Worried about Power Outage

We have a LOT of snow here and many people are without power and the power companies are saying it will take a couple days to fix. I am worried about my power, what do I do with all the animals if my power goes out. The animals I'm worried the most about are my snakes, lizards, turtles and fish. Anyone have any ideas how to keep everyone warm and my fish alive if the power goes out?

This is purely hypothetical on my part vis a vis reptiles, but there was someone else posting about this just yesterday & the experts said hot packs (search on "college emergency" -- I think that was the thread title).

Vis a vis fish, if you have some way to generate hot water that doesn't require electricity, you keep dipping out a little water from the aquarium & heating it to warmish to your fingers, then pouring it back into the aquarium. Repeat as needed to maintain a safe temp. My tanks survived a 3 day power outage thanks to a woodstove. This was back in the 70s when I kept fish.

uh heat pack warmers the kind you can buy and put in your pockets... thats for the reptiles. and get a few moisture tablets as well.

ummm for the fish nothing you can really do, except change the water if it gets murky....

no need to worry unles your power goes out for awhile.....

the turtles do the same thing change the water and get a heat pack...

hopefully your power wont go out but those are some ideas if it does go out.

I don't have any heat packs and the stores are closed today. I'm not so worried about the temperature of the fish tanks so much as the filter and air not running. I have my fingers crossed that our power doesn't go out but I'm still worried.

We've got a LARGE battery that can be charged in a house outlet or by the car (cigerette lighter plug in) that we used to power the filters for the tanks(power hasn't gone out since I've kept reptiles, but I've always had fish) and a space heater for us....not constantly...but more like we'd run them for a couple hours at time.
When I lived at home,one winter the power went out...this was before the battery. We had a large pot of hot water on the wood stove with 2L pop bottles full of water in them. We put the bottles in the tanks once they were hot, and wrapped blankets around the tanks to try to keep the heat in. We rotated the bottles out of the tanks as they cooled down, and managed to keep the tanks at 70*F. It was very cold in the fish room. We did a few very small but frequent water changes to keep the water clean.

Move the reps to the bathroom, and fill the tub with hot water... This should be able to control the ambiant air temps for a while... Make sure the door is closed and something tucked under the bottom of the door.. This should help some, unless your like me, and have no water when the power goes out, thanks to being on well water.. I hope this helps you out..

Regards.. Tim of T and J

PS..

I do keep a small coleman propane heater around, but you need to be really careful due to carbon monoxie issues, which does become a seriously, and potenial side affect at times causing death.. I realize at this point you can;t really get your hands on one of them, but it might be a idea for a backup..

I don't have any suggestions, but I'll be hoping for you that your power stays on. I definitely know the feeling, and it's one of the worst feelings in the world to have your power go out in freezing temps... especially when you have reptiles to worry about!

Iguanagirl8662 said:

I don't have any heat packs and the stores are closed today. I'm not so worried about the temperature of the fish tanks so much as the filter and air not running. I have my fingers crossed that our power doesn't go out but I'm still worried.

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well next time the store is open go get some. and if your power goes out you wont have hot water... so make sure u get heat packs and a heater. propane or space heater.

TandJ said:

Move the reps to the bathroom, and fill the tub with hot water... This should be able to control the ambiant air temps for a while... Make sure the door is closed and something tucked under the bottom of the door.. This should help some, unless your like me, and have no water when the power goes out, thanks to being on well water.. I hope this helps you out..

Regards.. Tim of T and J

PS..

I do keep a small coleman propane heater around, but you need to be really careful due to carbon monoxie issues, which does become a seriously, and potenial side affect at times causing death.. I realize at this point you can;t really get your hands on one of them, but it might be a idea for a backup..

Click to expand...

Thanks Tim, that would help till the hot water heater is empty then it would be cold water.

I think the worst is over now. It has stoped snowing and the wind is not blowing as hard so hopefully nothing will happen. We do have a propane heater in the family room but it doesn't make much of a difference considering there is no door to close to keep the heat in that one room.

We never get power outage more than an hour and we never get snow like this so I was not prepared but from now on I will have heat packs. I'd rather have them and not need them then not have them and need them.

Thanks everyone for your help.