Help with a frozen BP

Long story short:

Power went out, lamp and pad turned off. Snake was exposed to 24 degrees F all night long. Snakes body temp. was at 24 degrees. Snake didnt move for several hrs and was limp as if dead. 4 hrs later muscle movements were present 8 hrs breathing was obvious. 12 hrs into re-warming she was moving around the cage but couldnt lift here head. Here body just kind of pushed around a dead limp neck and head. 5 days past now she seems normal as far as no illness present but she is no way near the same snake. She doesnt move alot and doesnt react to fast movement (visual). Also she doent keep her head upright when she lays, she sets it sideways or sometimes upside down. In general she seems almost stupid and lathargic. Do you think she has permantent damage? Thanks for any help.

noone can make a diagnosis on line....your best option right now is to take it to a vet for a professional opinion

That is a terrible thing to let happen to your snake. I would recommend next time put a thick blanket over her cage and maybe put her into a container with a small water bowl and hide and put her cage near a gas fireplace or a natural/gas heat source that doesn't need any electricity. As for the health, I dont know if your snake is fine. I do know they sometimes get so cold that they cant move certain parts of their body for a long period of time and they recover over time. I dont know much from waht you said though and i still recommend you take your snake to a vet as soon as possible.

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Originally Posted by PythonFan8

That is a terrible thing to let happen to your snake.

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that's not a very helpful judgement to make! who knows if she was awake for the loss of electricity and if she even has a fireplace to keep the snake warm.

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regardless... i send my hugest of hugs to you :hug: what a horrible thing to go through for both you and your snake. please take him to the vet... just make sure he is warm during transit. put him in a pillow case with it securely knotted... and i would put it into a box wrapped in another blanket... or with a heat pack if possible.

just a note for everyone here... heat packs are not very expensive at all. i order them from canadianfeeders.com and i have enough on hand for all my critters... so if we had no heat, i could open them up and give each enclosure one or two. they are 60 hour heat packs so that should get us through any power outage *knock on wood*

please keep us updated regarding your vet visit and how you snake is doing and welcome to the forum :sunny:

Definitely a vet visit in order (do transport with heat packs). You can find the shake type instant heat packs in any sports department, hunters use them quite a lot. It's always good to have some in the house for emergencies like this. Do remember to make sure that your snake can't directly lie on them or swallow them though.

I will try to find the link I had before my computer died a few months back. It was an alarm that plugged into your wall socket, then you could plug your tstat into it. If the power failed on that outlet a very loud tone goes off. It retailed for about $35.00 and was for medical equipment if I remember correctly (Christie if you still have the link could you post it please). That would certainly be helpful if the power goes off while you are sleeping and you don't notice it all snuggled in your blankets.

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

that's not a very helpful judgement to make!

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I agree..things happen that you don't always have control over. It's the holiday season, people take vacations. maybe he took some much needed time away from home and oops, bad storm, power went out...it happens.

this reminds me of an iguana we once had...this was when i lived in Arkansas. we had a bad ice storm one year that knocked the power out for 5 days. to keep him warm, every hour or so we would fill a water bottle up with hot water. that worked out well. we also held him on our shoulder in front of a nice warm fire to keep him warm. of course, we were there to care for him...but in the event that you're not there, what can ya do? there's things that are out of control unless you buy an automatic generator that comes on as soon as your power is out :confuzd:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

(Christie if you still have the link could you post it please

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I lost my computer and all my links in July. Sorry.... :oops:

EDIT - Here's a link from a quick google search though... http://www.talkaboutsleep.biz/cpap-a...lure-alarm.htm

What a scarey thing to happen to your baby and you the next time something like thats happens if your home take teh snake out and hold it against you it they may not like beign out so much but it would keep he\she warm I hope everything turns out ok for you and your baby

even if they were home... often times "how do i keep the snake warm" isn't on the top of the list of "to do" in that situation.

i know if we didn't have heat packs and if we didn't have our fireplace and our heat went out... we'd have a lotta frozen tarantulas, frogs, anoles, crested geckos, firebelly toads, about 300 fish, cockatiels, parrotlets, budgies, canaries, millipedes, african land snails... i have no idea how i could even begin to keep them all warm.

i do know however, that my kids would be on the top of the list... and everything else would be below them.

i hope Miah comes on and lets us know how the snake is doing now. :hug:

I'm just curious - if it's been five days since this happened, why she wasn't taken to the vet right away?

Besides telling him to warm up the snake and observe and wait, what can a vet do but charge him an arm and a leg? The damage is done, it's not like a dose of antibiotics is gonna clear things up. If the snake won't drink and becomes dehydrated, I would gavage some electrolyte, but if it comes to that the prognosis is very poor anyways. Keep it warm, and see what happens, but 24 degrees for that long may be past the point of no return. More than likely much internal tissue and nerve damage and the only thing to give it is time. Just my .02

Don't give up hope though, it seems BP's can survive some pretty harsh circumstances. For instance, I found a BP at a drive thru at a Hardee's one fall night in Ohio, about 35 degrees out, that looked like someone stabbed it with a knife in the belly. (obviosly an escaped or discarded pet)I took it home, warmed it up, opened up the 2 inch incision and there didn't see any bleeders so I sutured it up, applied some neosporin, and the snake came through without a hitch and barely a scar. Made a friend of mine a great pet and he still has it to this day. In fact, the snake was so adorable, it's what got me into BP's from that day on.

This is one of my biggest concerns since we lose power a lot during ice storms or heavy snow. I don't use racks for my snakes but I think I am going to get some small tubs with lids (one for each snake) that they can comfortably fit in, but will be easy enough to heat with those handwarmer heater packs. I have been looking into a generator for some time now also, now I have one more incentive to buy it!

I have a generator, but I would still need to notice that the power was off. I looked into a automatic one, and it was about $4,000.00, including instalation. Fortunatly, the flexwatt is such a low draw that it barely figures into the wattage math. The one I have is 6000 watts with a 8000 watt surge. That sounds like a lot, but it takes 1800 to start the compressor on the fridge. Plus if I spent all that on an automatic generator, what would I use to buy snakes? :D

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Originally Posted by Jahbeard

I have a generator, but I would still need to notice that the power was off. I looked into a automatic one, and it was about $4,000.00, including instalation. Fortunatly, the flexwatt is such a low draw that it barely figures into the wattage math. The one I have is 6000 watts with a 8000 watt surge. That sounds like a lot, but it takes 1800 to start the compressor on the fridge. Plus if I spent all that on an automatic generator, what would I use to buy snakes? :D

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but if all your snakes get sick because of power being out for a week and you have lots of vet bills, what money will you have for new snakes? be sure you can protect what you already have before you add more

If you have any gas running to your house, a simple wall mount gas heater is great. keeps temps and humidity up, and is foolproof. Bout 200$. Plenty good for keeping a room(or most of a house) at 85 degrees till the electric is restored, and a heck of alot cheaper than a 4000$ generator. BTW, installing a generator is mega simple. A male to male cord plugged into any outlet powers your whole house!!!

I was just wondering, what a vet would do in this situation..
That is an awesome idea about the heat packs, Aleesha..!

I have a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) that will keep the cage going for several hours, and a couple tubs with ski-glove handwarmers handy IOE.

Sorry about the snake, I hope everything works out. I agree, I'm not sure what a vet will do besides check for and RI...

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Originally Posted by PythonFan8

That is a terrible thing to let happen to your snake. I would recommend next time put a thick blanket over her cage and maybe put her into a container with a small water bowl and hide and put her cage near a gas fireplace or a natural/gas heat source that doesn't need any electricity. As for the health, I dont know if your snake is fine. I do know they sometimes get so cold that they cant move certain parts of their body for a long period of time and they recover over time. I dont know much from waht you said though and i still recommend you take your snake to a vet as soon as possible.

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calm down buddy, it could have very well happened to you also.

I'd like to hear the outcome here. We lost power for 36 hours last month due to an ice storm. Fortunately, a friend with power was able to take my snake in. But the experience got me thinking--and worrying.

well i wish you the best of luck. I dont worry about this problem very much. I live in FL, so we usually complain that the AC is off when the power goes out. lol.

that has happened to me before, power went out. my temps dropped to 60, and quickly gave them the heat pads, those are very convenient

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

I was just wondering, what a vet would do in this situation..
That is an awesome idea about the heat packs, Aleesha..!

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thanks jen. it makes me very happy to know i have a large stock of them in my house... just in case ;)

I have not read every post, but where was this snake being housed that the temps could get down to 24 degrees?

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Originally Posted by pfan151

I have not read every post, but where was this snake being housed that the temps could get down to 24 degrees?

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If heat goes out in a house and the house is in a cold climate it could get to 24 degrees especially if the outside temps are like in the teens or lower.

Yes it 'could' but it's not likely something you sleep through.

When I was young my family was NOT well off. In fact, in the winter at our old house we used to use blankets to block off the upstairs. Even under five blankets and an electric blanket we would freeze and usually wake up to ice covering the walls if we stayed up there.
No cental heat or anything so fancy, we had a big gas (stove I called it thugh I'm not sure what it was) and heated the bathroom and the kitchen with kerosene heaters.

This house had pretty much no insulation and was ancient beyond ancient.

HOWEVER, In any halfway decent semi modern house the temps should easily end up above fourty.
So I am very curious to see where this snake was being kept.

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Originally Posted by Entropy

Yes it 'could' but it's not likely something you sleep through.

When I was young my family was NOT well off. In fact, in the winter at our old house we used to use blankets to block off the upstairs. Even under five blankets and an electric blanket we would freeze and usually wake up to ice covering the walls if we stayed up there.
No cental heat or anything so fancy, we had a big gas (stove I called it thugh I'm not sure what it was) and heated the bathroom and the kitchen with kerosene heaters.

This house had pretty much no insulation and was ancient beyond ancient.

HOWEVER, In any halfway decent semi modern house the temps should easily end up above fourty.
So I am very curious to see where this snake was being kept.

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Maybe it was kept in a shed or garage converted for herp use.

Semi modern or modern house if heat goes off and temps are very low the house could very easy drop into the 20's especailly if snow is invloved or wind.
I am pretty up on modern houses and their insulation etc as I build homes for a living :)

HOWEVER, I tend to agree if you where alseep in said house it sure should wake your butt up before it even got that cold.

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Originally Posted by jotay

Maybe it was kept in a shed or garage converted for herp use.

Semi modern or modern house if heat goes off and temps are very low the house could very easy drop into the 20's especailly if snow is invloved or wind.
I am pretty up on modern houses and their insulation etc as I build homes for a living :)

HOWEVER, I tend to agree if you where alseep in said house it sure should wake your butt up before it even got that cold.

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That's what I am saying. There is no way a person sleeps through a 24 degree night. I am also not too sure a well insulated house could go from the 60's (I'm assuming it was heated to this temp) to 24 overnight unless the temps were in single digits for a long time. Where is the original poster located?

I try and keep a few heat packs around to add some hear if need be. Since we have a gas stove, I just light it with a match, heat some water up and put it in 2 liter bottle which I put in the tubs/cages. Balls can tolerate a bit of lower temps and still be healthy(usually) than my boas for example

The OP seems to have disappeared.