Terms of Shipping

Destinations Outside of China

SMOC Mice are shipped to international destinations via air transport. Airlines and agents are carefully selected based on their ability to control conditions throughout the journey and their understanding of our animals' unique requirements. 

Delivery method and time

we will arrange to clear the animals through Customs and transport safely to your doorstep. Our Customer Service team will provide an estimate for the cost of this service.

Delivery time cannot be determined. We will determine the transportation time based on the temperature of the place of delivery and the destination.

I would like to ask whether the safety of the animals during air transport is guaranteed? Is there any plan to deal with the death of animals?

1. Upon delivery of the animals, please first find out whether the container used to ship the mice is in good condition. If it is damaged, please decline the shipment.

2. When the animals are moved to the laboratory (or animal room), please carefully inspect the appearance of the animals and verify whether the gender and quantity are consistent with your order. If you have any questions, please take pictures (this is important) and contact our project manager within 24 hours upon receipt of the animals. Like you, we do not want to see the decease of any of the animals. The decease of any of the animals during air transport is beyond our control; we will take the following actions based on the principles of mutual understanding.

1) If a purchased mouse is deceased, the company will deliver the animal again after verification, but the shipping cost should be borne by you.

2) In case of the decease of a mouse for a customized project, please work out the solution with your project manager (i.e., sales or technical consultant).

It is difficult to control the temperature at which mice are transported in the summer of each year, which prevents us from ensuring animal safety. Therefore, our company stops shipments of mice, in principle, from June to September. If you request for a delivery during this period, the company will not assume any responsibility for any transportation incidents caused by this.

3) We recommend that you inspect mice of the same gender timely, especially the male ones, and put them into different cages. First of all, observe whether there are any wounds on the backs and tails of the male mice if several ones have been put in the same container, because the male mice are likely to bite each other by nature and due to stress, and can even die because of bites. Please notify us of the status of the animals within 48 hours upon receipt, and take pictures (this is important) and submit them in case of any abnormalities in the mice. If we do not receive a notification within the time limit, SMOC believes that the animals are normal, and will no longer bear any responsibility caused by transportation.

Effects of Transportation on the Animals

1. Reduction in body weight

Shipping stress can accelerate the metabolism and excretion of the animals. Without dietary supplements, the animals may display varying levels of dehydration. In general, mice that have been shipped experience weight loss of around 10%. In the event of a long transportation duration or journey, or a high packing density, the mice may experience weight loss of up to 15%. A small number of the animals may even lose up to 30% of their body weight due to factors also directly related to transportation distance, time duration and packing density. Where the aforesaid circumstances arise, the animals can regain any lost weight upon 2–3 days of acclimation and feeding. We recommend that a diet of glucose saline be fed to strains of mice that do not recover easily from dehydration (it is difficult for special strains of mice to recover from dehydration) for a day upon arrival.

2. Increase in experimental error

Laboratory tests have shown that stress may cause a series of pathophysiological changes in the animals, such as adrenal hemorrhage, bleeding, erosion or ulceration in the gastrointestinal mucosa, increase of epinephrine and norepinephrine in the blood, blastoformation inhibition of lymphocytes, and degradation of the toxic function of natural killer cells. These pathophysiological changes may increase certain experimental errors. Therefore, you should try not to conduct the experiment immediately upon receipt of the animals, but acclimate the animals for 2–7 days according to the transportation duration.

Can mice of different strains and genders be mixed?

According to the relevant provisions on animal transportation in the Regulations for the Administration of Affairs Concerning Experimental Animals, animals of different strains and genders cannot be mixed (which means only animals of the same strain and gender can be placed in the same space).

The standard transportation specifications of the company are as follows:

1. Small air shipping container: single divider insert, two compartments, a maximum of 4 animals in each compartment and 8 ones in a container.

2. Large air shipping container: no divider insert, one compartment, a maximum of 10 male animals or 15 female animals.

Meanwhile, in the case of multiple animal genotypes, we will divide one shipping container into several separate compartments by partitioning the space with small cartons, to transport animals of different strains or genders, for the purpose of lowering your freight charges. (This packing method is not recommended during the summer).