TLDR: Shipping live bait safely
You can ship live bait safely by using a breathable container (when necessary) filled with a few inches of bedding, such as peat moss or shredded paper. For temperature control, use an insulated box with a robust liner like CelluLiner or PopupLiner, which ensures both insulation and enough breathability. To maintain ideal temperatures, include gel packs to offset high temperatures or heat packs during colder months. This combination minimizes stress on live bait and maximizes survival rates during shipping.
Need expert advice or insulation solutions tailored to your shipping needs? Talk to us today to find the perfect thermal packaging for your live bait business.
Introduction to shipping live bait
The two most common types of live bait are earthworms and mealworms. Mealworms thrive in temperatures between 65°F and 82°F, while earthworms prefer a slightly cooler range of 55°F to 80°F. When shipping live bait, the key factors to ensure their survival are proper breathability, adequate bedding, and effective temperature control.
Breathability
Ensuring proper airflow for mealworms is critical when shipping live bait. Adequate breathability prevents suffocation and helps keep the bait alive throughout transit. Using breathable containers or liners designed for breathability allows oxygen to circulate while keeping the bait secure.
Primary Container:
The most used container for shipping live bait is the deli container with small holes in the lid to allow for airflow. In some cases, breathable cloth tops are added to further enhance oxygen exchange, ensuring the bait remains healthy during transit. Leave ¼ to ⅓ of space unused within the primary container to allow for aeration.
CelluLiner
Our Curbside recyclable insulated box liners can ship refrigerated shipments up to 72 hours and frozen shipments with dry ice for up to 48 hours.
Gel Packs
Our high-performance gel packs keep your product cold in transit. We offer a wide variety of sizes made with tough puncture resistant and recyclable plastics
Insulation for Shipping Live Bait:
Insulation plays a dual role in shipping live bait: maintaining stable temperatures while allowing for adequate oxygen exchange. While airtight seals are often used for temperature control, they can restrict airflow, which is essential for live bait. Insulated box liners like CelluLiner strike a balance by including small punctures that off-gas byproducts from live bait, ensuring both temperature stability and breathability.
Bedding
Bedding provides stability, comfort, and moisture retention for live bait during shipping by acting as a buffer, reducing stress caused by movement or temperature changes. Materials like peat moss or shredded paper are ideal for maintaining a safe and supportive environment.
General rule of thumb is to have an equal weight of bedding to live bait i.e. half pound of worms need a half pound of bedding. Make sure the bedding is moist but not wet.
Temperature Control for Shipping Live Bait
Maintaining the right temperature is essential for the survival of live bait. Using gel packs in warmer conditions or heat packs during colder months ensures the bait remains within its optimal temperature range, reducing the risk of spoilage or death.
Temperature
Mealworms thrive in temperatures of 65°F–82°F, while earthworms prefer a slightly cooler range of 55°F–80°F. Maintaining these ideal conditions requires careful consideration of external temperatures along the transport route. This can be challenging to manage at scale without the right software or logged data. Many shippers simplify the process by creating seasonal profiles, such as a “summer” profile and a “winter” profile.
- Winter Profile: Insulation or heat packs are used to prevent temperatures from dropping below 55°F, especially during freezes.
- Summer Profile: Gel packs are essential for bringing temperatures down to safe levels in hot conditions.
Gel packs and heat packs are most effective when paired with a high-quality insulator to retain their temperature-regulating effects. We recommend robust liners with thicker walls, such as CelluLiner or PopupLiner, which provide reliable temperature control for 24–96 hours, ensuring live bait remains safe throughout transit.
Time in Transit
The duration of transit plays a crucial role in determining the type of insulator, its thickness, and the quantity of gel packs or heat packs required. Longer transit times demand more robust insulation and an increased number of gel or heat packs to maintain stable temperatures throughout the journey. Proper planning ensures that live bait remains in optimal conditions, even during extended shipping periods.
Testing
Part of the planning process is testing. Testing should include the actual payload, packaging configuration, and environmental conditions to ensure the packaging solution provides sufficient thermal protection. Using temperature loggers will help you get a sense of the outcome of your pack out mix (insulation, gel packs, box size, dunnage, etc.,).
Conclusion
Shipping live bait successfully requires tailored solutions to protect each product’s unique characteristics. Using professional-grade materials and packaging expertise can make all the difference.
Consult our packaging experts today to find the best solutions for your liquid shipping needs.
