When In a PowerOutage. . .

Hey everyone, I don't think I've been on this site a little over half a year. . .

Well, this last weekend Iowa had major poweroutages due to ice storms, some are still without power as I type. . . Luckily my family only went 22 hours without power. . But it did get down to 53 Degrees in the house, I had just fed seether the day before and was worried about temps getting too low.

So, I used some of those heat pads you can buy to relieve back pain to try and help keep him warm, by sticking the to the bottome of his feeding tank which is smaller. And luckily the power came back a few hours after I got the heat pads set up because I don't think those were working as well as I wished they would.

Now, I'm just wondering, What would you guys do if you went through a power outage? I'm guessing most of the Big breeders have some sort of generators..? But for those of us who don't... How would you go about keeping your reptiles warm. . .

And what temp is really too low "dangerous" for our snakes to get below. . .Since he's not in hibernation, it would be lower if he was in hibernation.. correct..?

Our vet office has a candle IN, yes IN thier lizard cage since they are still out of electricity. . . not a good idea IMO.. ..




On a different note, Nice to see everyone again, HI to all the new-comers I haven't met! Oh, and I've had seether 2 years and 2 monthsand I'm proud to say he still has never bit me. lol
We come close at feeding times every now and then tho. . .

Great question. I don't have any answers but I'll definitely keep checking back to see what the regulars have to say about it.
As for the candle, I think that's a big risk!!! What if it gets tipped over??? I would never do something like that.

Hello - welcome back!

I agree that a candle in an animal's cage is a stupid idea - what if the lizard knocks it over? :shrugs:

For short powercuts, I wouldn't worry too much. For very long power cuts, you can sometimes buy heating devices which require hot water instead of electrical heating, but you'd have to look in to that more as I don't know much about them. In extreme situations, I have heard of people putting all their snakes in tubs and lining the tubs up under the covers in the bed

Yea, I wanted to say something to them about the lizard cage, but instead I was just like, "oh. . .I see you still don't have power, you know I used those pain reliever heating pads for my snake. . . "

Yeah, I wouldn't have worried too much about it but they were saying it would be 3 or 4 days until we got our power back, so I was trying to get a head start on keeping seether comfy. .

I keep a few kerosene heaters and 10 gallons of K1 on hand.

You can get reptile/animal specific heat pads that are used for transport..... You can get ones that last up to 72 hours here.
I'm sure there's somewhere in the US that does similar ones.

I've usually imagined that I would just put the snakes in pillowcases and put them between the sheet and the comforter. I would sleep lightly enough in such a situation to make sure I didn't squish them somehow, or I'd put them into some sort of firm-sided container if I were really worried about it.

I can't believe a VET would do such a stupid thing. Well, yes, I guess I have seen a few vets who didn't impress me.

If I lived up north, I would lay in a supply of the heat packs that we use for shipping. You can get them at www.superiorenterprise.com. Once opened, they will last for a day or so, depending on which one you choose. Even if you have a generator, they may come in handy.

If you only have colubrids, you are lucky in that situation. As long as you keep them warm enough to digest their last meal, you can let them get quite chilly if the heat is still off once their stomachs are empty. If you have boas and pythons, you will have to be more exacting in your heating efforts.

If you have several small tubs / shoebox cages with heat packs in them and put them in a small enclosed area, like a large cooler, you should be able to heat up the whole area. If you have many cages, putting them in a closet may do the same thing. Remember that the packs use oxygen, so you need to provide some ventilation. And it is more dangerous to overheat than under heat them, so be careful. But a good supply of the packs should get you through until the power is back on.

I was out for 36 hours. I brought my lizards and a heater to work where there was a generator that works a few outlights. We had several clients want to board various small animals and just set then up in the dental lab. I still could only get it up to 75 but that was better than the 51 it was at my house & everyone seems OK.

I didn't do anything for the snakes except the sick one--I gave her a heat pack.

All of us endotherms stuck it out for the 1st chilly night but on day 2, I took the dogs to the kennel (no heat in the kennel but I put 4 to a cage & lots of blankets) and the birds to my parents' since their power was on. Then the power came on around 8pm, so the dogs actually did have a warm night (& I had room in my bed!)