Power outages?

Hello!

It's a pretty crappy day where I am and the power has just gone out. I have 2 ball pythons, both of which I just fed last night. The power company says the power should be back in another hour or so, and I've covered both of their enclosures in blankets in the meantime to keep the heat. I know that my own body heat would probably be best to keep them warm but where they were just fed I don't want to mess with them much. I was just wondering what everyone else does in the event of a poweroutage? I've seen that some keep things like hand warmers on hand which I'll definitely be doing from now on. Just looking for suggestions for both now and future

Thanks in advance!

Since it seems like it's only for 3 or so hours. I'm pretty sure you'll be fine. Remember temperatures aren't always constant in the wild. Blankets should be good. Just resist the urge to keep checking on them. The more you open the enclosure the more heat will come out. They should only cool down to whatever temperature the room is. Basically if it's warm in the room, it should be fine. Not great since they just ate but a couple of hours shouldn't hurt.

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A UPS (Uninterrupted power supply) can be used as a back up. If you get one with a large enough capacity, it can keep your setup on for a while. If the power goes out, the UPS automatically switches its internal battery on to keep whatever devices that are plugged into it running for a bit. Hopefully until the power is restored, depending on how long the power is out.

Thanks everyone for the quick responses! The power has just come back on so luckily it wasn't out for long (a little under an hour and a half) 😊

Good question & one that comes up every year. An hour or so is no big deal, but certainly it can be a concern when you've just fed them. Yes, in a pinch, say if the power doesn't come back on, cuddling them to your body will keep them warm, though if they're not comfortable with you enough yet, OR you handle them in ways where they're more active or their heads are lower than their body, you're asking for a regurge, so that's best avoided. If you must hold them for body heat, you should be sitting or even laying down with them on top of you (heat rises) with insulation (blanket) on top, & keeping them resting calmly.

This presumably short outage is a good reminder ("wake-up call") for you though, to prepare for a longer winter outage. In that case, there's no good way for them to stay "home" in their usual place. Putting a blanket over their enclosure won't do it when your house is 45*- because snakes can't make their own body heat. There's no way to warm their usual enclosure enough for a serious power outage. (unless your home has a back-up generator or something?)

First question- Do you have a gas powered hot water heater? One of the easiest & cheapest ways for temporary heat is to fill a jar (or jars) of hot water & place them with your snake. You can also have chemical hand-warmer packs, or better yet, the chemical heat packs they sell for shipping snakes by air, on hand. FYI, jars of hot water got me thru a power outage that lasted 4 days for me during a bitter cold ice storm. That time our local power actually took WEEKS to restore power in some areas, because power lines cannot be fixed until roads are cleared of fallen trees that came down with the weight of the ice & also from the force of wind during bad storms, so that power crews can get thru to safely work where they've fallen. It was a miserable 4 days for me, but I was "lucky" to have hot water in an otherwise cold house. Electric kitchen stove & no FA heat- but my snakes had it good, lol! Inside the ice chests they stayed a balmy 76-82*- and that was by changing the water in the jars about every 8-9 hours, with minimal opening of the ice chests for fresh air.

You SHOULD have on hand either an ice chest (large is better & safer) or at least, thick styro-foam boxes (that frozen food is shipped in). Sometimes you can find either one in thrift stores, if your budget is tight. You want to store it clean & ready, as it's no fun in the dark. The main thing is that they insulate- keep in the warmth, & keep out the cold.

Keep a pillowcase or cloth "snake bag" for each snake too, and twist ties & good thick rubber bands to secure* each bag. *I don't like to tie cloth bags- so I use a twist-tie first, to close the 'bag', then fold that part over on itself & secure with that rubber band. I've NEVER had a snake escape this way. Snakes are very safe & comfortable in a cloth bag- that keeps them from escaping the ice chest/styro-box that's keeping in the warmth around them. See? Also make sure they can't contact- & aren't right next to whatever heat source you're using. Those chem-packs can get very hot too- they need to be wrapped, though a snake in a cloth bag already has a little protection.

Snakes do need air, but a slight opening every few hours, plus changing the hot water (if using that method) should be enough, or if using a styro-box, you could poke an air hole in it, or on an ice chest, put a small wad of tape so it doesn't close so tightly. I only used large ice chests, & had 2 or 3 snakes separately bagged in each one. It's important to match sizes, so you don't have a big heavy boa accidentally crushing a small snake in the same ice chest.

BTW, ice chests are also the best way to transport snakes for vet visits or moving, etc. to avoid exposing them to excessive heat or cold. Remember, if your car happens to break down, or you get stuck in traffic behind an accident, your snake can suffer from the temperatures & it's completely preventable this way. BTW, I've also moved by car, halfway across country with my snakes protected this way- all were fine after that, as well as after the ice storm we went thru.

My advice: PLAN for an outage, it costs very little compared to vet bills for a sick snake, & avoids the pain from the loss of your pet.

Thank you so much for all of the tips and tricks! This definitely was a wakeup call for me! Luckily the power wasn't out for too long, nor was it the dead of winter so I'm glad in that sense it got me thinking about it! I couldn't imagine 4 days with no power in the winter! :O Definitely gonna get together some kind of power outage plan/pack just incase for next time or a longer power outage! I really appreciate the advice! ❤ Don't want anything to happen to my boys that's for sure!

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I know- no one wants bad things to happen to their pets, but if you don't plan ahead, power outages can be horrible. And excessive heat kills too, if you get stuck while transporting a snake in hot weather, for example. If they're in a well-insulated container, they'll be safe for a long time, & you can do the reverse- put a cold beverage container inside, to keep them cool enough if your car's A/C happens to go out. I used to live in the desert & I used to take my snakes places for programs. I'd rather over-plan & be okay, than not plan & lose my animals. ;)

I just went through 36+ hours of no power. In addition to my 8' enclosure I take care of my 93 year old father with Alzheimer's and Dementia. I have a Wen 2000 watt inverter/generator. They usually run around $500. For 3 days I ran that little generator non stop for 36 hours and it ran the heat, the fridge, and the 2 radiant heat panels in my enclosure. It only used about 1 gallon every 8 hours.

I understand not everyone can have a generator. We as keepers or our reptiles must plan for situations like these and be prepared (whether heat packs, hot water, another location?). Also do you have someone to take care of things should you ever become sick or have to go away in an emergency.

If your Stateside an can't use a gen set look at inverters. Cheap ones that work:
Search Results For "Power Inverters" (harborfreight.com)

One deep cell 12v battery plus an inverter can run heat panels for days. Add solar an you charge an heat if the sun is out.

Search Results For "Solar" (harborfreight.com)

Buddy Heaters for propane.

Everything really depends on storage. If you don't have room for tools you need to plan moves for family an animals during emergencies. Pillow cases an coolers work great for smaller snakes. Sleeping bags for the big guys.

There are many prepper forums on the web. Look at some for ideas but many sites are safer to read only.


Planning for disasters will lesson damage in the long run.

With any tool, better to have an not need then need an not have.

Good luck!

I have a whole home generator so I live stress free when it comes to losing power.

I do have a power station I use at the beach and in trips that I'm sure would run a heat mat for a good while. It runs my refrigerated cooler all day just fine. I also have a solar panel to charge it just in case.

Progeny 300W Portable Power Station, 299Wh Regulated DC Power, AC Pass-Through Charging, Wireless Charger, Backup Lithium Battery Pack Solar Generator for Camping CPAP Car RV https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F7XNWW4...ing=UTF8&psc=1

I have a generator to run the racks and a battery back up for the incubator. One thing I have not tried but heard of is putting warm water bottles in the tubs for short term also chemical heating like those pocket hand warmers. I think they make ones for shipping reptiles. Glad to hear everything is alright.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sp0420

...One thing I have not tried but heard of is putting warm water bottles in the tubs for short term also chemical heating like those pocket hand warmers....

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Those emergency measures (chemical heat packs & bottles of hot water) won't be anywhere NEAR enough to heat your snake's normal housing- they need to be used in something insulated like a styro-foam shipping box or an ice chest with the snake bagged & with minimal ventilation, for them to maintain enough warmth to keep snakes healthy in cold house.

I did some research on this topic today and frankly with no clear result but wanted to share my findings.

For context, I have only one snake to take care of and live in a rented city apartment, so generators and any apartment-wide modifications (e.g. whole house battery storage) were out of question.

My tank is being heated by a 16w heat mat and a 75w heat lamp, both controlled by a 5w raspberry pi.
I figured that if worst comes to worst my priority is to keep the heat mat and the raspberry running to keep the ground temperature comfortable, while giving up the heat lamp since it draws too much power for most small power supplies. So my backup needs to provide 21w, let's call it 20w for simplicity.

Here my two cents:

UPS work from a technical standpoint but have relatively bad runtimes even given low power consumption. Judging by a test done by the wirecutter it looks like even a 900w UPS only lasts about 4.5h when 20w are being drawn. So the UPS is not really helping if the power is out for a whole day or more.

Portable Power Stations like this one suggest they could run a 20w fan for 15h which would be much better. However, they don't bypass the battery when fully charged but rather do passthrough power supply. That would mean that over time the battery deteriorates which is also not ideal because I wouldn't expect a power outage every week so basically when it hits in a year or two I will have significantly less capacity than I initially purchased. Unplugging it and manually hooking it up when the power goes out also defeats the purpose because what happens if I am not there during an outage.

If anyone knows of a power station / battery backup that combines the bypass power of a UPS with the long runtime of a PPS, I'd be very thankful for a recommendation.

Update from me:
I ordered a Portable Power Station that has UPS functionalities. There seem to be a lot that do pass-through charging (Jackery, Yeti, Goalzero etc.) but that basically continuously degrades the battery. Ecoflow power stations (like this one) bypass the battery when it is fully charged and directly provides power from the outlet to whatever device is attached.

On the topic of why a UPS doesn't really do that job: The type of battery most UPSs use (lead acid or gel) are meant for high peak power rather than slow, deep discharge. That's why even 900w UPSs oftentimes only provide power for 3-4h for low wattage appliances.

Since this is a lithium battery, it shouldn't have that issue. I'll post an update on how long it can run my setup once I have it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Djanno

Update from me:
I ordered a Portable Power Station that has UPS functionalities. There seem to be a lot that do pass-through charging (Jackery, Yeti, Goalzero etc.) but that basically continuously degrades the battery. Ecoflow power stations (like this one) bypass the battery when it is fully charged and directly provides power from the outlet to whatever device is attached.

On the topic of why a UPS doesn't really do that job: The type of battery most UPSs use (lead acid or gel) are meant for high peak power rather than slow, deep discharge. That's why even 900w UPSs oftentimes only provide power for 3-4h for low wattage appliances.

Since this is a lithium battery, it shouldn't have that issue. I'll post an update on how long it can run my setup once I have it.

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Yeah definitely keep us posted! I'd be curious to see how long it will run your setup!

Update my side:
The Portable Power Station (Ecoflow River Plus, 360wh) arrived and I set it up. It is now powering my Raspberry Pi and the heat mat.
When only the Raspberry is running it draws about 3 watts according to the PPS, when both is running about 16w (the raspberry is controlling the heat mat to maintain optimal ground temperature).
I unplugged the PPS yesterday and had it run for the last 19h only on battery power. That discharged the PPS from 95% to 12%, so about 4.4% per hour. So it seems like a full power station could run my setup for about 1 day in case of an outage.
One caveat: I also have a IR lamp running that heats the area from above. In a real power outage this lamp would turn off and thus the vivarium would likely cool down a bit quicker than in this test. I didn't want to expose my snake to no overhead heat just to test the setup.

My takeaways:

• The PPS solution does work as a UPS solution for the vivarium (beware that most PPS don't have a UPS feature like the Ecoflow)
• The time that the PPS estimates is not accurate: the estimate when fully charged and running both raspberry and heat mat is almost 24h, but in reality, even with the heat mat switching on and off, the PPS barely provides 24h

Overall, I think this is a good way to give yourself peace of mind if you have a small snake collection and a generator / house-wide power solution isn't feasible.
Feel free to post questions and I'll try to respond.

One addition to make the search for the right portable power station easier:
While I am not sponsored or affiliated with Ecoflow (I wouldn't say no to some commission), they are the only company that I found where the PPS has a dedicated UPS mode in which the battery of the PPS is being bypassed and AC power goes directly to the AC outlets / the attached devices. All other PPSs only had a passthrough mode or no option to use while charging. And they have quite the range of capacity levels so something in every price bracket.

I looked at products in the $200-$400 range from Jackery, Anker, Aukey, Rockpals, Blackfire, Goal Zero, Bluetti, Ravpower, Zendure, Flashfish (I might be forgetting some brands here but those were the major ones).

I see people mention keeping hand warmers on hand for cold weather emergencies, and just wanted to mention that these are dangerous for snakes - they just get too hot. If you have no other options and must use them, put them in a sock or something.

But the better alternative is the shipping warmer packs Bogertophis mentions above that are used to ship plants, chicks, inverts, reptiles, etc. You can get these on Amazon. https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-fh5t...212480.jpg?c=2

Long term update from my side:

TL;DR: my Ecoflow Powerstation has proven to be rather unreliable. When it works, it does the job but when it doesn't it gives me headaches.

Basically, the setup I decided for was to use the EF Powerstation as a UPS, have it plugged in between the outlet and my vivarium at all times, and have it cut in as needed if there is an outage. Well, that doesn't work.
First, EF says it is using bypass power but it is actually not. So the battery is constantly engaged even if there is AC power available. So I had to change my setup and only plug in the PPS when I was out of town or when there was an outage currently happening. :colbert:

Then there are reliability issues: basically my PPS randomly stopped working one day and Ecoflow had to send me 4 (!) replacements until one of them worked. So the reliability (at least of this brand and in my experience) is trash.

Finally, yesterday, almost a year to the day from when I bought the initial PPS, we had a power outage. I plugged in the PPS and the vivarium was running smooth. I wake up this morning, check the PPS and see that the power is off.turns out that this thing just switched off AC power randomly in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. So that's also just not great.

So to summarize, I do want a solution like this at home for outages but I haven't found one that is reliable enough to make me happy yet.