Help with a frozen BP

Besides telling him to warm up the snake and observe and wait, what can a vet do but charge him an arm and a leg? The damage is done, it's not like a dose of antibiotics is gonna clear things up. If the snake won't drink and becomes dehydrated, I would gavage some electrolyte, but if it comes to that the prognosis is very poor anyways. Keep it warm, and see what happens, but 24 degrees for that long may be past the point of no return. More than likely much internal tissue and nerve damage and the only thing to give it is time. Just my .02

Don't give up hope though, it seems BP's can survive some pretty harsh circumstances. For instance, I found a BP at a drive thru at a Hardee's one fall night in Ohio, about 35 degrees out, that looked like someone stabbed it with a knife in the belly. (obviosly an escaped or discarded pet)I took it home, warmed it up, opened up the 2 inch incision and there didn't see any bleeders so I sutured it up, applied some neosporin, and the snake came through without a hitch and barely a scar. Made a friend of mine a great pet and he still has it to this day. In fact, the snake was so adorable, it's what got me into BP's from that day on.

This is one of my biggest concerns since we lose power a lot during ice storms or heavy snow. I don't use racks for my snakes but I think I am going to get some small tubs with lids (one for each snake) that they can comfortably fit in, but will be easy enough to heat with those handwarmer heater packs. I have been looking into a generator for some time now also, now I have one more incentive to buy it!

I have a generator, but I would still need to notice that the power was off. I looked into a automatic one, and it was about $4,000.00, including instalation. Fortunatly, the flexwatt is such a low draw that it barely figures into the wattage math. The one I have is 6000 watts with a 8000 watt surge. That sounds like a lot, but it takes 1800 to start the compressor on the fridge. Plus if I spent all that on an automatic generator, what would I use to buy snakes? :D

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Originally Posted by Jahbeard

I have a generator, but I would still need to notice that the power was off. I looked into a automatic one, and it was about $4,000.00, including instalation. Fortunatly, the flexwatt is such a low draw that it barely figures into the wattage math. The one I have is 6000 watts with a 8000 watt surge. That sounds like a lot, but it takes 1800 to start the compressor on the fridge. Plus if I spent all that on an automatic generator, what would I use to buy snakes? :D

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but if all your snakes get sick because of power being out for a week and you have lots of vet bills, what money will you have for new snakes? be sure you can protect what you already have before you add more

If you have any gas running to your house, a simple wall mount gas heater is great. keeps temps and humidity up, and is foolproof. Bout 200$. Plenty good for keeping a room(or most of a house) at 85 degrees till the electric is restored, and a heck of alot cheaper than a 4000$ generator. BTW, installing a generator is mega simple. A male to male cord plugged into any outlet powers your whole house!!!

I was just wondering, what a vet would do in this situation..
That is an awesome idea about the heat packs, Aleesha..!

I have a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) that will keep the cage going for several hours, and a couple tubs with ski-glove handwarmers handy IOE.

Sorry about the snake, I hope everything works out. I agree, I'm not sure what a vet will do besides check for and RI...

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Originally Posted by PythonFan8

That is a terrible thing to let happen to your snake. I would recommend next time put a thick blanket over her cage and maybe put her into a container with a small water bowl and hide and put her cage near a gas fireplace or a natural/gas heat source that doesn't need any electricity. As for the health, I dont know if your snake is fine. I do know they sometimes get so cold that they cant move certain parts of their body for a long period of time and they recover over time. I dont know much from waht you said though and i still recommend you take your snake to a vet as soon as possible.

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calm down buddy, it could have very well happened to you also.

I'd like to hear the outcome here. We lost power for 36 hours last month due to an ice storm. Fortunately, a friend with power was able to take my snake in. But the experience got me thinking--and worrying.

well i wish you the best of luck. I dont worry about this problem very much. I live in FL, so we usually complain that the AC is off when the power goes out. lol.