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# Genetics reference: material types, statuses, and shipping

Use this reference when a genetics form or order uses an unfamiliar label. Choose the term that matches the real material and handling, not the closest sounding option.

## Material and preservation

- **Straws** are semen counted by straw and can be Conventional, Female sorted, Male sorted, or Mixed.
- **Embryos** link a sire and dam and may also link a recipient.
- **Oocytes** are unfertilized eggs from a donor female.
- **Hatching eggs** are fertile eggs prepared for incubation.
- **Roe** is fish eggs.
- **Live juveniles** are young animals tracked as a quantity before individual profiles.
- **Other** covers material that does not fit those choices.

![Material type, preservation, sex sort, and quantity choices](https://cdn-test.creatures.com/ec6/4ab/eae/aadae.png?width=1760)

**Frozen**, **Chilled**, **Fresh**, **Live**, and **Ambient** describe how the material is kept. Ambient means room temperature. Creatures narrows the choices to the selected material type; follow the seller's or provider's handling instructions rather than treating a form label as storage advice.

## Inventory status

![Available, sold, and used counts on a genetic item](https://cdn-test.creatures.com/436/42d/10a/5da25.png?width=1760)

- **Available** can be listed, sold, or used now.
- **Held for buyer** marks material set aside for a buyer. Checkouts can also temporarily reduce the available quantity while payment is in progress.
- **Sold** has been drawn down by a sale.
- **Used** has been drawn down by breeding, transfer, incubation, or another recorded use.
- **Transferred out** and **Destroyed** describe other ways material leaves the inventory.

Embryos can also show implanted, pregnancy confirmed, pregnancy failed, or live birth outcomes. Hatching eggs can show incubating, hatched, or failed to hatch. **Returned** is an order's return state, not a choice in the inventory status field.

## Fulfillment and storage

**Carrier shipment** and **Courier** use tracking. **Pickup** and **Seller delivery** use a handoff confirmation. **Storage transfer** moves custody into a buyer storage account without physically shipping the material.

Inventory locations can mirror a real facility with nested **Facility**, **Tank**, **Canister**, **Cane**, **Goblet**, **Incubator**, **Brooder**, **Pen**, **Apiary**, or **Other** locations. These are private management locations unless a particular page says otherwise.

Common containers include a dry shipper or liquid-nitrogen tank for frozen material, an **Insulated chilled box with gel packs** or **Specialty fresh-material container** for chilled material, an egg shipper for hatching eggs, and a climate-controlled container for live material. Confirm the actual container with the seller or provider because it is arranged outside genetics checkout.

## Fees and order timing

The genetics buyer service fee is 5% unless the seller covers it. Card-billed storage adds a 5% customer service fee. A completed genetics refund returns the amount paid for eligible returned units, including their buyer fee.

Delivery or handoff normally starts a seven-day review window. For orders other than storage transfers, a 30-day deadline from payment also applies, and the earlier deadline wins. Report a delivery problem before release; see the shipping guide for the full timing and confirmation rules.

### Related information

- [Genetics overview](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/genetics-overview-1ddink3/)
- [Managing your Genetic Inventory](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/managing-your-genetic-inventory-1d7rs30/)
- [Shipping and tracking genetic items](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/shipping-and-tracking-genetic-items-1x02ylw/)