Articles on: Breeding & Genetics

Genetics reference: material types, statuses, and shipping

Use this page when a genetics form, item or order shows a label you don't know. Pick the choice that matches the real material and how it is handled, not the one that sounds closest.

Material types

Straws are semen, counted by the straw. A straw can be Conventional, Female sorted, Male sorted or Mixed.
Embryos link a sire and a dam, and can also link a recipient.
Oocytes are unfertilized eggs from a donor female.
Hatching eggs are fertile eggs meant for incubation.
Roe is fish eggs.
Live juveniles are young animals tracked as a count before each gets its own profile.
Other covers material that fits none of these.

Preservation

Frozen, Chilled, Fresh, Live and Ambient describe how the material is kept. Ambient means room temperature.

The form only offers methods that fit the type. Straws, embryos and oocytes can be Frozen, Chilled or Fresh. Hatching eggs are Ambient, and live juveniles are Live. These labels aren't storage advice, so follow the handling steps from the seller or provider.

Inventory status

Every item has one status:

Available: can be listed, sold or used now.
Sold: drawn down by a sale.
Used: drawn down by breeding, transfer, incubation or another use.
Destroyed and Transferred out: other ways material leaves your stock.

Embryos can also be Implanted in recipient, Pregnancy confirmed, Pregnancy failed or Live birth. Hatching eggs can be Incubating, Hatched or Failed to hatch.

On your Genetics list, the status badge shortens three of these: Implanted, Pregnant and Failed hatch. Select a status badge to show every item with that status.

Genetics list with the Status column showing Sold on one straw lot and Available with For sale on another

Other badges you may see:

For sale: the item has an active marketplace listing.
Private: the item isn't shown on public animal profiles.
Receipt pending: you bought it and haven't confirmed you received it yet. You can view it, but you can't use, sell or move it until then.
2 to ship (or another number): you sold units that the buyer is storing with you.

There is no status for units a buyer is paying for. A checkout holds them for a short time, and the item's activity shows Checkout hold placed and Checkout hold released. Returned is an order state, not an inventory status.

Delivery methods

Carrier shipment uses a tracking number.
Pickup and Seller delivery use a handoff confirmation instead.
Storage transfer moves the material into the buyer's storage account without shipping it. See Keep purchased genetics in storage.

Places and containers

Your Locations name the real places you keep material, and each one has a type. Choose from Facility, Tank, Canister, Cane, Goblet, Incubator, Brooder, Pen, Apiary or Other. Locations are private to you.

On a listing, Container required names what the material ships or travels in:

Frozen: Dry shipper (nitrogen vapor), Liquid nitrogen tank / dewar or Insulated cold-chain box.
Chilled or fresh: Insulated chilled box with gel packs or Specialty fresh-material container.
Hatching eggs: Insulated egg shipper, Foam-lined corrugated box or Climate-controlled box.
Live: Climate-controlled live-material container or Insulated transport box.

The Other choice lets the seller describe a different container. Carrier and container costs are arranged with the seller, outside the genetics checkout.

Fees and timing

Buyers pay a service fee on top of the price, and checkout shows the exact amount before you pay. A seller can cover it by turning on Seller covers buyer service fee on the listing. Storage billed by card adds a 5% Creatures service fee.

Creatures holds the buyer's payment until the buyer confirms receipt or a seven-day review window ends. The window starts when the carrier marks the order delivered, or when a pickup or seller delivery is confirmed. For orders other than storage transfers, the payment can also go to the seller 30 days after the buyer paid, whichever date comes first. A buyer who reports a problem before then pauses the payment. The shipping guide has the full steps.

Selling or buying hatching eggs? Egg orders follow their own arrival steps. Those steps, plus packs, extras and NPIP labels, are explained in Sell hatching eggs by the pack and Buy hatching eggs and record their arrival.

Updated on: 29/10/2026

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