HELP winter power outage

[tatorger]

Currently sitting in my car with all my snakes trying to keep them warm and ride out a power outage. I live in upstate NY and got hit by a big storm yesterday, powers been out since 11am yesterday. At first the house held heat well didn't drop below 65 until this morning when I woke up to 63 and decided it was time to get the snakes warm one way or another. The power is not expected to come back until 2pm today. ( It's 6:20 am now). Does anyone have any tips ride this out in my car? I'm afraid that I can't properly maintain heat either too hot or too cold in here. I have my laser temp probe and keep checking everything but temps are so inconsistent


Thanks!

[Phillydubs]

Do you have some big blankets or something to insulate ?

what are the snakes being held in now?

[c0r3yr0s3]

Does your car have heated seats?

[tatorger]

I have them all in bags, in a bin lined with towels. I have the heat on but not directly pointed at them. And no heated seats, just the vent heat. The probe is reading the outside of the bags are anywhere between 76-82ish I figure this is ok for now. It's not gonna be hotspot temps but at least the ambient temperature is better than the now 55 in the house. BTW it's 6 bp's and one brb. I'll get pics posted to the forum once we make it through this fiasco

[Phillydubs]

It sounds like you are doing all you can.

Are any stores open locally? Walmart? Something maybe you can drive a bit and get inside.

I’ve also heard people who use those hand warm packs in a pinch.

Maybe check the local gas stations or convenient stores ?

[tatorger]

I ended up just booking a hotel room and snuck them in. My house temp kept dropping it was in the low 50s when I left... I hate that I have to leave them in bags overnight but it's a necessary evil. Hopefully power will be back on tomorrow

[Sonny1318]

I live in Chicago, and we get enough occasional power outages that I have a kit. A cooler ( big enough to hold all my snakes) a bunch of bags and a ton of hand warmers. That’s your best bet for the future, glad you got somewhere safe! A couple of other members on here have similar backup plans.

[Momokahn]

I wrote a post months back on my emergency setup utilizing 12v power packs with an inverter. About 3 weeks ago lost power for 8 hours with 20 mile an hour winds and temps outdoors in the 20's. All 4 of my snakes enjoyed 85 degree temps while the house was in the mid 50's. I've used this setup for decades. Plan B for severe ice storms and extended power outages I hook up my emergency generator.

[tatorger]

Yeah, this is my first outage for more than an hour. So definitely will be setting up an emergency kit for the reptiles. It's something you don't think about until you need it. I'll probably just bite the bullet and get a generator. Luckily I have a natural gas boiler so it doesn't take much energy to run. A cooler is a good idea, you could set up flexwatt and a thermostat hooked to a battery and keep it at perfect temp. I'll have to look into that

[dakski]

It sounds like you are doing all you can.

Are any stores open locally? Walmart? Something maybe you can drive a bit and get inside.

I’ve also heard people who use those hand warm packs in a pinch.

Maybe check the local gas stations or convenient stores ?

Just be careful with the human hand warmer; they can get very hot.

Reptile Basics, and I am sure others, sell the reptile specific heating packs that do not get over 100F.

Even then, I would use them to line the outside of a container and not have the snake touching them directly.

I was literally having my whole house generator put in when the last storm hit and had the same concerns, but luckily, didn't lose power. Now, in addition the whole home generator, I have the reptile heat packs/shipping packs, as a backup.