Shipping & Delivery Policy

🌡️ Cold Weather Policy — Heat Pack Requirement

When outdoor temperatures are below -5°C, all live orders must include a UniHeat warming pack. This is not optional — orders without a heat pack will not be shipped during cold weather conditions. This protects your livestock from freezing during transit.

Heat packs are automatically added to your order when cold weather is detected at time of fulfillment. The pack duration is selected based on your distance from Markham, Ontario, to ensure warmth lasts well beyond your estimated delivery window.

Why do we double the pack duration? Courier transit times can't be guaranteed — delays happen. We choose a heat pack that covers roughly double your estimated shipping time so your animals stay warm even if the package is delayed.

Heat Pack Pricing

• Orders $150 CAD or more — heat pack included FREE 🎁
• Orders under $150 — heat pack cost is added at checkout based on your location

📦 Shipping Overview

• We ship from Markham, Ontario, Canada
• We currently ship within Canada only
• Orders ship out on Tuesdays and Wednesdays — the exact ship day depends on your courier's pickup schedule and route to your area
• We do not ship on long weekends or statutory holidays
• Aquarium plants ship Canada-wide with no restrictions — every address we deliver to is eligible for plant orders
• Local pickup is available in Markham by appointment only — pickup hours are weekdays 6–8 PM and weekends 4–8 PM with advance notice, and orders are held for a maximum of 3 days — Book a Pickup Slot

🐟 Live Fish, Shrimp & Snail Shipping — Next-Day Delivery Requirement

Live animals are the most sensitive part of any order, so we hold them to a stricter shipping standard than plants.

• We only ship live fish, shrimp, and snails to addresses where we have a courier able to guarantee next-day delivery
• If a next-day courier isn't available to your address, we will not ship your livestock automatically. Instead, we'll either hold the order and contact you to discuss options, or in some cases cancel and refund the livestock portion of your order
• This restriction applies to livestock only — plants are never affected and ship everywhere in Canada as normal
• If your order contains both plants and livestock and your address isn't covered for next-day delivery, we'll reach out to sort out the best path (splitting the shipment, swapping livestock for a plant-only order, or a refund on the livestock items)

🔴 When We Will Not Ship

We will hold your order and contact you if:

• Your order contains live fish, shrimp, or snails and no next-day courier is available to your address
• Outdoor temperatures are below -5°C at your destination and no heat pack is included in your order
• Extreme weather events are forecasted that could harm your livestock
• Your order contains live animals and the transit time exceeds safe thresholds

We will never knowingly ship an order that we believe will not arrive safely. If your order is held, we will reach out with options: waiting for warmer conditions, upgrading your heat pack, adjusting your order, or a full refund.

📬 Delivery Estimates

Transit times vary by province. Below are approximate estimates from Markham, ON:

These are estimates only. We cannot guarantee courier delivery times. Live fish, shrimp, and snail orders require next-day delivery coverage to ship — see above.

⚠️ Live Arrival Guarantee

We guarantee live arrival on all livestock orders when shipped under our recommended conditions (including heat packs where required, and next-day delivery coverage). If your order arrives with losses, please submit a claim within 2 hours of delivery with photos.

👉 Submit a Dead on Arrival Claim