This "blizzard"..

Ok so my area is expecting a blizzard tomorrow and Saturday (30" of snow) and high winds. My power usually doesn't go out (did not in hurricane Sandy) but I am worried about my new BP. How do you guys keep your snakes warm? Probably some of you have backup generators for large collections but I only have one snake. I bought 2 boxes of 8+ hour hand warmers so far. I was thinking about getting a small tent heater which is sold in mountain gear stores for $10-$30. And buying lots of batteries for it. What else do you guys do to keep a single snake warm in a power outage?

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Originally Posted by dave21

Ok so my area is expecting a blizzard tomorrow and Saturday (30" of snow) and high winds. My power usually doesn't go out (did not in hurricane Sandy) but I am worried about my new BP. How do you guys keep your snakes warm? Probably some of you have backup generators for large collections but I only have one snake. I bought 2 boxes of 8+ hour hand warmers so far. I was thinking about getting a small tent heater which is sold in mountain gear stores for $10-$30. And buying lots of batteries for it. What else do you guys do to keep a single snake warm in a power outage?

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I am in New England and expect at least 24" tomorrow. I would say those are great first steps. Also, keep the door closed as much as possible (trap in heat) and I strongly recommend the sticky warmers (which you purchased). My car has a 12V plug we can run our space heater off, which will be a short term solution. If a long term power outage, I would have a last ditch backup plan, either a friend with a generator or a local shop where you can store him until the heat/power comes back. Where do you live?

Ugh not looking forward to this storm

Last time we lost power for a decent length of time, I used the fireplace to keep all the reptiles warm. Had to move all of them to the family room but we were without power for almost 24 hours. If you don't have a fireplace and/or wood to keep it going, the doors being close, drapes, blankets over windows and even tanks will help hold in the heat. Sounds like you've got it pretty well covered for the short term with the heat packs though too. If you're looking at multiple days without power, the portable heater might not be bad though I'd look for something that uses propane instead of batteries. They tend to put out more heat for the power/fuel used.

Worse case, your body temp would be perfect. Just hold your snake against your bare skin and wrap yourself up in a blanket.

I just want to remind people that proportional thermostats do NOT work with generators. (There are a few pricy inverter generators that will work, but 99% will not)

I've put mine in their tubs in a vehicle with the heater running for several hours at a stretch but that was a short-term solution. Thankfully we haven't lost power for any longer than a few hours duration, knock on wood. The heat packs are a good first step as would be getting a heater, preferably propane-powered. Just be aware of oxygen deprivation if you run it indoors, along with a slight risk of CO2 build-up, depending how clean burning it is. Good luck with things and hopefully the forecast is worse than the realtiy when the storm hits. Take care.

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Originally Posted by Joshua Jasper

I am in New England and expect at least 24" tomorrow. I would say those are great first steps. Also, keep the door closed as much as possible (trap in heat) and I strongly recommend the sticky warmers (which you purchased). My car has a 12V plug we can run our space heater off, which will be a short term solution. If a long term power outage, I would have a last ditch backup plan, either a friend with a generator or a local shop where you can store him until the heat/power comes back. Where do you live?

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In Rhode Island. My part is getting the 30". I would get a space heater or propane heater but I still have to work 9 am - 9 pm everyday snow or no snow. So I will not be home and probably will not leave it on for safety reasons. I only have one snake, should I put the hand warmers directly in the tank in a sock or tape them to the bottom of the glass? I am going to look for 24-40 hour heat packs tomorrow before work. I am not looking forward to this. When i used to have multiple snakes when I lived home I would put their tubs about 5 feet from the fireplace. Now living in a apartment I am out of luck I guess lol. How hardy is a BP and will these hand warmers prevent a possible RI even if the ambient temp is still cold?

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Originally Posted by BHReptiles

Worse case, your body temp would be perfect. Just hold your snake against your bare skin and wrap yourself up in a blanket.

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So many ways to go with this one :)

Hand warmers are great, you can use warm water bottles as well. (Just make sure they're not too hot). I also second that body heat and a blanket works.

Good luck to everybody that's in this storm. Shouldn't be too too bad I think.

I haven't tested this out, but my tentative plan is to bag the snakes and put all the adults in one tub and all the babies in the other. I'll put a layer of hand warmers down then a double-thick towel over them to prevent burns and throw everyone on top of the towel and close the lid.

I suggest getting shipping heat packs. They last much longer and less hotter than hand warmers. Hand warmers get too hot and burn too fast.

Also, keeping empty water bottles around helps. You can just fill them with hot water.

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Originally Posted by MrLang

I haven't tested this out, but my tentative plan is to bag the snakes and put all the adults in one tub and all the babies in the other. I'll put a layer of hand warmers down then a double-thick towel over them to prevent burns and throw everyone on top of the towel and close the lid.

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Don't use hand warmers in a closed container. They use oxygen to heat and it will take all the air out of the container and then the snakes will not be able to breathe.

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Originally Posted by dave21

. I only have one snake, should I put the hand warmers directly in the tank in a sock or tape them to the bottom of the glass?

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Depending on the brand/size they can get pretty hot. You may be better off taping a few to the bottom rather than one on the inside. I once used one of them taped to the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket to keep a baby squirrel alive in my tent overnight (what can I say, we geologists are weird). Between the hand warmers underneath and a hand towel to snuggle into the little guy did just fine, and I'm sure your snake will too.

You guys are making me glad I live in the desert, I haven't even seen snow for 2 years. Good luck with this storm, let us know how it went when the power is back up (assuming it goes out).

I picked up a small generator pretty cheap and enough extension cord to keep my snake warm or my food cold depending on which season power outages occur.
In a real pinch you could even heat water on a BBQ or a fire and use hot water bottles to add heat to the snakes habitat. A bit of a pain as you will have to watch temp.s closer than with a small generator.

I keep a Coleman 5 day cooler on hand for emergencies. Haven't had to use it yet, but here's the plan:

Put warm water in the 1 liter soda bottles I've saved for that purpose. (reptile shipping heater packs would work too, but I have a gas stove and stored water I can heat if the electric goes out)

Bag all of the snakes separately and put them in the cooler in an open top cardboard box

Surround the cardboard box full of snakes with the warm water and close the door.

A 5 day cooler does a great job of keeping stuff warm as well as it does cold. I could reheat the water as needed if it gets too cool in there. I'm using one now for an incubator, they hold hte heat nicely.