Emergency Evacuation Plans

[YungRasputin]

what are some good strategies and tips for getting a collection of snakes into shelter ASAP? like in the event of a tornado or something - should I just attempt to bag the big ones and take the small ones by the enclosure? would be keen to hear of people’s emergency protocols

[bcr229]

We're under a tornado watch right now with warnings/alerts/etc. at unprecedentedly high levels not seen in the past decade. If things go sideways we'll have to shelter in place until the storms pass, and then if we have to bug out we'll have to evaluate where we could go. Fortunately there's a decently high mountain just to my west that tends to break up tornadoes so the worst weather goes north of me.

I may also end up taking in snakes from local friends depending on who gets hit, and how.

If the power goes out I have a generator that will handle the refrigerators & freezers, and at least the high-low temps predicted for the next few days are snake-friendly.

[Bogertophis]

@YR- it's always a good idea IMO to have cloth snake bags (or pillowcases), ways to secure them (I prefer twist-ties + rubber bands), styro-foam boxes or ice chests, & heat packs (for winter) on hand, whether you're talking about winter power outages or any other reason you have to evacuate & seek shelter. It's not very feasible to carry even small enclosures around, & judging from when I've moved across states with many snakes packed as described, they do just fine. In fact, it was EASY. Remember to allow for a bit of air-flow in ice chests, & offer water when you have a chance.

BUT also bear in mind that most public shelters for humans do not allow pets- & think about how many people would freak out if they knew there were snakes kept a few feet away from them- never mind that they're "pets"- so while there's been talk in some areas about allowing pets (meaning dogs, cats, birds) in shelters if space allows, you cannot count on that & should be asking your local agencies in charge about their policy. (ie. Would they allow you to bring ice chests if not obvious what was in them?)

@bcr229- Hoping you all stay safe!!!

[YungRasputin]

@YR- it's always a good idea IMO to have cloth snake bags (or pillowcases), ways to secure them (I prefer twist-ties + rubber bands), styro-foam boxes or ice chests, & heat packs (for winter) on hand, whether you're talking about winter power outages or any other reason you have to evacuate & seek shelter. It's not very feasible to carry even small enclosures around, & judging from when I've moved across states with many snakes packed as described, they do just fine. In fact, it was EASY. Remember to allow for a bit of air-flow in ice chests, & offer water when you have a chance.

BUT also bear in mind that most public shelters for humans do not allow pets- & think about how many people would freak out if they knew there were snakes kept a few feet away from them- never mind that they're "pets"- so while there's been talk in some areas about allowing pets (meaning dogs, cats, birds) in shelters if space allows, you cannot count on that & should be asking your local agencies in charge about their policy. (ie. Would they allow you to bring ice chests if not obvious what was in them?)

@bcr229- Hoping you all stay safe!!!

v good advice - in this case, “shelter” is my lower level/basement so the primary mission for me is just trying to get all of my collection down there in the event of a tornado touch down or something - as BCR noted the weather in WV has been p crazy as of late so I just want to be prepared

[Bogertophis]

You could pre-pack your snakes when there is a severe weather warning- it's very time consuming, & that's something that worried me when I lived elsewhere, under threat of wildfires, as that's another thing that doesn't give you much time to pack. You're wise to at least try to plan ahead. Chemical-air quality issues- not sure what you could do for that, as everything has to breathe, & the last time I checked, none of my snakes would keep their little masks on...

[mistergreen]

The humans get out first.

[YungRasputin]

The humans get out first.

i live alone so the only human involved wants to save her babies and would consciously assume the risk to do so

[YungRasputin]

maybe pertinent info for strategies - my current collection is 12 cremates - the biggest being my male scrub, female Afrock, male mainland Burm, + female mainaland Burm - all of which are somewhere between 5-6, maybe 6.5 feet or so - the rest (dwarf Burms, BCIs, etc) I think are probably 3-3.5 feet and i think my BP might be slightly smaller than that but around that maybe - basically trying to figure out the best way to quickly evacuate thems

in the near future this would also include 2 (male/female) Selayar dwarves that are currently around 5 feet as well

[bcr229]

Fortunately yesterday we got heavy wind and rain but nothing too bad. A funnel cloud did form over the city seven miles to our north, and my sister in law who lives a bit north and east got hail. The power and internet stayed on, which is unusual as I often lose both on a sunny 75*F days with no wind, go figure.

When you have exotic critters like we do, having a safe LZ in case we need to get out is a priority. As was pointed out, a shelter will not take them in. Also consider that once you're out of a disaster area, the authorities may not let you back into it, so the critters all have to fit into the vehicle(s) you're taking out.

[Bogertophis]

@ YR- Your original question was misleading. "Into shelter" suggests you need to leave home- not just go downstairs, as did the title "Emergency evacuation plans".

In any case, tornadoes do not give you time to pack a bunch of snakes elsewhere- especially large or otherwise challenging ones. Keeping a snake-bag next to each enclosure might help, but still, moving them all is not realistic unless you do so in advance under a storm "watch"- When "watches" become "warnings" the danger is imminent, but many "watches" don't ever become "warnings" so you're going to get a LOT of exercise.

And basements are great unless we're talking about a flood. There's more than one kind of emergency.

@ bcr229- Glad you're all okay there, & being well-prepared sure helps.