Evacuation/emergency plan for reptiles

I live in California where our wildfire risk is very high. I am not impacted by the fires that are currently burning (other than the terrible air quality from the smoke), but it still got me thinking about what I would do if my town were to burn. I thought I'd reach out to see what types of plans everyone else has in place to protect their reptiles in the event of an emergency. We're very small scale at our house with just one ball python and one leopard gecko - my plan involves unplugging our ball python's Tstats/heat mats and grabbing his plastic tub on my way out the door. My leopard gecko is in a glass terrarium, so I have a separate small plastic tub with a basic set up for him. I would just grab him out of his terrarium and put him in his tub. I don't however have a supply/first aid kit ready to go for them, so that's next on my list to prepare. Does anyone have any suggestions on other ways to be prepared or things I can pack in a "go bag" for my reptile babies? Thanks!

I would say some bottled water (everyone can use water) and some 40 hour shipping heat packs in case you need them. Also maybe a pillowcase because it folds up small but if needed could temporarily hold your snake or gecko while you clean their tubs. If you don't have one already, a digital temp gun could be very useful for everything from is my car too hot/cold to is my portable uth dialed in right on this thermostat? Bowls, hides and substrates are easy to substitute so really just a regulated heat source and a safe, escape-proof tubs top the list for me.

Honestly, a reptile first aid kit would be fairly easy I would think. Off the top of my head:
-Non steroidal/no painkiller antibiotic ointment
-gauze
-cotton swabs
-Chlorhexidine or iodine for possible soaks and wound flushing
-Sterile Saline or bottled water for wound or eyeflushes
-tweezers/hemostats/tongs
-vitamin/calcium powder for the gecko
-some info for exotic vets nearby

A small makeup or carry bag should cover these and fit in the gecko's spare tub so you don't forget to grab that too.

I actually need to go through and update my own plans and such since I expanded my scaley children so much this year. Just in case of a major quake. Thankfully I am a bit away from fire prone areas.
Thank you for the reminder!

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Originally Posted by Tila

40 hour shipping heat packs in case you need them.

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And a reminder to be careful if you do need them! They can reach 100 degrees so be careful not to overheat your babies as well.

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Originally Posted by Armiyana

Honestly, a reptile first aid kit would be fairly easy I would think. Off the top of my head:
-Non steroidal/no painkiller antibiotic ointment
-gauze
-cotton swabs
-Chlorhexidine or iodine for possible soaks and wound flushing
-Sterile Saline or bottled water for wound or eyeflushes
-tweezers/hemostats/tongs
-vitamin/calcium powder for the gecko
-some info for exotic vets nearby

A small makeup or carry bag should cover these and fit in the gecko's spare tub so you don't forget to grab that too.

I actually need to go through and update my own plans and such since I expanded my scaley children so much this year. Just in case of a major quake. Thankfully I am a bit away from fire prone areas.
Thank you for the reminder!

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Would that be a lot of extra stuff for the "in case" scenarios? In the event of needing to evacuate could you drive far enough away to have access to unaffected towns and maybe there purchase things such as gauze if needed? Table salt (which is free in many public places) and (clean) water can be used to flush a wound (if really necessary) to clean and kill bacteria but hopefully nothing so dire would happen to the pets in their temporary homes on the way to a safer place.

Also, I totally agree with the warning about the 40 hour heat packs which is one of many reasons why I think a temp gun should be part of the emergency pack.

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Originally Posted by jensfireflies

I live in California where our wildfire risk is very high. I am not impacted by the fires that are currently burning (other than the terrible air quality from the smoke), but it still got me thinking about what I would do if my town were to burn....

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You're all in my thoughts there in California...lived many years in So-Cal before I finally moved to another state. Wildfires got too close for comfort twice while I lived
there...I kept pillow cases or "snake bags" with twist wires & rubber bands (for closure) at each of my numerous snake enclosures...in a panic, you don't want to have
to look for such things. Also kept large ice chests on hand to carry bagged snakes & to help moderate temps. (either hot or cold). Very smart of you to think this way,
but I so hope you never need to do this.

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Originally Posted by Tila

Would that be a lot of extra stuff for the "in case" scenarios? In the event of needing to evacuate could you drive far enough away to have access to unaffected towns and maybe there purchase things such as gauze if needed? Table salt (which is free in many public places) and (clean) water can be used to flush a wound (if really necessary) to clean and kill bacteria but hopefully nothing so dire would happen to the pets in their temporary homes on the way to a safer place.

Also, I totally agree with the warning about the 40 hour heat packs which is one of many reasons why I think a temp gun should be part of the emergency pack.

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It may not be a lot of extra stuff depending on the situation. Within 1 year, here in WV we had a derecho (big wind storm) knock out power in a good portion of the state for a week. 6 months later Hurricane Sandy dumped 2 foot of snow in my area and more in others and knocked out power for nearly 2 weeks in most of the state. Most stores were closed during both of those instances. It’s always better to be prepared. (And I’m not completely prepared even after going through both of those LOL)


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Originally Posted by Tila

Would that be a lot of extra stuff for the "in case" scenarios?

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They specifically mentioned a first aid kit for the reptiles.
There's a couple that are for the reptiles only, but a few of these items are already in human first aid kits to begin with. So saving space maybe just bundle them together for grab and go.

Plus, sure, you may be able to drive off a bit, but I would want to be prepared for any possible injuries and such. For example, one of my geckos and one of my snakes are housed in exo-Terras. Having some wound treatment available in case of shattered glass from an earthquake would be important for me.

Thanks for mentioning earthquakes: I went thru some big ones when I lived in So Cal, & one thing that REALLY helped was putting rubber weather-stripping
on the bottom edges of all my tanks. It comes in various sizes, in flat rolls with one side that is self-adhesive, peel off. You can use on any kind of cage, not
only tanks, to create the needed air gap for UTH also, but what it does superbly is keep your cages from sliding off & crashing to the floor. Seriously, not one
of my heavy glass tanks was ever damaged, & I lived close to at least one epicenter. Very inexpensive way to prevent a cage from sliding...any hardware or
home improvement store sells it.

I actually have something similar under them already for that same purpose :gj:
We've been lucky enough where I am that the last few quakes have been light, worse that happened was a monitor on my desk fell over. I just hope that I don't have to test everything anytime soon.
And I hope Jensfireflies doesn't need to put things to the test either!