No Electricity, 40 degrees, Need Advice!

[Gary2sons]

A combination of being out of town and a huge ice storm has resulted in our 3 corn snakes having to go through some very cold temps. From 40 degrees I raised the temperature up to 55 tonight and thought maybe another 10 degrees tomorrow. They seem OK and I realize in the wild they tolerate even lower temps.

My question is how long should I wait to feed once I get the temps where they should be? Is a couple days enough?

 

[tyflier]

How long have they been subjected to those low temps?

I can't offer you advice, but I am sure there are posts regarding brumation in the breeding section which you might find useful. I would assume that a brief period of brumation is what your snakes have been/are experiencing, with temperatures that low...

Good Luck!

 

[Gary2sons]

Thanks Tyflier, they were in those low temps for only a couple days.

Don't really know if that can be considered brumation since it was a very short time and not planned due to Mother Nature.

 

[grdn1014]

im very confident they will be alright, but to be on the safe side i would feed them a slightly smaller than usual food item the next feeding (on normal schedule) then if they take it without regurge you should be fine to take everything back to normal.

 

[Alien Zulu]

can't really offer any advice but i hope your snakes are ok
good luck!

 

[Droptines]

Your home got down to 40 ??,thats insane.Good luck with everything.This year has gotten off to a VERY screwy start,weather wise.

 

[Blue Apple Herps]

The should be fine. You could always put some blankets over their cage for insulation. But being at those temps for a day or two won't hurt them. Think of the snakes in the wild, they somehow manage.

 

[Rocky Raccoon]

Those little hand warmers might be nice for them to cuddle with, ya know the kind snakes are shipped with.

 

[RavenSkyfire]

I got some of those back heating pain relief thingy's when our power went out last month. Put my snakes in their feeding tubs(only small holding type thing that I had at the time) and stuck those heating things to the bottom of the tub. Worked great. The only problem I had was one of my snakes still regurged because I hadn't been able to get to the store in time to get the heater things(had a 70 foot tree down across my driveway. It was on hell of a wind storm). He's just fine now, eating like a champ again. I think as long as your snakes didn't have food in their bellies, then they should be fine. I would keep an eye on them just in case!

Manda in Seattle

 

[lefty_mussolini]

My question is how long should I wait to feed once I get the temps where they should be? Is a couple days enough?

I would give them at least 2-3 days of warm temps. After that, they should do fine

Those little hand warmers might be nice for them to cuddle with, ya know the kind snakes are shipped with.

I would probably avoid those. The temps of those things get well above 100 degrees.

 

[Derek54]

if the tank is water tight, you can fill the bathtub with warm water, and put the tank in there.

 

[Rocky Raccoon]

I would probably avoid those. The temps of those things get well above 100 degrees.

Don't breeders use these?

 

[lefty_mussolini]

Don't breeders use these?

I never have, nor have I ever heard of it.
I have used them many times to ship with, but they are never right next to the snakes and usually have something in between them and the snake's deli. Remember, our bodies are 98 degrees, so if it feels quite warm to us, it is probably well over that temp.

 

[Gary2sons]

Thanks everyone for the info and support!
The combination of a total power outage plus low temps in the single digits have certainly made me think I should be better prepared next time. The fact we were out of town didn't help the situation. We were lucky to have had only three days without power, some towns were hit even harder by the huge ice storm.

Raised the temps to 75 tonight and the snakes look great!