Power outage. help!

[Bo 17]

Hi guys so I live in Texas and we are getting some record low temps tonight it is gonna get to 10 degrees. Our power has been out for 2 hours and our temp in the house is 65 as of now. I have one BP and I put him in a pillow case and put him in a cooler with some hot water bottles. They are holding heat pretty well it is about 85 in the cooler. Just making sure that he can still get air and not suffocate being in a pillow case and a closed cooler. Also if u have any suggestions of anything else I could do that would be appreciated. Thanks!

[dakski]

Hi guys so I live in Texas and we are getting some record low temps tonight it is gonna get to 10 degrees. Our power has been out for 2 hours and our temp in the house is 65 as of now. I have one BP and I put him in a pillow case and put him in a cooler with some hot water bottles. They are holding heat pretty well it is about 85 in the cooler. Just making sure that he can still get air and not suffocate being in a pillow case and a closed cooler. Also if u have any suggestions of anything else I could do that would be appreciated. Thanks!

Closed cooler = bad idea, as you said.

Either drill a few holes or find a container that has a few holes in it or that you can put a few holes in. Airtight is not good.

A pillowcase and small a container that you can keep under the covers with you - again - not airtight. You just want to make sure you don't roll over and crush the BP - hence the container.

Hope things improve quickly.

[nikkubus]

You probably want to open it every so often to let fresh air in. Not sure how much air is in there vs space taken up by him and the water. If you have some way to put something under him that leaves air space (like a little wire basket upside down or something to hold him towards the top of the container so that CO2 falls down below and he is still getting O2 that would help. In shipping I've had plenty of animals come in boxes with no air holes poked in, but they are only taking up about 1/10th of the space in there and the rest is crumpled paper (mostly air).

[Bo 17]

Thanks guys I moved him to another cardboard box with holes because I don’t want to stay up all night opening it. He is still in a pillowcase so he can’t escape and I covered the box with blankets to keep the heat in. Hopefully the power comes on soon!

[Bogertophis]

Hey, cardboard is no match for the cold- I'd use the ice chest- just put a small wad of tape in the opening or on the lid, so it doesn't shut tight. I went thru a 4 day power outage from an ice storm with about 3 snakes (bagged) in each large ice chest, & only opened about every 8-9 hours when I changed the water in the bottles. Also, 85* is pretty intense- your goal should be about 80*. None of my snakes got sick or harmed in any way from that ice storm ('09) -I had 15 at the time including a large BCI. Now I have 19 snakes, & I would do the same thing again if needed. Save the blanket for the outside of the ice chest. In the ice storm I went thru, I put all my ice chests together on the couch, & padded around them with pillows & blanket. I often wished I could have fit inside one of the ice chests myself... My house got down to 45*, by the way. And in each ice chest, I used 2 jars of hot tap water (not boiling). Air goes right thru the pillow case, just make sure he's not right up against the hot water bottles- wrap a small towel around each one, in case he moves around in his pillow case. Hang in there.

[bcr229]

Thanks guys I moved him to another cardboard box with holes because I don’t want to stay up all night opening it. He is still in a pillowcase so he can’t escape and I covered the box with blankets to keep the heat in. Hopefully the power comes on soon!

Put the cardboard box in your bed with you. Your body heat will help keep him warm.

Hopefully it's not a huge box...

[Bo 17]

Thanks everyone for your help. I kept him in a cooler that was open a crack with hot water bottles and covered it in blankets. We got through the night. It is now 51 degrees in my house and the power has still not come on. If it doesn’t soon, me and my snake are gonna go to a friends house.

[nikkubus]

Brrr. Hopefully it comes back on soon

[Bogertophis]

Hoping the best for you- but it seems that what at first they said would be "rolling black-outs" have turned into much longer ones, depending on what area you're in. If you do go to a friend's place, be very careful on the roads too- make sure your snake travels in the cooler with warm water etc, & that you have emergency supplies with you, just in case. You don't want to end up stuck in a worse situation, just saying.