Emergency winter blackout

my house is in line for this storm and last time we had absolutely no power if the power goes out i might lose my bps so help me i need ideas short of putting them in an oven to keep them alive if we get iced over i also vote this should be a sticky for winter emergencies

Go to Wal-mart, Go into the hunting section, and get some of those heat packs that last 5 or so hours...and buy a LOT of them...hell, buy them all.

ok i am unable to leave the house due to the fact that i have a car (i probably should have mentioned that) if the power goes out during the day should what should i do until my mother gets home so i can send her out to get these heat packs

Generator- they work wonders :D

see that helps my mom works at a construction company and should we need it we can borrow one until the power comes back plz keep shooting ideas this storm is a line from texas to st.louis at least thats what the news says

Realistically until you can stock some instant heat packs the best thing you can do is move the snakes into the warmest room of the house, making sure they are well away from outside walls and drafty windows. You can cover their enclosures with a blanket to retain the heat in there as long as possible. However, you MUST make sure that they can still get some ventilation and you MUST make sure your heating source will not be in direction contact with a blanket.

If all else fails and it's getting too cold, heck put the snakes into small escape proof containers (ventilated) and get under some heavy blankets with them. Your body heat trapped under blankets will help somewhat until your mom can get some heat packs. It's always best to have some of them on hand if you live in an area that gets hit hard.

We're also being hit with freezing rain here though not as bad at this time. I'm staying up late tonight, I have the snake room auxillary heater cranked up so the room is even warmer than normal just in case we lose power for any time tonight.

PC battery backup, won't buy you tons of time but that in conjunction with those heat packs should get you a couple hours at least.

I can't think of anything to add other than what has already been said but good luck. Hope you don't loose your power.

u have a fireplace? if so, build a fire and keep it going. Move them in there...cause it'll be nice and warm there.

Also, if you're able to get hot water, fill some water bottles with hot water. You will have to fill the water bottles up with warm water every hour or so..but it works.

yeah i had hoped we wouldn't need extremes yet but i will have mom go out when she gets home tomorrow i just woke up to icy windows and started worrying and i just don't want a repeat of last year or the year before when we had no power for a day or two and we liked to have froze but plz keep popping out ideas i am sure there are at least a few people in line for this storm that could use info like this

we do have a fireplace but its gas powered and i am worried about fumes is it alright to keep them near a gas fire?

Just a thought from when we lived in northern Michigan and did have to deal with many a power outtage. When I put the instant heat packs in with the snakes I worried about them laying directly on them or in the case of the big boa, actually attempting to swallow one (you never know). I kept a supply of old thick socks around and popped one or two of the heat packs in per sock, tied up the sock and tucked that in right beside whatever hide the snake was in. Seemed to work well. For the big boa, I took a large margine tub, cut a ton of holes in it, popped in a sock full of heat packs and snapped the lid on. Sort of a snake proof radiator. Worked like a charm too. Along with blankets over all the tubs the temps really never dropped much at all.

I am lucky, I have a VERY trusted petstore that has a back up generator. If need be I can take them there to stay warm.

My mom knows the owner. I buy supplies from them all the time. They took my moms birds during our ice storm and kept them for days until we had power again. So if it does happen I can resort to that.

Also check with vet offices. Some of them have generators and you can pay to board your animals there. Mine charges for it, but its well worth it.

If it is only going to be a couple of hours, I would stick with heat packs though.

yeah i will have mom go out and pick up aboutten of them at least once again thanx for posting ideas i'm still afraid i'm gonna wake up tomorrow and the power will already be out

Good idea Nate. I'll just add if you fill the hot water bottle with really hot water then wrap it in a small towel it won't burn the snake nor lose it's heat as quickly either.

its raining and freezing so if it continues like they say it will we might have no power for days yeah i had no intention of putting a bare hot water bottle in with them so the towel was assumed

lemme repost this in here can bps or anysnake for that matter be put near a gas fire without being affected by fumes

I would say no, because they would be burned off and go thru the chimney...assuming the fire is going.

we have a closed chimny it has a flue but i'm not quite sure how to open it

I've thought of this myself and am planning on getting smaller rubbermaid containers that my snakes can be transferred to (compared to trying to heat a huge Animal Plastics T-10) and then I won't need as many heat packs and won't have to heat as large of a space. I like the sock idea to put the packs in though. I already have two full boxes of the packs, I buy them cheap in the spring or late winter when everyone is trying to get rid of them. Got a bunch at Home Depot one year.

ok its not getting too bad so cross your fingers for me . . . *line goes dead* oooops sry wrong button night all

One thing that I'v had to do before (that I didnt think about last night), is that and this would only work if you use a heat lamp, I think- is to cover the entire top in aluminum foil, just curl in under the lid, and leave like a 2-4 inch radius around the heat lamp, depending on the wattage. But it can get HOT, so make sure you keep an eye on the temps and chack them at least every 10 min or so.

Good luck!

1. Heat Packs
2. Shipping Box (with the foams all 6 sides)
3. Newspaper
4. Snake Bag (pillow cover)
5. Thermometer with probe

Make some ball's with the newspaper, put them in the box.
Activate one Heat pack and roll it in newspaper.
Put it at the bottom.
Put your snake in the snake bag and in the box.
Insert the probe of the thermometer in the middle of the box near the snake.
More newspaper balls.
Another Heat pack rolled in newspaper.
More newspaper ball's.
Close the box.

Keep and eye on the thermometer and replace the heat packs when needed.

The insulating foam will help to keep the heat, and the Heat Packs rolled in newspaper will retain the heat a little longer.


Hope this help.

dude are u in oklahoma?, thats where i am and it is fricken crazy. Hopefully my power doesnt go out

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Originally Posted by serpents-prey

see that helps my mom works at a construction company and should we need it we can borrow one until the power comes back plz keep shooting ideas this storm is a line from texas to st.louis at least thats what the news says

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They have snow storms in Texas??? WEIRD!
I have the boot warmers and they say they last more then 4 hours and they reach a heat of 120F, but you can put a blanket under them so they don't burn or anything.
Lots of boot warmers are the best bet I'd say. And they were like 5 dollars for two! Not bad eh! Try em out, but I hope you won't have too!

ok we made it power is still on but if this rain keeps up we're gonna get frozen

I have an idea: stock up on the longer-hour heatpacks (from, say, Superior Industries.) I'd stick with the 40-hour ones, as the 60-hour ones I think were the ones that take a few hours to warm up? But I would do a trial run without a snake in the tub, to see how hot they'd get in the container you want to use, to prevent overheating.
We have an emergency gas heater that goes on if it gets too cold. It was only a couple hundred dollars, and it gives me peacs of mind to know it is there.

Can you use just any heat packs. I thought I herd something about fumes or something about some. Just something to find out for sure before you buy a bunch of heat packs. Then find out the hard way that they can harm your snakes.

I would stick to the ones that are made specifically for reptiles, just to be safe. I think that the issue was, some of them eat up oxygen? This makes them bad to use in sealed-up shipping containers.. this is why people don't use them in shipping snakes I guess.

oh ok I wasnt sure. I know I herd somewhere that some can be bad but couldnt remember why.

I have thought about the same thing lately as it has been insanely cold here some nights. I did pick up some of those hand warmer packs, but I think I need to pick up some more. I tested one out and they work pretty well. Will def be using the sock technique.

Last year we had a blackout in my area. We only had one snake at that time. We kept him in his enclosure as long as we could, until it got too cold in there. Then I put him in a pillowcase, tied the top, and plopped down on the couch with him in the pillowcase under my shirt. We have those heating things now, and an old hot pack thingy that you fill with hot water. Just boil water on our propane oven then fill the pack. It stays warm overnight.

I hope that all the people in the areas that did end up getting hit hard by these storms were able to provide adequate warmth for their herps. Oklahoma was hit the hardest.