HELP winter power outage

Currently sitting in my car with all my snakes trying to keep them warm and ride out a power outage. I live in upstate NY and got hit by a big storm yesterday, powers been out since 11am yesterday. At first the house held heat well didn't drop below 65 until this morning when I woke up to 63 and decided it was time to get the snakes warm one way or another. The power is not expected to come back until 2pm today. ( It's 6:20 am now). Does anyone have any tips ride this out in my car? I'm afraid that I can't properly maintain heat either too hot or too cold in here. I have my laser temp probe and keep checking everything but temps are so inconsistent


Thanks!

Do you have some big blankets or something to insulate ?

what are the snakes being held in now?

Does your car have heated seats?

I have them all in bags, in a bin lined with towels. I have the heat on but not directly pointed at them. And no heated seats, just the vent heat. The probe is reading the outside of the bags are anywhere between 76-82ish I figure this is ok for now. It's not gonna be hotspot temps but at least the ambient temperature is better than the now 55 in the house. BTW it's 6 bp's and one brb. I'll get pics posted to the forum once we make it through this fiasco

It sounds like you are doing all you can.

Are any stores open locally? Walmart? Something maybe you can drive a bit and get inside.

I’ve also heard people who use those hand warm packs in a pinch.

Maybe check the local gas stations or convenient stores ?

I ended up just booking a hotel room and snuck them in. My house temp kept dropping it was in the low 50s when I left... I hate that I have to leave them in bags overnight but it's a necessary evil. Hopefully power will be back on tomorrow

I live in Chicago, and we get enough occasional power outages that I have a kit. A cooler ( big enough to hold all my snakes) a bunch of bags and a ton of hand warmers. That’s your best bet for the future, glad you got somewhere safe! A couple of other members on here have similar backup plans.

I wrote a post months back on my emergency setup utilizing 12v power packs with an inverter. About 3 weeks ago lost power for 8 hours with 20 mile an hour winds and temps outdoors in the 20's. All 4 of my snakes enjoyed 85 degree temps while the house was in the mid 50's. I've used this setup for decades. Plan B for severe ice storms and extended power outages I hook up my emergency generator.

Yeah, this is my first outage for more than an hour. So definitely will be setting up an emergency kit for the reptiles. It's something you don't think about until you need it. I'll probably just bite the bullet and get a generator. Luckily I have a natural gas boiler so it doesn't take much energy to run. A cooler is a good idea, you could set up flexwatt and a thermostat hooked to a battery and keep it at perfect temp. I'll have to look into that

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Originally Posted by Phillydubs

It sounds like you are doing all you can.

Are any stores open locally? Walmart? Something maybe you can drive a bit and get inside.

I’ve also heard people who use those hand warm packs in a pinch.

Maybe check the local gas stations or convenient stores ?

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Just be careful with the human hand warmer; they can get very hot.

Reptile Basics, and I am sure others, sell the reptile specific heating packs that do not get over 100F.

Even then, I would use them to line the outside of a container and not have the snake touching them directly.

I was literally having my whole house generator put in when the last storm hit and had the same concerns, but luckily, didn't lose power. Now, in addition the whole home generator, I have the reptile heat packs/shipping packs, as a backup.

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Originally Posted by tatorger

Currently sitting in my car with all my snakes trying to keep them warm and ride out a power outage. I live in upstate NY and got hit by a big storm yesterday, powers been out since 11am yesterday. At first the house held heat well didn't drop below 65 until this morning when I woke up to 63 and decided it was time to get the snakes warm one way or another. The power is not expected to come back until 2pm today. ( It's 6:20 am now). Does anyone have any tips ride this out in my car? I'm afraid that I can't properly maintain heat either too hot or too cold in here. I have my laser temp probe and keep checking everything but temps are so inconsistent


Thanks!

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Upstate here too. Got 20 inches in 12 hours. So far so good even though trees are all busting from the Heavy Wet Snow. Several without power.
Are yous back up and running?


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Hope you're doing okay, and your power comes on soon if it's still out! I know how stressful it is (look at my power outage post lol... I was freaking out and mine was only out on a summer night!)! Hope your snake babies are doing okay, and so glad you were prepared in a pinch! Good for you! It's gonna be okay, probably just boring ;)

Been trying to avoid getting the whole-house auto generator for years now. Have always had those portable ones. But, now I think I'm gonna go and get it put in.

Glad to hear your snakes are safe.

Power is still out, went out Friday at 11am. Im hoping they'll get it back on today but I'm prepared to have to book another hotel room.

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Originally Posted by tatorger

Power is still out, went out Friday at 11am. Im hoping they'll get it back on today but I'm prepared to have to book another hotel room.

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Ugh! I hate that! I'm so sorry! I do hope it's fixed today, but I'm glad you're prepared for another night. Keeping you in our thoughts!

Booked another hotel. Turns out there are two downed poles and the power line is down and the cherry on top is it's in the woods so they need to get the off road equipment. So maybe another day. Fingers crossed

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Originally Posted by tatorger

Booked another hotel. Turns out there are two downed poles and the power line is down and the cherry on top is it's in the woods so they need to get the off road equipment. So maybe another day. Fingers crossed

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Good luck! Glad you got a hotel and everyone is safe.

Many years ago I moved from California to New York. I drove across the country in a beat up Triumph TR6 with very little heat and my two pet boas. To keep them warm, I tucked my sweatshirt into my pants, put the boas in bags, and stuffed them into my sweatshirt. My body heat was enough to keep them warm for the 3,200 mile trip.

Hahaha, that must have been a fun ride! I couldn't imagine. It would be quite the feeling having all 7 of my snakes stuffed n my shirt lol

Hotel, night number 3.... They at least started repairs today. Maybe they'll be done tomorrow. I just hope everyone is ok once I get them back home and no one develops a RI or anything else.

Here are some pics of my grouchy snakes. Snapped some pics as they we're getting belly heat from my belly lol. In order Delilah, my spider female. Amethyst, my normal het clown female. Melon, my lemonblast het clown female. Daisy, my albino female. Tank, my girlfriend's normal male. Dog, my clown male. And the grouchiest of all, Ares, my Brazilian rainbow boa. I believe he's a male based on his size. I got him as a rescue about a year ago with very little info. I should be breeding clowns next year I'm really only waiting on my male who's a picky eater and growing at snail pace lol he's about 450g. Hope you like my little zoo, can't wait to get them back home, these are the best pics I've ever gotten of them cause they never sit still.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...154ed0afd6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...14a2e24de1.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3dada187cb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...deb66fc2ae.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e1b2e91642.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...028dba44a1.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d2c2d0999b.jpg

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Originally Posted by tatorger

Hotel, night number 3.... They at least started repairs today. Maybe they'll be done tomorrow. I just hope everyone is ok once I get them back home and no one develops a RI or anything else.

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I hope so too! I'm glad they've started, seems so bad up there! I hope it all works out ok for you and your snake babies :(
Pretty little things!!
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I live up north and had the same scare a couple months ago. I never thought it would happen but luckily the power was only out for 1 hour, but it made me have a plan in place for the future. My good friend who is a breeder recommended the heat packs that are used for shipping reptiles. Get a cooler tub (a somewhat good insulated one) and then put your snakes in separate secure sacks or pillow cases and put them all in the cooler with the heat pack attached to the inside of the lid. Make sure the heat pack is not touching the snakes. Those heat packs will last any where from 5 to 10 hours. This is just a suggestion though, I haven't tried this as of yet and I hope I don' have to anytime soon..

Power is back on!!!!! Getting all the baby's back home now! So far everyone seems ok!

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Originally Posted by tatorger

Power is back on!!!!! Getting all the baby's back home now! So far everyone seems ok!

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That is EXCELLENT news!!! Hopefully the east coast doesn't have any more snow storms... but I have a feeling that mother nature isn't done yet! Hang in there my friend :)

Well... awaiting the next big east coast storm tomorrow! Hopefully no power scares.

I'm glad you managed to find something for your snakes. I've always dreaded the idea of a power outage during this time of year.