What to do in an emergency??

I am yet to get a ball python... and was wondering, what do i do if a disaster strikes? Like if there is an earthquake and the power goes out, should I stock up on little heat packs? I was just wondering, and, California is ofter liable to earthquakes..:tears:

You could invest is a back up power source. Small gas generators will work for long power outages. For short ones you won't need to worry about it.
Also your in ca so if it's warm if I had to I'd bag everyone up and go outside.



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Just buy like 5 48hr heat packs. You sould be good. Buying a generator for one pet snake seems a little silly imo :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

You could invest is a back up power source. Small gas generators will work for long power outages. For short ones you won't need to worry about it.
Also your in ca so if it's warm if I had to I'd bag everyone up and go outside.



Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

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X2. The power goes out in my apartment all time. it's only for about 30 mins at a time though, so when it went out in winter, I put my snake under my shirt with a blanket on top. haha I know this wouldn't work for multiple snakes but it worked for one.

It's not like the second the power goes out the temp plummets to freezing temps. It's not always so warm in Africa, they have a winter (not to much of one compared to other places) there too. If the power goes out for a few hours they should be fine. A couple of days would be a bit more alarming You could always box them up, get in the car and turn the heater on, or like someone else suggested go outside with them if it's warm enough. Although if it's that warm outside and you don't have power to run your ac, it's going to be that warm inside :D

I only have 8 snakes that are housed in one snakeroom. I live in Michigan so in the event that power goes out in the winter months - I got a propane heater that works indoors. I also keep the heatpacks on hand for short power outages.

Being a snake keeper - you always have to think ahead and be as prepared as possible for any situation. Just do the best you can.

If all else fails, pack them up and go to a friend or family member that has power.

I live in central Florida, so the threat of week(s) long power outages due to hurricanes is very real...

I have a back up generator, but my proportional thermostats won't run on the "dirty" power that generators produce. So along with the generator I have some cheap hydrofarm (on/off style thermostats) that will work on the power created by the generator.

For winter power outages, I have a portable generator to power my thermostats and the space heater in my snake room. I also have a back-up propane space heater. As a last resort, I have some hand warmers, and I could always move them into my living room, near the fireplace.

The other big contingency that I plan for is hurricanes. If we aren't going to take a direct hit, I will just stay and ride out the storm. I don't worry much about summer power outages because it won't get cold enough to harm them. I just make sure that I don't feed them before a hurricane, that way they won't be trying to digest should the power go out.
If we are going to take a direct hit, like we did last year, I just pack everybody in tubs, a few Under Tank Heaters, a thermostat, water bowls, and I evacuate them with me to a hotel, usually in Raleigh.

I have a gas hotwater heater so when I loose power I use hot water bottle in my enclosures usually get 4-5 hours at 75-85 out of a 2 litter bottle in my enclosures works in an emergency. I have also use hand warmers under my enclosures once or twice :)

Thanks you guys! I will only have one snake so I think I will buy some heat packs. Though I would probably get some kind of generator if I had more.

Honda generators produce pure seine wave power this is what is needed for most electronics and T-stats I believe they are the only ones that do.

At the other end of the generator spectrum, they make cheap portable generators designed for the camper or sportsman. They are only about $200 and crank out 1500 or 2k continuous watts. I looked into one of the nicer $800 generators right before the hurricane hit but thought I'd give my sportsman one a shot.

We lost power for 4 or 5 days during during one of the hurricanes last year and it kept my incubator, fridge, freezer, and heat sources running during the day. At night, we put dry ice in the freezer and fridge. All the animals (and our food) made it out fine.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Honda generators produce pure seine wave power this is what is needed for most electronics and T-stats I believe they are the only ones that do.

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Even with those, the sinwave is a little off. I have one and hooked it up to my oscilloscope and compared it to the grid power sinwave. While it is close enough that a proportional thermostat will work I'm afraid that the output will be off. This is because the triac (the electrical component responsible for "dimming" the power output) uses the AC sinwave at the core of its operation. (I could get technical but there really is no need)

Now would I run my proportional thermostats off one for an afternoon? Sure

But I wouldn't want to run them for an extended period of time.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

I live in central Florida, so the threat of week(s) long power outages due to hurricanes is very real...

I have a back up generator, but my proportional thermostats won't run on the "dirty" power that generators produce. So along with the generator I have some cheap hydrofarm (on/off style thermostats) that will work on the power created by the generator.

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I had the same problem but found a really easy solution. Just plug the generator into a large UPS. (Like an APC SmartUPS or one of the larger APC standing ones) This lets you use your real thermostats and not have to worry about changing things around.

Back to the OP's problem, I'm actually suggesting the exact same thing. Get a UPS. For you a SmartUPS is probably overkill, but APC has some smaller ones that will do the job really well. I have an APC Smart-UPS 1500 and it can run my server rack (About 10 servers each with triple-redundant power supplies) for a couple of hours. A good one should be able to heat your snake for at least a couple of days.

Don't forget that temperatures don't need to be perfect in an emergency. Snakes are pretty resilient, and they will survive while you sort things out. Your temps can even be ±5-10 degrees for a few hours, maybe even a day and your snake will be fine. I would still recommend a UPS though, just to be on the safe side.

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Originally Posted by apple2

I had the same problem but found a really easy solution. Just plug the generator into a large UPS. (Like an APC SmartUPS or one of the larger APC standing ones) This lets you use your real thermostats and not have to worry about changing things around.

Back to the OP's problem, I'm actually suggesting the exact same thing. Get a UPS. For you a SmartUPS is probably overkill, but APC has some smaller ones that will do the job really well. I have an APC Smart-UPS 1500 and it can run my server rack (About 10 servers each with triple-redundant power supplies) for a couple of hours. A good one should be able to heat your snake for at least a couple of days.

Don't forget that temperatures don't need to be perfect in an emergency. Snakes are pretty resilient, and they will survive while you sort things out. Your temps can even be ±5-10 degrees for a few hours, maybe even a day and your snake will be fine. I would still recommend a UPS though, just to be on the safe side.

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I have one of those for my CAD Workstation (APS smart-UPS 3000VA) I have tested that as well, their simulated sinwave is even worse than the generators. Dion (owner of spyder robotics who makes herpstats) has said that he does not recommend using UPS's with them. The problem with UPS's is that they store power in DC, then invert it into AC... The result is a simulated sinwave that is inadequate for sensitive electronics. There are a few UPS's avaliable that are but they cost thousands of dollars and not worth it for something like this.

I have two things

• A buddy heater
  
• A generator

If my incubator is not plugged I will only use the buddy heater however if my incubator is plugged I will use the generator instead to provide adequate ambient temps and to power my incubator.

In case of emergency hot spot are not important, adequate healthy ambient temp is sufficient.

Didn't know that about the UPS. I thought you were referring to the inconsistencies in voltage production that a gas generator would produce. Interesting, I'll keep that in mind. Back on topic before this thread gets too technical ;P

I have bags and tubs for each snake, heat packs, gas in my vehicle, and a map...

I have a Generac iX1600 Watt Inverter Generator that I use from time to time when I am out in the bush... If all else fails I'd be using this to power my mini oil furnace and keep my reptile room at 80. This generator cleans DC to AC and claims to be computer safe, but I'm not sure i'd be running my herpstats off it or not.