Am I ready?

I would use the 40 hour shipping warmers.. hand warmers peak too fast and too hot

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crazymonkee, thank you so much! I did not know that about the hand warmers. Can I get packing warmers in bulk at the UPS office? Or is there somewhere cheaper I can go? I'll need to know this for shipping as well.

Look up LLL reptiles, they sell all shipping supplies
Or ship your reptiles

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Originally Posted by TexanLady

Also, I have a plan in place in case of a major power outage in winter. I have several extra large rubbermaid bins and hundreds of snake bags and hand warmers to keep everybody toasty if I have to pack everybody up if the power goes out for more than a few hours. And yes the rubbermaid bins have holes in them to provide air. Though here in Texas it rarely gets that cold. This year has been a huge exception.

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My electric infrastructure is bad enough that I've been without power for days both in July with 100+ temps, and the winter after an ice storm where the high temp for the day didn't even reach 20*F. I have a generator that will handle all the snake stuff, the wood stove blower, the refrigerators, fans, etc. With the number of snakes you have, if you're feeding f/t you will probably want to get a generator, because bulk f/t rats don't smell too good after four days of no power in July, and homeowner's insurance doesn't cover that loss. Replacing those feeders could cover the cost of the generator.

the re-useable crystallisation hand warmers do heat up very rapidly, but they will peak at 58 degrees celsius (137 degrees fahrenheit).

which is really a bit too hot, but i dont think its quite hot enough to cause a burn. however if you put them in cloth so that there is some thermal insulation around them, then they are fine. they also last longer if you put some insulation around them. useful unique properties are that they are re-useable, they can be reset by cooking them and stored away to be used again later. also they have a maximum temperature that they cannot go above.

with the not re-useable air-triggered heat packs, i dont think there is a clear upper limit on the temperature they reach, they oxidize iron using oxygen from the air. so it depends on how much air they get. and in a small container they could deplete the oxygen.

both have advantages and disadvantages.

if electricity goes out but you still have hot water, you may also consider just making hot water bottles. its a simple solution, you need to replace the water quite often, but it works as long as you still have hot water.

EDIT: oh and you seem to be very ready, many people start breeding with less than 10 BPs, some start with as few as 3 BPs. you have incubators, a hatchling rack, food supplies, and seem to have the money to covere eventualities, i guess that makes you really prepared. also with the nice collection you have, it would be a bit of a shame to not breed them ^^

Thank you all for the advice. Honestly, I'm not all that worried about power outage. I've lived in this area for about twenty years now, and I can only remember two power outages that lasted more than a few hours. I don't think we've ever had a power outage that lasted for more than half a day, and never in winter. And worse case scenario I'd just pack everything up and put it all in the RV. All the frozen rats probably wouldn't fit in the freezer in the RV, but they could go in the fridge and that should keep them cool enough until the power company gets everything back up and running.

I am interested in the different packing warmers. Apparently there is a lot more to them than I originally thought. I'm going to have to look into them more. I don't want to chance burning anybody. One of my red tails is adopted, and he has a very bad burn scar on his head from his previous owner. When I got him he was not tame at all, and I had quite the time treating the wound. He was full grown when I got him, and he tagged me a few times while I was treating him. We're good friends now though, but he does have a wicked feeding response. I tried to get the police to charge his previous owner with animal abuse, but they never did anything. Texas isn't really that big on animal rights sadly. He was severely malnourished when I got him, and that burn on his head was nasty. I spent over a thousand dollars at the vet for him when I adopted him, and since then I am paranoid about my reptiles getting burned.

I am proud of my collection. Very proud. I love my reptiles very much, even if they do terrify my mom. I am equal parts excited and terrified about attempting breeding. My biggest concern out there is how difficult it will be to trade/sell the babies. For you breeders out there, how difficult was it for you to sell your first few clutches? Though, I am really hoping I can trade 90% of my hatchlings for some awesome designer morphs. In your experience am I aiming to high? Is my six year game plan unrealistic based on your experience?

This is what I use for heat packs: http://www.tsksupply.com/40-hour-shipping-warmers/

This should be fine in emergencies, just wrap up the warmer in a towel or something like that so the snakes aren't sitting directly on the warmers.

Thank you for the advice! BHReptiles, thank you for your PM about what your first breeding season was like. It was very helpful.