, amphibian, tarantula or scorpion will make it to you in top condition. However, should the rare event of a DOA occur Big Apple will replace the reptile, frog, tarantula or scorpion but shipping costs will be the responsibility of the customer. Under no circumstances are any animals or insects returnable or refundable... in the event of a live animal claim, replacement or store credit are the only options. Any incorrect address or shipment routing changes on the part of the customer will result in voiding our live arrival guarantee.

We are NOT responsible in any way for carrier delays of Fedex, USPS or UPS and under no circumstances do we offer refunds or credits on shipping fees due to late deliveries. At our discretion if your local temperatures are too cold or too warm we will ship your order to the nearest Fedex Ship Center for your pickup as long as that location is within a 15 mile drive from you. SEE WEATHER CONDITION REQUIREMENTS BELOW.

If a shipment is refused and sent back to us then we reserve the right to withhold the original shipping fee, the return shipping fee, any additional handling fees and a 35% restocking fee for any animals which are received back to us in sellable condition.

We are not responsible for any veterinary expenses or costs assumed by the buyer. If you choose to take any animal to a veterinarian or other animal specialist, you do so at your own expense.

It is your responsibility to be aware of your own local wildlife laws and regulations. We will not knowingly send an animal in violation of any state or federal laws but the final responsibility falls to you, the buyer.

WEATHER CONDITION REQUIREMENTS
Shipping to your home or work is permissable when your overnight lows exceed 32 degrees or daytime highs are 90 degrees or under. Temperatures outside the ranges stated above will require live animals shipped for pickup at a main FedEx Shipping Center nearest to you. Animals are best to be picked up within 4 hours of arrival. Typically, orders arrive by 12:00 PM in most metro areas, but some remote areas may not be guaranteed to arrive until "end of day", which is usually late afternoon or early evening at the latest (4:30PM). If Google maps show a route from your "shipping address" to the nearest pickup center to be within a 15 mile drive we will process your order immediately and inform you of the pickup location via email and/or text. If the route to the Shipping Center is more than 15 miles we will first obtain your permission. IMPORTANT REQUIREMENTS: It is your responsiblity to check weather in your area so that you understand these guidelines. In addition, you must have a U.S. drivers license with the same name as entered on the order and be over the age of 21. Orders processed cannot be canceled for any reason so make sure you are prepared to pickup your order per these terms. Not picking up your order will result in an additional $45 return fee, 35% restocking fee and no refund of the original shipping charges.

ANIMALS FOR SALE
At any given time we have thousands of animals for sale. The pictures on our web site are often not the actual animal available (unless we specifically specify that it is). These photos are only a representation of the animal for sale and aesthetics always vary from one animal to the next. In some cases that variance can be significance. We are happy to take requests for the animal order pickers to follow but we are never able to guarantee that request. Field Collected animals are never perfect specimens so if that is important to you only choose captive bred animals.

FRAUD
Unfortunately, we receive a significant number of fraudulent orders and have a special check system in place to help prevent that. However, we reserve the right to ask for Drivers Licenses and/or other verification information before shipping any order. Credit card fraud is a severe violation of Federal Lawe and we report all fraud to the proper authorities. For fraud prevention reasons we cannot change the shipping address on an order after it is placed. An order must be replaced if the customer wishes to ship to a different shipping address and that shipping address must be specified on the new order. Please note that credit card orders must ship to the billing address of their card that the bank has on file. If shipping to a different address than PayPal, Venmo, Shop Pay or Zelle or Cryptocurrency checkout must be used.

NO CANCELLATION POLICY
Once a live animal or feeder order is placed, it is a commitment to purchase. We cannot under any circumstances cancel a live reptile, amphibian, spider, scorpion, live or frozen feeder order. Our workflow absolutely prohibits the ability to cancel so be sure you are certain of what you are purchasing before you submit your order.

SPECIAL NON-GUARANTEED SHIPPING DAYS
The Full Week proceeding Thanksgiving and Christmas creates extremely high volume for Fedex. On these days there are No Animal Guarantees Provided. Shipping on one of these days is 100% at your own risk.

SEXING REQUESTS AND OPTIONS
All sexing is completed by extremely capable and experienced staff, however no gender identification is 100% so we use "best efforts" to provide you with the gender you order but there are no implicit guarantees on this service. When you pay $10 for our sexing service, we provide our "best efforts" to determine the gender of the animal. However, in the event you receive an animal that is not the gender you requested we cannot, under any circumstances refund, exchange or compensate you in any way. We appreciate you understanding the complexity that often goes with identifying the sex of many animals.  

SIZING
Sizing is always approximate, terms such as hatchling, baby, small, medium, large, juvenile, sub-adult or adult are used as guides and points of reference only. However, all animals grow at different rates so there may be differences in the size of the animal you receive. There are never any guarantees on the actual size of an animal shipped.

FEEDER INSECT POLICY:
NOTE: While we use proper packaging methods and boxes for live insects there are no live arrival guarantees on any live feeder shipment that goes via priority mail. If you would like a guarantee we have an option to overnight deliver your insect shipment for $25 which is on any live feeder page of our website.

We're Happy To Help With Your New Pet

When you order a reptile, amphibian, tarantula or scorpion from Big Apple Pet Supply you are going to get a healthy top quality pet. However, it is up to you to educate yourself on how to care for your new pet. Often, small changes in the reptile, frog or insect's environment will correct or prevent health issues. When an issue appears do not wait to attempt to correct it as even a single day could make a major difference.

If you ever have a question about a pet you purchased from us with regards to heating, lighting, enclosures, diet, etc. we are more than happy to provide you with our expert advice. However, we are not veterinarians and cannot prescribe or provide you with a consultation on medications. If your pet is ill you should visit your local veterinarian who specializes in reptiles and exotic creatures.