Plant Shipping Rates and Policy Summer
Plant Shipping and Delivery Rate
WARM WEATHER SHIPPING NOW IN EFFECT
Plants are shipped out of pot. Most of the growing media is removed. The roots are put into a plastic bag and then gently held with elastic. The plant is then wrapped in plain white newsprint paper. The plants are then put in box with more paper and sometimes bubble wrap to keep them from moving around. We find this the safest method to ship plants. Special requests can be made to have the plants shipped in pot. This will incur a surcharge due to weight overages and possible size of packaging. 4" and under pots will incur $2.00 per pot. 5" to 6 " will incur $4.00 per plant surcharge. Some smaller plants and some delicate plants that may require shipping in pots will not have a surcharge applied.
Please note that regular shipping is not possible for plants in pots greater than 6" Special requests can be made for shipping larger pots but this may incur very large surcharges due to weight and size. Plants in hanging baskets greater than 6" cannot be shipped without being removed from the pot.
Shipping Times
Plant shipping does not qualify for free shipping at $150. Plant shipments go out on Monday or Tuesday. Shipments can go out on Wednesday on rare occasions for shipments going to some Ontario addresses. We cannot ship out on Thursday or Friday except to Nunavut or Northwest Territories by Canada post. The risk of the shipment being delayed and being held over the weekend are too great.
The address must be a physical address as we cannot ship plants to P.O. Boxes by courier. Unless you are in a remote area and this is your only address this option will only be shipped by Canada Post. A signature will be required to receive all orders. You can request that no signature in required so that the courier will leave the parcel at your door. This is done by request only and it relinquishes our responsibility if the parcel is stolen.
During colder months we ship plants similarly to the way we ship our animals which is in insulated box with heat pack. We will pick the best courier for your location. Because of the nature of express shipping the larger the box the greater the shipping costs sometimes exponentially. Large orders of plants can cost quite a lot to ship and this will be reflected in a surcharge. We will contact you the week that your is planned for shipping to make sure you will be home to receive.
The shipping rates you see are the actual rates we pay. We make zero on them. This also includes new boxes, packing materials and all labour involved.
NF, PE, NS, NB, MA, SK, AB, BC
$45+ For expedited shipping. Some rural locations and larger orders will see surcharges starting at $15, 1 to 2 days by express or expedited option. Shipping will be when needed in insulated box with heat pack.
All orders to NF will see a surcharge of $10 to $15 due to very high fuel surcharges
NU, NT, YT. - Service to the territories is by Canada Post. Due to the wide variance of rates to this huge area of Canada we cannot have a flat rate for all of the territories. Major centres, like Yellowknife and Whitehorse have fairly quick service. Some of the more distant communities can have shipments take up to 8 days travel time.
ON, PQ.
$25 Regular courier service. some postal codes starting with P and some in J and G will be seeing a $10 surcharge because of distance. Surcharge of $10 for orders larger than 8 plants will also be applied. Orders greater than 12 plants will see a surcahrge of $20. There is a 2 to 4 day travel time for these orders
$35 Express with some postal codes starting with P and some in J and G seeing a $10 surcharge. Surcharge of $10 for orders larger than 8 plants will also be applied. Orders greater than 12 plants will be $20. There is a 1 to 2 day travel time for these orders
Delivery
Tails & Scales offers local delivery within the GTA. Rates are $15.00 for Toronto and $20.00 outside the City If the local delivery option shows up in the checkout of your order then the service is available to your address
Plants with Animals
While the vast majority of plants that we sell are usually purchased to be kept as just plants in pots, houseplants etc some of you may be purchasing plants to be kept with animals. We do not change the growing media in the pots to animal friendly media. We keep the majority of the plants in the media that they are received by us from the nurseries, growers etc. They may very well contain perlite, vermiculite, fertilizers and some other plant friendly growing media additives. We do not change these over to different media
If you are putting plants you purchase from us in closed vivaria you may want to remove some of the media before planting. This is not always necessary as some plant pots only contain sphagnum moss etc but for nursery grown plants some of you may want to remove some of the media. Commercial vivaria media like Reptisoil from Zoo Med has necessary nutrition and is more suitable for closed conditions. It is the responsibility of the purchaser to do their own research on how to set up vivaria using live plants. We may no claims as to suitability of all plants for closed system vivaria.
Some plants may also have some toxicity issues for animals if ingested. If the plant you purchase is going to kept such that it may be eaten by a companion animal please research the plants possible toxicity.
PICTURES ON WEBSITE
Please note that the pictures on the website are not necessarily going to look like the plant you are going to receive and are representative of the species. Many of the pictures have been taken by us and in some cases are from previous shipments. Photos are taken when shipments arrive and many will start to look different as they grow in a non greenhouse situation. Stock photos are sometimes used to show what the animal or plant we have in the shop will look like in mature form. Some specific plant pictures will be noted as being actual plants available. Pictures can be provided upon request for all of the plants that you are interested in. Feel free to contact us by email or social media.