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OH Breeder

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Feb 14, 2007
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5,954
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Ada, Ohio
Does anyone know where you can find a reasonablely priced vapor shipper? I have searched web and only find a few at 700 dollars plus. ???
 

knabe

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Feb 7, 2007
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Hollister, CA
i went through the same dilemna.  this is how i decided not to purchase.

how many rentals would i have to go through to purchase one.  plus you have to purchase another box separtately to put the thing in.  rentals are relatively cheap.  then, if you want to use the thing for storage, you don't have a storage tank, then you have to purchase that too.  i know some people do their own ai, i just have my vet do it, he's right around the corner, and doesn't charge me for storage as i only have 25 or so straws, will probably have 50 at most.  it's kinda like buying a diesal truck or hybrid, they don't make sense unless you use them a lot.  places will let you rent them on a weekly basis.  one time, i purchased semen from a distributor and then had it sent to a breeder who through a few in, and then it went to my vet.  got to be careful doing that to make sure they recharge the shipper and ship it so it doesn't sit over the weekend.  even though the shippers say 2 weeks safety, if they aren't charged or sealed perfectly, well, you get the idea.  some delivery companies are bad about letting things sit in the dock over the weekend if they can't get a hold of someone or they run out of time that day.  i hate 4-8 hour windows of hurrying up and waiting.

one reason they are so expensive is their design.  it is mosly illegal to ship liquid nitrogen without a permit, so they designed the vapor shipper as a secondary container in case of damage, the thing will supposedly hold on to the liquid.

 

OH Breeder

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Joined
Feb 14, 2007
Messages
5,954
Location
Ada, Ohio
knabe said:
i went through the same dilemna.  this is how i decided not to purchase.

how many rentals would i have to go through to purchase one.  plus you have to purchase another box separtately to put the thing in.  rentals are relatively cheap.  then, if you want to use the thing for storage, you don't have a storage tank, then you have to purchase that too.  i know some people do their own ai, i just have my vet do it, he's right around the corner, and doesn't charge me for storage as i only have 25 or so straws, will probably have 50 at most.  it's kinda like buying a diesal truck or hybrid, they don't make sense unless you use them a lot.  places will let you rent them on a weekly basis.  one time, i purchased semen from a distributor and then had it sent to a breeder who through a few in, and then it went to my vet.  got to be careful doing that to make sure they recharge the shipper and ship it so it doesn't sit over the weekend.  even though the shippers say 2 weeks safety, if they aren't charged or sealed perfectly, well, you get the idea.  some delivery companies are bad about letting things sit in the dock over the weekend if they can't get a hold of someone or they run out of time that day.  i hate 4-8 hour windows of hurrying up and waiting.

one reason they are so expensive is their design.  it is mosly illegal to ship liquid nitrogen without a permit, so they designed the vapor shipper as a secondary container in case of damage, the thing will supposedly hold on to the liquid.
I don't know of any vets in my area who have shippers for rent. How would you go about renting a shipper? I have been just driving 6-8 hours when i need to pick up eggs etc. You bring up a great point.
 

DLD

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Apr 15, 2007
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1,539
Location
sw Oklahoma
Money wise, $700 doesn't sound bad. I sold several 10 year old ones to one of the big co-ops for $500 apiece about 4 years ago. I got them because I bought out another small semen distributor a few years before that. At the time, it was ok because I also got a 50,000 unit storage stank, and used some of my standard sized tanks just for nitrogen storage, so that I could pour out of them to charge the shippers. However, as rarely as I actually shipped out semen, and as much as nitrogen was costing me (mostly for the big tank), I found it to be more economical to sell the big tank and shippers and go back to just using standard sized tanks.

I'm with knabe on this one. They're really handy to carry around, IF you have a way to keep them charged up (and in case you're not familiar with them, filling them once does not fully charge them - they need to be filled at least 3 or 4 times over a few hours to become fully charged, if they've been allowed to go dry) -  If not, a smaller standard sized tank is probably your best answer. Also, many embryo techs will tell you that embryos need to stay in a liquid tank - they're going to be more sensitive to the slight increase in temperature. Some folks ship them in vapor shippers, personally I only will if it's been charged several times over at least a 12 hour period until it's saturated to the point that it's holding liquid - even then, the actual liquid will only last a couple of days.

David
 

justme

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Jan 29, 2007
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Location
Missouri
Did you try www.sementanks.com ? Janey had some good prices on semen tanks a while back.
 

knabe

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Feb 7, 2007
Messages
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Location
Hollister, CA
i rented from SEK.  the staff was very aware of what i was trying to do and all the pitfalls.  i think the rental rate is by the week with some slop thrown in.  i also got my semen early, rather than say right now, when the shippers will be in high demand.  the guy i bought semen from, recharged the shipper and waited till monday to ship it.  so it went something like this

sek ships out on tues or wed i forget
next guy receives on thurs.
keeps it over weekend and ships on monday.
my vet gets it and returns shipper which has a return tag which is coordinated by shipper.

i would NEVER ask for a delivery on a friday in case they miss you and always verify the time of day it will arrive if there is more than one choice.  the reason i had the original arrive on thursday was so the next guy wouldn't have to burn so much nitrogen from his place.  he was shocked i was purchasing semen so early.  of course i'm just a hobbyist and am not worried about having heatseeker calves, so i'm not really trying out a bunch of different bulls from a bunch of different places.

i think dl means down low not doctor lady or dragon lady.  she be on the down low with semen inventory.  save some of that for me when i pull my head out.
 
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