Shipping Rates & Policy
Shipping Rates and Options
Free Shipping
Free shipping applies only to products and dry goods orders. Animal and plant shipments are subject to shipping rates based on location and in the case of plant shipments, how many plants are to be shipped. Free shipping is also subject to surcharges for locations not served by regular courier routes and for oversized, extra long and heavy items. Surcharges will also occur if the order is over 4 kg in total weight. Heavy items can include substrates, oversized items can include screens and long fluorescent light tubes as examples.
Free Shipping Regular Rate - Orders $150 and over
Free Shipping Expedited Rate - Orders $250 and over
Dry goods/Product Shipping
Tails and Scales ships products across Canada. We use some of the most familiar shipping companies in Canada including Fed Ex, UPS, Purolator, Canpar, GLS, ICS and Canada Post. Shipping charges have increased steadily since Covid and we have had to increase some of our shipping charges and minimums to reflect these much higher costs. We pick the most reliable and quickest courier based on the method selected by the customer in their cart. We offer regular shipping and expedited shipping.
Flat Rate Economy Product Shipping Rates
Shipping the safest and most economical rate. 1-4 days in Ontario and Quebec 4-10 days for all other provinces, 6-15 days for the territories.
Province |
Shipping Rate |
| Southern Ontario, Southern Quebec | $20.00 |
| Northern Ontario, Northern Quebec | $20.00 |
| Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia | $25.00 |
| New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI | $25.00 |
| Newfoundland | $25.00 |
| Yukon, North West Territories, Nunavut | $40.00 |
Flat Rate Expedited Product Shipping Rates
If you need your order quicker, we now offer expedited shipping across Canada. In many cases your order will travel by air or express delivery service by our regular couriers. 1-2 days in Ontario and Quebec 2-3 days for all other provinces, 5-8 days for the territories. Larger centres will see significantly quicker delivery times with this rate. In some cases orders may be delivered in one day. Saturday deliveries for larger centres may be available to some major centres in Canada. Please be aware that surcharges for large or heavy products may be quite substantial and will reflected in the posted rate
Province |
Shipping Rate |
| Southern Ontario, Southern Quebec | $30.00 |
| Northern Ontario, Northern Quebec | $35.00 |
| Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia | $45.00 |
| New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI | $45.00 |
| Newfoundland | $50.00 |
| Yukon, North West Territories, Nunavut | $60.00 |
Dry goods/product orders are sent out Monday to Friday. Most couriers will transport orders over the weekend in many cases and will be delivered early in the week.
Enclosure/Terrarium/Aquarium Shipping
Shipping of terrariums and aquariums is the most difficult shipping rate to calculate. The majority of enclosures are made of glass and because of the sizes need special handing. Sizes smaller than 18" x 18" x 24" can be shipped by special request but will have a customized shipping rate due to size and weight. We cannot have a flat rate for these as destination is a big factor in determining shipping rate. Large terrariums can be shipped by LTL trucking but will incur a number of different surcharges including a fee to pickup and drop off pallet with a lift gate. Some of the smaller sizes will be calculated like our regular product orders and will be assessed shipping rates based on weights
Animal/Fish Shipping
Animal shipments are sent out on Monday or Tuesday. They can go out on Wednesday on rare occasions for shipments going to some Ontario addresses. We cannot ship out on Thursday or Friday
The address must be a physical address as we cannot ship animals to P.O. Boxes. We also require that a signature be collected by the courier. You will be contacted before shipping to make sure you or someone else is home to receive. We will not ship until this is verified. Animal shipping is dependent on whether or not the two carriers we use have direct service to your location Most shipments will be sent by Fed Ex priority overnight. Some shipments of lizards, turtles or frogs can go out by UPS Express as well
Live animal shipping includes, insulated shipping box, heat pack(s) or cryopak and all necessary labels for the box. We use Fed Ex and UPS exclusively. UPS cannot be used for shipments containing snakes or live fish
Live Animal/Fish Shipping Rates
Province |
Shipping Rate |
| Southern Ontario, Southern Quebec | $65.00 |
| Northern Ontario, Northern Quebec | $75.00 |
| Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia | $85.00 |
| New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI | $85.00 |
| Newfoundland | $100.00 |
| Yukon, North West Territories, Nunavut | $200.00 |
| USA. Non-CITES animals only at this time | $105.00 |
ON, PQ $65. Postal codes that start with P and a number that start with G or J will see a $10 to $30 surcharge. Locations must be served directly by Fed Ex to qualify for animal shipping.
PE, NS, NB, MA, SK, AB, BC $85 with some rural locations seeing $10 to $40 surcharge. Location must be served by Fed Ex or UPS to qualify for animal shipping.
NF $100 with some rural locations seeing $10 to $40 surcharge. Location must be served by Fed Ex to qualify for animal shipping.
NU, NT, YT $200 with some rural locations seeing a large surcharge. Location must be served by Fed Ex to qualify for animal shipping and must not be out of Fed Ex's normally delivery zones. The rate for the territories is only a guideline. Some destinations may not be served and we reserve the right to refuse shipping if the time in transit is too long. Shipping may have to be by air freight. Some locations may qualify for Air Freight shipping
USA $105 CAD ($75 USD +-) shipping to the US is now possible for most non-CITES animals. We will be making regular runs to the US to ship out orders to our American customers hopefully every 4 to 6 weeks resuming March 2025. Contact the shop for details. If you have an animal in your cart and says that it cannot be shipped it is because we can't ship that species at this time.
Fish Shipping Notes
Fish shipping rates fall under the same rates as Animal Shipping rates with one addition. Larger orders of many fish will incur a surcharge due to the much larger box size that may be required to ship larger orders of fish. Orders going to most addresses in Ontario and Quebec will see a surcharge of $10 for orders of fish greater than or totaling 20 fish, $20 for orders totalling over 30 fish and $30 for orders totalling over 40 fish. Orders outside of Ontario and Quebec will see a surcharge of $20 for orders greater than or totalling 20 animals. Totals will include both fish and invertebrates (shrimps, snails etc.), Totals above 40 animals will see surcharge of $45. If the fish order requires two shipping boxes a custom shipping rate may have to be applied especially for orders of larger fish.
At the present time we can only send fish orders to locations that are directly served by Fed Ex Express Priority. The location must be within Fed Ex Express Priority service area and not passed off to a secondary delivery service. Locations that may take up to three days cannot be sent as the time in transit for the fish will be too long.
We send out emails to customers expecting fish or animal shipments on Sundays after we have checked the weather to make sure the shipment is safe to send. If you've ordered past the deadline for shipping that week you won't receive an email until the Sunday before the shipment is scheduled.
Holds and Solds
Customers can put animals or plants on hold for future pick up, delivery or shipping under the following terms. Animals and plants: 24 hours with no deposit. up to 14 days with 25% deposit, up to 1 month if fully paid. If the customer fails to arrange for pick up, delivery or shipping after the one month time period then the animal or plant will go back up for sale. Extenuating circumstances can be taken into account if an extension is require but this may incur boarding charges in regards to animals. Deposits are non-refundable
Fish Holds and Solds
Because of space limitations and the more delicate nature of fish we can hold fish, even fully paid for specimens, for a maximum of 2 weeks. Extenuating circumstances, including but not limited to bad weather affecting shipping, can lead to an extension but only until it is safe to ship. We are not equipped to house small quantities of fish for extended periods and can offer no boarding for fish.
Plant Shipping
Please click on the link to see plant shipping policies
Winter Shipping
Local Delivery
Tails & Scales offers local delivery within the GTA. Rates are $20.00 for Toronto and $25.00 outside the City If the local delivery option shows up in the checkout of your order then the service is available to your address. Not all zones are delivered daily. Many zones outside Toronto are Tuesday to Friday only. Delivery is to physical addresses only. We cannot deliver to post office boxes etc.
Local delivery is handled by a third party delivery company. Please specify a day you will be home. If we don't have a specified day we will send out the same day or next day whichever is available to us. If a delivery goes out and you are not home to accept then you may be billed for the return of the delivery. Deliveries can also be left at a spot you chose and a photo will be taken on delivery. Please let us know if you do not need a signature on arrival. To get same day delivery, weather permitting, orders need to be in by 10:00 pm for Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Markham. Order have to be in by 9:00 on Saturday and Sunday for same day delivery to these zones. Most delivery orders will be booked for the 12:00 to 2:00 pick up slot unless otherwise indicated. The delivery service has added peak time surcharges so requests for deliveries after our 12:00 to 2:00 pick up slot may be subject to a delivery surcharge.
PLEASE NOTE
Some delivery zone's delivery dates are dependant on how many orders are going to that zone. The delivery company requires a minimum amount of orders for them to pick up from our shop.
There are no refunds on delivery or shipping charges unless the order has been cancelled.
Animal and Plant Shipping Details
please read the above to see details on animal and plant shipping