are my snakes going to die?

So I'm in CT and haven't had power for 24 hrs. We have no idea how long it will take them to get it back on. This freak snow storm with its super heavy snow caused the trees to break/uproot from the ground. The leaves hadn't finished falling off so the limbs were extra heavy and the ground wasn't frozen yet to help support the trees so that's why we have so many trees down. Power could be on today or over a week from now. It was 23 degrees last night.

We got a genny running but its only able to make the room warm up to 74 and its a 1000 watt genny but an older one. No flex is running as then the herpstats would need juice also. The temps have been DANGEROUSLY scary low.. the room last night was 69! My fiance is goin to get lotsssss of 10hr hand warmers. I'm putting several snakes together in small groups in pillow cases I'm hopes that w several hand warmers in several tubs will keep the area warmer vs one or two in each tub. I have nothing else I can do. I've cried a few times being worried about them. We don't even have our fridge plugged in to the genny as we want as much juice to the heater in my snake room as possible.

I have no way of bringing them to anyone's house as most ppl I'm around are sickened by the thought of them and more than 1/2 the state is w/o power.

My questions are has anyone went through anything like this before w/o sickness/death? What are their chances? we went thru almost 40 in gas in one day! I'm so worried!! I don't have the cash for up to 2 wks of this!

Thought about even putting them in my car w the heater blasting but realistically I can't run my car for days on end.

:(

Ps cell is dying.. ill chk back when I.can

Herpstats won't work on a generator unless it's a very expensive top of the line generator, which I found out the hard way during Irene....the herpstat will turn on and turn the flexwatt on but it will allow the flexwatt to get dangerously hot.

I suggest using those hand warmers, however, make sure they are on the outside of the tub, they can get very hot and do contain chemicals that may not be good for the snake to come into contact with. I used them when I lost power for 3 days during Irene. You can use more than one to at least get the temps up to 85 or 90. Good luck, I feel your pain :(

Don't worry, I really don't think they'd die even if they remained in the 74 degree ambient temp room...

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Originally Posted by LGray23

Don't worry, I really don't think they'd die even if they remained in the 74 degree ambient temp room...

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Agreed. We lost power last winter for almost a week. We have a small natural gas heater in the bathroom so we were able to keep the temps in the low 70's and they did just fine. Not ideal, but it happens and all you can do is hope for the best.

I would try to make a tent out of blankets or something, around the snakes, an use hand warmers from the pharmacy. The 'tent' will help trap the escaping heat, even if only a little.

Try to find a small generator, just enough to run one heater in one room would be enough!
Good luck!

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Originally Posted by filly77

So I'm in CT and haven't had power for 24 hrs. We have no idea how long it will take them to get it back on. This freak snow storm with its super heavy snow caused the trees to break/uproot from the ground. The leaves hadn't finished falling off so the limbs were extra heavy and the ground wasn't frozen yet to help support the trees so that's why we have so many trees down. Power could be on today or over a week from now. It was 23 degrees last night.

We got a genny running but its only able to make the room warm up to 74 and its a 1000 watt genny but an older one. No flex is running as then the herpstats would need juice also. The temps have been DANGEROUSLY scary low.. the room last night was 69! My fiance is goin to get lotsssss of 10hr hand warmers. I'm putting several snakes together in small groups in pillow cases I'm hopes that w several hand warmers in several tubs will keep the area warmer vs one or two in each tub. I have nothing else I can do. I've cried a few times being worried about them. We don't even have our fridge plugged in to the genny as we want as much juice to the heater in my snake room as possible.

I have no way of bringing them to anyone's house as most ppl I'm around are sickened by the thought of them and more than 1/2 the state is w/o power.

My questions are has anyone went through anything like this before w/o sickness/death? What are their chances? we went thru almost 40 in gas in one day! I'm so worried!! I don't have the cash for up to 2 wks of this!

Thought about even putting them in my car w the heater blasting but realistically I can't run my car for days on end.

:(

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Do you have a nearby WalMart or D|CKS's Sporting Goods where you can get a few Coleman propane lamps?

They really put out heat along with light.

One sitting beside of you will make your face hot.

I hope they get your power back on soon.

[for years I've gone through a similar situation with a generator and a 40 gallon aquarium...I sit in the dark & cold but the fish have filtration and heat]

Now, I've the snakes to worry about, too.

:-\

Sounds like one of those perfect instances when you'd be thankful to have kept one of those styrofoam coolers that you get when someone sends you steaks in the mail.

Punch a few holes in the top, put the snakes in some pillowcases in the cooler and suspend a hand warmer or two from the lid (so they arent in contact with the animals) and let them ride out the power outage in an "igloo"

Do you have hot water? You can fill water bottles with hot water, put them in a sock so the snakes don't have direct contact, then put that with the snakes in a cooler. Obviosly keep an eye on the temps. I pray you get your power back soon. I live in MA and half my city lost power, I was fortunate not to. Good luck

Ok so I decided on leaving everyone in their own tubs, the less tresses the better. I put 2 hand warmers in each tub but put each one in a sock tied at the ends so they can't touch it and it will muffle the heat. Is that good? As for chemicals I looked at ingredients and they don't seem harmful and ppl use them to ship.. Im assuming they are the same as the reptile ones. ??

I do have a tent over their racks, funny u said that cuz I just did it. so when the heat rises from the heater it will hopefully slow down the rising of the heat, trapping it a little.

I am sooooo happy to learn some of you have went thru similar situations. It makes me feel a little more at ease.

And the styro cooler idea.. would that work? I have 9 balls, would I need 2 or 3 coolers if I need to go that rout? Or put them all in one? Where would I find them at this time of year?

Again.... Thank you everyone its a bigggg load off my chest!

Still wondering if I should take the hand warmers out of the tubs n place them on the sides... Cuz like I said when snakes r shipped they r in a small box with them w news paper between them.. hmmmm opinions pls n Ty :)

I'm going through it right now hope they make it I had to move them to my moms house.


1.0 pastel
0.1 female normal
1.0 pinstripe
0.1 het albino
0.1 chocolate
0.1 spider
1.0 yellow belly
1.0 black pastel

even if you could stabilize temps at 65-70 you would be good for a few days to a week.
think about in the wild when they go underground a few feet. usually underground teh temps stabilize at about 65-70 depending on depth. just heat it the best you can. dont worry about hot spots as long as you can get it to a comfortable 65-70 i would have no worries
adam jeffery

The hand warmers should be ok. See if you can find heat packs for shipping animals, they can last for 48 hours and are non toxic. 70 degrees in the room isn't too bad. As far as generators the digital t-stats don't work but a ranco or johnson would work fine. Best of luck.

Another good idea is to use a space blanket! We were without power for a few days when Irene went through and as soon as it happened we wrapped the tub my boa was in with a space blanket, and it stayed about 80 the whole time. If you make a tent out of one I bet you could only turn the generator on every once in a while to bump the heat back up again. :)

We had a similar circumstance just last week. I had to bite the bullet and went out and got a propane heater just for the snake room. I picked one up from Home Depot for $80 and the 1lb. propane tanks are only $5 for 2 of them at Walmart. Luckily our power came back on but now we have it if we need it.

And we are due to get some more snow Tues night.............

I do have 2 of those emergency blankets on the back part of their racks. I really should get some more, I have fleece blankets over the fronts w like an awning hanging over the front so the blankets will catch the heat. I used my temp gun on the hand warmers and its reading around 87 so, so far temps from.them aren't too hot. But ill keep a close eye on them.

And marriedtothegame.. good luck to your snakes. I see you're in waterbury. Glad your mom let you bring them there. My mom hatesss my snakes but she would let me bring them to her place except she lives 2 states away. Im in Southington BTW :) . Hopefully cl&p will get enough help to get us up and running again fast.

Again.. Ty everyone. This forum is the greatest!

Someone should put together a sticky on a what to do if you lose power. I'm in Minnesota and a list of things to have would be great.

Buy a Generator

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

Buy a Generator

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We have one up n running, says it handles 1000 watts but it doesn't, better than nothing tho. Costing 40 a day in gas ugh I hate being poor lol

Space blanket, down comforters, fleece blankets over the tanks/racks. The hot water bottles aren't a bad idea if you can swing it, just make sure the animals have a gradient so they can figure out on their own how close they want to be. I wouldn''t pack them in pillow cases, so that they CAN thermoregulate as needed---remember too hot is more dangerous that 60F temps. I would let them room together until the power is back on. They'll pile together naturally, and that will help them hold their heat.

If you can keep it in the upper 60s, they'll be fine. Keep an eye on them for upper respiratory infections afterwards, especially if the temps drops lower than that, and be ready to quarantine them if they shows signs of sickness. But 60s won't kill them outright.

I use a propane camp stove to heat water, and place a warm (apx. 100 deg. F) 2 ltr bottle in each enclosure plus wrapping them in blankets . I reheat once they drop to 70.

WE GOT POWER!!! YAY thank goodness n a huge Ty for everyones advice!

Ummm....
I'm glad that you've got power back on, but I noticed something not mentioned in this thread....
No, the heat packs aren't toxic, BUT they DO use the oxygen available to generate the heat through oxidation. The hotter the pack, the more oxygen that will be used. Air holes are MANDATORY in whatever you choose to use them in! The best bet is to use them outside the tub.
Sorry, I just felt the need to clarify that. :gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mikeandsheleen

Ummm....
I'm glad that you've got power back on, but I noticed something not mentioned in this thread....
No, the heat packs aren't toxic, BUT they DO use the oxygen available to generate the heat through oxidation. The hotter the pack, the more oxygen that will be used. Air holes are MANDATORY in whatever you choose to use them in! The best bet is to use them outside the tub.
Sorry, I just felt the need to clarify that. :gj:

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Yeah that is a good point to make clear for people. And trust me I have many holes in my tubs :)

<-- doing happy dance!

Happy for u we got ours back on too. I'm doing the happy dance with u lol!!!!


1.0 pastel
0.1 female normal
1.0 pinstripe
0.1 het albino
0.1 chocolate
0.1 spider
1.0 yellow belly
1.0 black pastel

I put all my snakes into the incubator and fill the incubator with hot water bottles when our power goes out. You could do the same thing in a cooler or something of that sort. As long as you have a gas water heater you can keep your snakes warm easy and for free. Hand warmers get dangerous hot and can give off toxic fumes. I prefer hot water in bottles because they can go in an inclosed area like a cooler or incubator. Otherwise, if you only have a few snakes put them in a box like you would if you were shipping them with hand warmers taped to the top. I used to keep extra shipping boxes around for just that reason, but now I have far too many snakes for that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mikeandsheleen

Ummm....
I'm glad that you've got power back on, but I noticed something not mentioned in this thread....
No, the heat packs aren't toxic, BUT they DO use the oxygen available to generate the heat through oxidation. The hotter the pack, the more oxygen that will be used. Air holes are MANDATORY in whatever you choose to use them in! The best bet is to use them outside the tub.
Sorry, I just felt the need to clarify that. :gj:

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I didn't know that, thanks for the heads up!