Incoming Storm - Advice ASAP

So I am expecting to loose power at some point in the next two days due to ice and snow. I have a pack of 8 "uni-heat 30 hour small pet shipping warmers", an extra digital thermometer, and a small rubbermaid tub with air holes ready for use.

What is the best way to set my snake with this heat pack so that he is warm, but there is no chance of a burn?

Wrap them is a hand towel and then put them on the bottom of the tub and then put a full size towel or blanket down on top of that. Also if you haven't done it yet, I would advise going to Home Depot or a hardware store and picking up a sheet of rigid foam insulation. the kind that comes in the 4x8 sheets with reflective coating on 1 side, the stuff used in attics and walls. I score it to the size I need and then break it and put it on the bottom on my tubs as it keeps the heat in and doesn't allow it get sucked up by the floor.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Wrap them is a hand towel and then put them on the bottom of the tub and then put a full size towel or blanket down on top of that. Also if you haven't done it yet, I would advise going to Home Depot or a hardware store and picking up a sheet of rigid foam insulation. the kind that comes in the 4x8 sheets with reflective coating on 1 side, the stuff used in attics and walls. I score it to the size I need and then break it and put it on the bottom on my tubs as it keeps the heat in and doesn't allow it get sucked up by the floor.

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I'll try and swing by there in the morning if I can. If not, I can just set the whole tub in his tank, it's raised off the floor on a table and has 2 inches mulch in it. His tank is insulated with some of that back foam craft board on three sides too. Thanks for the quick reply. Hopefully the power will stay on:please:, but I live in a house built in 1912...so I'm trying to be realistic

Good luck. You can also check out Mr. Heater. They are propane powered heaters designed for indoor use like camping tents and stuff. You can buy an adapter hose and run them off the big propane bottles for BBQs which last I believe 96 hours. Otherwise they use the small little cook stove propane bottles which last I think 6 hours or so. Good for heating a reptile room.

I'm expecting this storm as well. I was going to start a thread until I saw yours. Im up in Pennsylvania and were expecting 20+ inches of snow. Unfortunately I don't have anything to heat them with. im not sure how I can heat my 3 snakes. We don't have generators or propane heaters, and hand warmers only last for so long..
The only thing I can offer is body heat but I'd be worried about stressing them out from all the handling.

If you just have the one snake put him in a pillow case, zip tie it closed, and put him down the front of your shirt to keep him warm.

At night put him in a bin (still in the bag) and put him under your bed covers with you. The bin will ensure you (and any other pets you have like dogs and cats) don't roll onto or step on him.

If you have a BBQ, camping stove, or even candle heater, you can boil water, fill a metal bottle or flask with the hot water, wrap it in a towel, and use it as a warmer. You will just need a way to keep your snake from coming in direct contact with it.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

If you just have the one snake put him in a pillow case, zip tie it closed, and put him down the front of your shirt to keep him warm.

At night put him in a bin (still in the bag) and put him under your bed covers with you. The bin will ensure you (and any other pets you have like dogs and cats) don't roll onto or step on him.

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I hope that if we have an outage, it won't be for more than a few hours, but if it lasts longer will these methods (or putting him in the small tub with the reptile shipping heat pad) keep the ambient warm enough that he won't get a RI? Or is that not even something to worry about over a short time period? I'm mostly worried since he just ate yesterday, I don't want to cause him to regurgitate and also I want him to be able to digest.

When I had nothing to work with, I ended up just putting all my gals in their tubs and moving them into my car and running that with the heater on. Was the most uncomfortable nights sleeping haha but they all stayed warm and they seems fine. Heck my beardie didn't even wake up the whole time lol. Another time I did like bcr229 said and put all the tubs under the blankets with me and threw an acurite in there so I could see the temps. It was around 75F throughout the night and also was a very uncomfortable nights sleep haha. The things we do for our scaley buddies :P

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Originally Posted by Lazulimoon

I'm expecting this storm as well. I was going to start a thread until I saw yours. Im up in Pennsylvania and were expecting 20+ inches of snow. Unfortunately I don't have anything to heat them with. im not sure how I can heat my 3 snakes. We don't have generators or propane heaters, and hand warmers only last for so long..
The only thing I can offer is body heat but I'd be worried about stressing them out from all the handling.

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Probably kind of late now but check into Mr Heater. They make propane heaters designed for camping use inside tents and houses. NEVER use a regular propane heater as those can kill you indoors. Also check out Ship Your Reptiles. They sell 10 or 30 packs of the 72 hour heat pads which work good if wrapped in a towel and put in a tub. As for stressing them with body heat, none of my gals seem to be phased by it really. I guess it depends how used to handling your snakes are. My gals get to come out usually every 2 days so the boas look forward to it seems where as my BP can care less it seems.

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Originally Posted by Crowfingers

I hope that if we have an outage, it won't be for more than a few hours, but if it lasts longer will these methods (or putting him in the small tub with the reptile shipping heat pad) keep the ambient warm enough that he won't get a RI? Or is that not even something to worry about over a short time period? I'm mostly worried since he just ate yesterday, I don't want to cause him to regurgitate and also I want him to be able to digest.

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You would just need to be able to heat the small space that your snake is in, which is why I suggested bags+tub - the bags to keep your critters insulated from the heat source, the tub because it's a small space to heat, and you can put several bagged critters into one tub if needed, and you can insulate the tub by wrapping it in blankets or towels.

I suggested using a tub because most herpers have spares laying around anyway, but if you don't have a spare then something like a Styrofoam beer cooler would work and is inexpensive. Just make sure you secure the top in case a snake manages to get out of a bag.

Whichever you use, you can take a digital thermometer and put the probe in the container and set it up so you can monitor the temp without opening it up.

I've ordered a (20) pack of the 40 hour heat packs. I'll wrap them up in towels and put one in each enclosure. My concern is what about the hundreds of frozen feeders in the deep freezer? How long will the freezer keep them?

What I do is I tape the freezer door shut to keep anyone from being tempted to "check on it". The frozen items will last longer if the door stays shut.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

My concern is what about the hundreds of frozen feeders in the deep freezer? How long will the freezer keep them?

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If the power goes out and you fear your freezer wont stay cool enough put them outside in a plastic tote. Use natures freezer :). Often in the winter to cut down costs and give it a break I unplug my deep freezer and place all my items in totes and put in the garage which stays below freezing (uninsulated). This will work in the trunk or backseat of a car if it is outside also.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

I've ordered a (20) pack of the 40 hour heat packs. I'll wrap them up in towels and put one in each enclosure. My concern is what about the hundreds of frozen feeders in the deep freezer? How long will the freezer keep them?

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Considering the temperatures we're expecting overnight, you can put the feeders into totes and put them outside in the shade.

Alternatively, fill some empty 1-2 liter plastic bottles with water, put those outside, and put the bottles in the freezer once the water has frozen. Swap bottles as needed.

You can also pre-emptively set all of your refrigerators and freezers to their lowest setting right now so that the contents stay cold longer.

Thanks for everyone's advice. I will probably just stick with the tub and reptile shipping pad, now that I have some idea how so keep him from getting burned on it. I'd be too afraid to use propane indoors. I have more pets than just the snake and if it were to get knocked over...it would just worry my way too much. good luck to everyone else expecting snow/ice/wind

We are expecting this storm too. We are only expecting 6-10 inches here on long island, but the wind off the shore is what does the damage here. The last time we had a storm like this we lost power for 24 hours. We have some of those shipping packs and hot water bottles ready to go. i like the overnight solution of putting my guys under the blankets in the bed. Hopefully it won't come to that, but all these suggestions are great to know, thanks

I'm getting hit too. I have heat packs and styrofoam ready. I'm concerned for my bird and fish too. The fish I can wrap in a blanket. The bird, I'm not sure. I have a smaller cage for her that I can cover. I wish everyone well and hope you all make it out safe and sound.

I'm so ready...but so stressed. I have 3 ball pythons, 2 beardies, 4 chinchillas, 2 ferrets, 3 rats, a hamster, 2 large dogs. A large amount of fish. And I'm getting somewhere close to 20 inches. Probably going to lose power.

Luckily, I have wine at the ready. And towels, heat packs, blankets, candles, spare tubs, everything I could think of. Whats worse is that I'm womaning the fort alone, hubby is emergency personnel so wont be here if it goes sideways.

So not thrilled. But we do what we have to do, huh?

Good luck to all you guys and gal on the east coast. My prayers go out to you and your pets.

A freezer should keep everything frozen for a long time without power as long as the room is not hot and as long as it's mostly full. The more full it is, the longer it takes to thaw out.

I'm dealing with the same storm, just got lucky it wasn't quite as bad as they were saying and my power hasn't gone out yet. For a few years I was in a place that had ZERO insulation, so once the power went out it only took about half an hour for everything inside to be seriously cold. Eventually I got one of those indoor propane heaters... You can't leave them on unattended, but it keeps an area big enough for everyone in their travel containers out of the dangerously cold zone, and it's great for when the power goes out in the middle of the night because it's much easier than making sure everyone has a hunting heat warmer safely insulated ect. ect. without any lights.

Yup a Mr Heater? Those has a tip over safety switch where they will shut off. They are also made for indoor and inside tent use. Don't ever use a plain propane heater for indoors as those are made for outside in a work area or a well ventilated garage or workshop. They can kill you if used indoors.

Yeah, that's the one. I think it still has a warning to check it every 20-30 minutes in case something goes wrong, but it beats cuddling my turtle with a chest warmer on for five hours lol.

Powers been out here for about 12 hours now. Luckily the fireplace is going and the snakes are in tubs in front of it. Nice and steady upper 80s. Been a long night though.

Dave

Update - no power out yet, a few flickers...but nothing more than 10 min. I was up every hour and sleeping with the light and TV on, just to make sure I woke up if it went off overnight, and I'll be repeating the process again tonight. Not sure how much snow we have total, probably 5-8 inches, but it's the wind that will kill the lights.

Hopefully everything works out for everyone else. Stay safe!

Our power has been fine and it looks like the high winds are primarily east of us on the other side of the mountains.

That said, according to the snow totals from the local media, my house is right in the 36-48 inches band of accumulation SO FAR and it's still coming down, though thankfully lightly.

$100 will get a small portable generator from Harbor Freight that will run herp heat and the fridge/freezer. $500 will get a generator you can safely hook into your breaker box using an interlock switch (*codes vary) and run virtually everything but a powerful central heat pump. An extra $100 will get you one that runs off propane so you'll never need to fool with gas storage or the gas lines that NJ saw during Sandy.

For a small collection, a back-up strategy is to always keep a well insulated shipping box and heat pack aside. You can get both from Ship Your Reptiles. If you lose power, pack the animals just like you would for shipping. The insulation and heat pack will keep them warm for a day or two as long as it stays above freezing in your home. I strongly prefer a generator, a small one is not much, but saving an old shipping container and a couple new heat packs is very inexpensive and easy to use in an emergency.