Frequently Asked Questions

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ALL orders containing live animals will packed in an insulated box with the use of either a hot or cold pack when needed, a phase 22 Cryopak to help with temperature regulation inside the box, and plenty of packing material to ensure their journey to you is as comfortable and safe as possible.

We use all UPS or USPS for our carriers.  If you have a preference, please put it in the order notes and we will try to accommodate. 

*Dry goods will be shipped via ground shipping Monday through Saturday.  

*Priority Mail/UPS 3 Day for isopods and springtails will be sent Monday and Tuesday only.

*2nd day and Overnight shipments will be shipped out Monday-Wednesday. 

Once your order has shipped, you will receive a tracking number via email.  It is the customer’s responsibility to track their package and make arrangements for someone to bring the package inside once it is delivered if they will not be home.

If you will be home that day, please make arrangements to have someone put your package inside upon delivery.  Live animals will not survive outside on a hot or cold porch very long no matter how well they are packed.  Have the person bringing in your package take a photo of the box inside so a time stamp can be traced in order to be covered by out LAG.

If you will be out of town, we can hold your package until you get back.  Just put in the order notes what date you would like to receive your package.

We ship year round with careful shipping practices and offer Live Arrival Guarantee on all live shipments as long as you or someone you know is available to bring in your package as soon as they get delivered. 

We require proof of DOA in the form of photos and/or video within ONE HOUR after delivery for the guarantee to be valid.

If you will gone on delivery day and someone you know will be bringing in your package, have them take a photo of the box inside so there is a traceable time stamp.  LAG is guaranteed for 8 hours after delivery in this case as long as there is proof of the package inside. 

You can send DOA proof to our email podhausllc@gmail.com, through the chat button of the website, or on our Facebook or Instagram.

 With isopods and springtails, we always pack an overcount to cover any casualties that may occur during the shipping process; therefore, we will only guarantee the actual count that was ordered.  For example, if you order a 10 count, we will pack at least 12.  If 2 perish in shipping but the other 10 are fine, we won't replace the 2 that passed, but we will either reship or offer a refund as long as your follow our LAG and contact us with photo or video proof of DOA within one hour of delivery receipt if the ordered quantity doesn't make it.   

Absolutely!  We believe that all of our very first "starter" cultures were produced in captivity, but we cannot guarantee where the seller we bought them from got them.  But we can guarantee that the isopods and springtails you receive from us have produced at least 3 generations for us before being shipped to you.  You will always receive animals that have been bred in our facility that have been kept and cared for by us to the highest standards.

For isopods, you will be shipped a culture of mixed sizes.  We try to send a good variety of juveniles to sub-adults. Mancae will not be counted towards the culture count.  We offer these sizes so that the adults aren't too old to reproduce or are at the end of their life and then juveniles that will be able to grow into mature beings and reproduce longer.  We want to give you a great start to a long-lasting culture, as well as one that has the possibility of reproducing soon after you receive them.

For springtails, you will also receive a culture of mixed life stages of juveniles to adults and all springtails cultures will have a massive overcount aside from colored springtails, which will still have a heft overcount.

Some of our springtail cultures are at least 3-4 weeks old, if not a few months old and are guaranteed to have at least the count that was ordered and more often than not, there will be a very HEFTY overcount as most of them tend to reproduce quickly.  Even cultures that are packed right before shipping will have a heavy overcount of mixed ages.

Absolutely!  Orders can be placed and held for pick up at shows we will be attending.  Or if you are in the area or just passing through, local meet up can always be arranged.  Just reach out to us and let us know when and where and choose the "Local Pick Up" option at checkout.

If you are interested in a show pick up, we keep a "Show Schedule" under the navigate tab.  We recommend placing an order before the show if there are species or specific counts that you are interested in to guarantee they will be available at the show.  At checkout, just pick the "Local Pick Up or Show Pick Up" option as your shipping method and add a note in the special instructions box with the show that you will be attending and we will hold your order behind the table for you.

Shipping even a small priority box isn't cheap.  Depending on location, just a small 7x7x6 box going USPS Priority is upwards of $10-$15 with Large Priority boxes being $20-$25 just for the label cost alone.

So on top of the cost of freight, you have to add in the other stuff needed for safe shipments for the animals inside.

Cost of the box (depending on size)- $1-$3

Insulation for the box (depending on size)- $3-$5

Cryopak/phase pak- $5

72 hour heat pack - $3

Cold pack- $1

Deli cups, moss, tape and packing paper - $1-$2 

Believe us, we totally understand the shipping costs suck, but it's not a cheap process.  And even at $20, we usually still end up eating some of that cost on top of it.  

We do not.  Due to customs and legality of exporting out of the country, we are not offering international shipping at this time.

We also do not ship to Hawaii.

Live animal sales are final and no returns of live animals are allowed.

With isopods and springtails, we always pack an overcount to cover any casualties that may occur during the shipping process; therefore, we will only guarantee the actual count that was ordered.  For example, if you order a 10 count, we will pack at least 12.  If 2 perish in shipping but the other 10 are fine, we won't replace the 2 that passed, but we will either reship or offer a refund as long as your follow our LAG and contact us with photo or video proof of DOA within one hour of delivery receipt if the ordered quantity doesn't make it.  

If you are not happy with any dry goods that you received, depending on the circumstance, we will either offer you a replacement or refund.  We may have you return the product in question and will cover the cost of return shipping. 

That depends on a lot of factors such as the climate and animal inside.

For crested geckos, gargoyle geckos and other insect eating geckos that lives in a semi-arid to moist environment, a small, fast, camouflaged, and/or burrowing isopod is best.  These include Agabiformius lentus, Aphiloscia annulicornis, Atlantoscia floridana, Cylisticus convexus, Nagurus nanus.,Porcellio incanus, Porcellio vulcanicus,  Porcellionides pruinosis, or Trichorhina tomentosa ”Dwarf White”, Venezillo parvus (if you don’t have live plants that can be eaten), or my all time favorite, Isopoda sp. Tarragona.

For ball pythons and other semi-arid to semi-tropical snakes, Porcellio laevis are great due to their sheer size and large appetite.  They are robust and handle the mess and snake‘s size well.

For arid environments such  as  leopard geckos and bearded dragons, the options are a little more limited and you will still need to provide a moist area that is kept constantly wet for the isopod’s to wet their gills no matter the species.  Your options for these are Nagurus nanu, Porcellio dilatatus, Porcellio laevis, Porcellio ornatus “Yellow Dot”, Porcellio scaber, or porcellionides pruinosis.

We accept all types of major credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, etc.

We also accept PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, ApplePay, or Zelle.

And in person, we appreciate cash but can take any of the above.