EVACUATION! What do I do?

I may or may not have to evacuate for hurricane Irene in the next day or two. What should I do with my reptiles if I do?

I have plastic containers for the snakes but only a cardboard shoebox for the gecko. I have a place to go if I have to evacuate, but I'm worried about heating everybody while I'm there. The heat lamps would melt the plastic containers and the heat pads are attached to the bottoms of the tanks.

I'm not going to feed them this weekend in case we do evacuate to avoid a regurg. I'll bring a blanket or something to cover the containers so they feel like it's a hide. Really the only thing I'm worried about is the heat.

Any advice?

omg omg dude.if the place your going is going to have electricity id say get some extra heat pads and take your thermometers and thermostat with you.if thats not possible there are ways to take off the heat pads stuck on your tanks without screwing em up.if all else fells id say get alot of heat packs.

i hope you dont have to evac man that would realllly suck.

You will only have to be evacuated for maybe a few days, they will be fine without heat pads. You could keep the lizard in a plastic food container w/ a few holes in it.

i use a shallow tupperware container filled with hot water & then i put the container into a pillow case & set it into the cage with the warm side hide box ontop. its a super cheap source of emergency heat when the power goes out. you could try that, or heat packs as mentioned.
good luck with whatever you decide to do though & hopefully you wont have to evacuate.

Human heat pads set on the lowest setting are what I use for my travel tubs (tubs I take when going to shows out of town and might buy something). Be sure they don't have an auto off feature though.

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I basically would do the same as mommanessy said only I use pop bottles easier to find. The other thing is make tags with you name and contact info the latin name of the snakes (pythonidae regius) and common name (Ball or Royal python) A good base line temp (84-88 pick one I use 87ºF) noted as safe temp and humidity (60% humidity) And harmless captive bred snake noted in the largest letters. You may not be allowed to take animals with you.

You might also go and contact the DARTS (disaster animal rescue team) before it sets in and check what the emergency provisions are for your area. Can you take animals with you can they go to the shelter? and any advise they have. In my area they are super helpful and if you inform them where they are and what they are they can actually make note of it and make special provisions to keep them nice and comfy during the evac.

They are associated with Hsus but in my area they don't pay any attention to politics of that and just stick to the motto. 'from harm to home'

What i do for travel is buy heat cords/cable wrap them in moist sterilite bins. it provides a good heat source with out burning bins.

Others have given very good advice. If you have a petsmart or petco near you, you might also be able to pick up a couple boxes of reptile heat cable (15-18$ each). One cable will cover the heat for 4 adult tubs.

How about the heating pads to put in gloves & such....it might work but might be out of season for those also...

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

I basically would do the same as mommanessy said only I use pop bottles easier to find. The other thing is make tags with you name and contact info the latin name of the snakes (pythonidae regius) and common name (Ball or Royal python) A good base line temp (84-88 pick one I use 87ºF) noted as safe temp and humidity (60% humidity) And harmless captive bred snake noted in the largest letters. You may not be allowed to take animals with you.

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The place I'm going to is my cousin's house, not a public shelter, so they'll be with me. But that's a good idea to label them anyway just in case I do end up having to leave them behind.

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You might also go and contact the DARTS (disaster animal rescue team) before it sets in and check what the emergency provisions are for your area. Can you take animals with you can they go to the shelter? and any advise they have. In my area they are super helpful and if you inform them where they are and what they are they can actually make note of it and make special provisions to keep them nice and comfy during the evac.

They are associated with Hsus but in my area they don't pay any attention to politics of that and just stick to the motto. 'from harm to home'

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I'll look into that as a backup plan. Thanks.

When my friend had to evacuate because their house caught on fire in December they had to stay in a place with no electricity that was very cold, so she ended up grabbing some of the heaters she used to ship her animals with. I think she wrapped them in a towel and put it under the tubs, and I also remember something about insulating them in some way. It was something about warm water bottles or something.. One of the more sensitive ones she packed up as if she was shipping him for the move over in the snow. It was a ridiculous event. But at least it kept her snakes/geckos/frogs alive in snowy weather! :O

But since you get to be in a place with electricity, sounds like you have a much easier time and some good advice!

Weather channel says not to leave pets behind. Hope you figure something out.

Yea my parents are thinkking about evacuating also o.O my friends down at nyc even said the mta trains aren't going to run after 12 so I guess it seems bad but the weather today is amazing so let's enjoy it and not worry to muchh

im on the southern part of long island. yikes

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Originally Posted by DellaF

Weather channel says not to leave pets behind. Hope you figure something out.

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Screw Weather Channel. If they stay, I stay. I don't trust fate, nature, luck, OR some random rescuer guy with my reptiles, especially since my boa has been biting lately.

I'm also not leaving them here when the flooding could easily reach the cables and everything. I'm not gonna risk them short circuiting or something and catching fire. I'd rather they freeze/drown than burn.

But that part's irrelevant. Like I said, all four of my animals are coming with me. Unfortunately the fish will be on their own if I go, but there's nothing to be done about that.

Always have an emergency supply kit on hand. Insulated boxes, 48 hr heat packs and cold packs , bags or containers. These supplies will generally get you through in a pinch.

you could even use a heated blanket if it had a thermostat. Be safe. It is probably still warm in NY i think you would be fine for a day or two without heat.

just go to walmart and buy hand warmers in the sporting good section. they are cheap and its what most use when shipping animals. just wrap it in a washcloth(dry) and make sure the bin is WELL ventilated since they are oxygen activated. a couple days isnt an issue but if something happens to your house then it may be longer. better to prepare for the worse and hope for the best.
adam jeffery

What I do to transport my snakes, is I made a transportation box. I have some 11" wide flexwatt laid in a cardboard box, which i will plug my Tstat into, and then into a dc/ac converter in my cigarette lighter. Then I just bag everyone and toss them in the box. You don't need to go so overboard, but I have all the parts..so why not? The converter was <20$ from walmart.

Your animals will live. Make sure you bring what YOU need to survive :) I hope everything goes as well as it can.

Well, I ended up not having to evacuate after all. The storm totally chickened out on us. The lights flickered, a stick or something hit the window, and it rained. A lot. That's about it.

But, thank you anyway to everyone who offered their advice! I suppose I'll keep it in mind for future emergencies. Thanks again!

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Originally Posted by SpartaDog

Well, I ended up not having to evacuate after all. The storm totally chickened out on us. The lights flickered, a stick or something hit the window, and it rained. A lot. That's about it.

But, thank you anyway to everyone who offered their advice! I suppose I'll keep it in mind for future emergencies. Thanks again!

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I would def suggest stocking up on emergency supplies for future possibilities

Yeah, an emergency bag is useful for those situations. We have a big dufflebag with pillowcases and small travel tubs for all of our animals. It also has heat packs(like those used for shipping), water bottles, towels and paper towels, small water bowls, and neosporin, with plenty of room for more if we know we are going to be gone for long periods of time and have the time to quickly grab our real heat pads and such. The bag is right beneath the cages, so in an emergency all we have to do is pull out the animals and put them in the tubs to move them, which are right beneath their real tubs. Put them in the bag and we are out of the door in less than a minute with all the supplies we need to last us for a while no matter what situation we are faced with.

The water bottles are there in case we are trapped in a place with no water, and we make sure to use good dechlorinated water for our pacman frog so he doesn't dry out, as well as to use for insulation(much the same way water bottles are used in incubators) if it is freezing and we have no electricity. Heat packs wrapped in towels to separate them from the tubs are there for the same reason, in case we have no options and the cold is reaching dangerous levels!

We've never had to use the bag, thank goodness :D but it's good to know it's there if something did happen(fire, tornado, hurricane, flood, you name it)