Collection/Egg Crisis

[Meltdown Morphs]

Well I'm not sure what to think of all this. I know ball pythons are hardy but there is usually only so much they can take when it comes to extremes.
Since Friday I've been without power, and up here in Michigan the temps in the house did't last vary long with all the gusting going on outside, and with my first clutch of balls in an incubator that was powerless I was trying very much not to panic.
The smallest of my balls I piled them in 1 tub with a couple of 40 hr heat packs. but it grew colder and colder by the time the other tubs had reached the 60's and I had to do something to heat everyone up, so I bagged everyone and lined them by the fireplace which we were forced to use cause the house temperature was one its way to the low 50's, as long as the fire kept going a safe distance from the fireplace kept everyone at about 75-82 degrees, but that was better than nothing.

As for the eggs, since I had been using standing water in the bator, I started using boiling water to raise the temp, but it was hard to stabalize, I know the eggs have now been exposed to highs of up to 93 usually not for more than 10 minutes and lows to 76. but once I did stable the temps they would last for a good 6 hrs with 2 blankets over the bator door.
Being that the eggs were laid on the 29th, Friday was only the 3rd day into incubation when all hell broke loose, I'm hoping and praying they all go full term and don't end up being horribly deformed from all of the the temp fluctuations. I had candled them a couple times to make sure no solid masses were starting to form in the eggs and actually got to see a very tiny baby wiggle around. I'm really concerned from the multiple warnings that I've seen about not getting the eggs wet. Due to the temperature flux there were several times I found the eggs themselves covered in condensation, which I would carefully wipe off, I' m hoping that condensation didn't harm the eggs, I was already having slight dimpling happening with the humidity at 100%, but luckily none of the dimpling got any worse.

I just hate the fact that it was only abut half our block that lost power, the blocks next to us were fine even the rear half of our street was still ok. I hated feeling like I was just in a isolated bubble of misery that took the electric company almost 3 days to get to

And if anybody has any advice on getting a ranco thermostat to work again, I could really use it. Now that the power is back on the house is slowly warming back up but my ranco is stuck on the blasted E2 error. I've unplugged it, waited, plugged it in , made sure it wasn't set at the max temp or anything and it just keeps going back to the E2, is it cause everything is so cold it doesn't know what to do? sheesh. I've had this happen before and it just seems the ranco starts working when it feels like it, which is really not what I need right now, I just need it to do what its suppose to

[LotsaBalls]

Run to the store and buy a cheep thermostat and set it just above where the ranco is set at hopefully to warm it up. Maybe that will get it to kick in. And at least it's better than nothing.

[chasingtime]

get a gas generator for next time. they really work great. sorry this happen to you and good luck...

[Meltdown Morphs]

Up here in Michigan its extremely abnormal to have weather that knocks the power out in winter/early march, and even during the summer months power outages usually didn't last 24 hours, but the temp in the house wouldn't drop too badly in the summer,but sure enough a generator is going to have to be worked into the budget now cause this was extremly stressful.

[LotsaBalls]

You could also put warm water in bottles in the incubator to raise the temp.

[chasingtime]

Up here in Michigan its extremely abnormal to have weather that knocks the power out in winter/early march, and even during the summer months power outages usually didn't last 24 hours, but the temp in the house wouldn't drop too badly in the summer,but sure enough a generator is going to have to be worked into the budget now cause this was extremly stressful.

i got mine on craigslist when i live in rochester ny...

[Evenstar]

Up here in Michigan its extremely abnormal to have weather that knocks the power out in winter/early march, and even during the summer months power outages usually didn't last 24 hours, but the temp in the house wouldn't drop too badly in the summer, but sure enough a generator is going to have to be worked into the budget now cause this was extremly stressful.

Good golly, I live just an hour or so north of you and we loose power all the time here in central MI most often due to weather - quite often for 48 hours at a time or more. Where exactly are you in MI where that doesn't happen??

We've invested in a whole-home generator which is wired directly into our home and operates off our propane gas. Our furnace is tied into it as well as our sump pump, refigerator, and every outlet in the home. However, I certainly understand that a whole-home generator is not feasible for everyone.

Even a gas generator can be expensive, but it is certainly the best option. The peace of mind it'll offer you will be well worth the expense.

As far as your ranco, I agree with Lotsaballs and recommend you pick up an inexpensive t-stat. You should be able to find one at your local hardware store or Home Depot. If you set your Ranco at, say, 90, then set the new one at 92. It won't let the ranco overheat but it'll still control the temp. If that doesn't bump start your ranco, I think I'd invest in a new t-stat alltogether.

Sorry this happened - I'll keep your eggs in my prayers!

[Meltdown Morphs]

Heh I'm about 30 mins north of detroit, the little city of pontiac. At least in our house extended power outages over 24hrs were not common. I've had my ball pythons for at least 6 yrs and colubrids before that and never needed a generator for power outages cause they simply didn't last that long, and certainly didn't happen during the winter months.Guess I need to abandon that mentality.

[RichsBallPythons]

i was part of that power outage this weekend, and jsut got mine last night back on. I just ran the incubator to the rack next to it. Set the stat lower to 86 and it kept my temps identical to my herpstats temps.

Then i ran all the other racks and space heater to the generator. I also have a indoor propane heater i run as well to keep room 88F. One 16oz can lasted me 9 hours straight on low.

as long as you can keep room temps up in the high 80s you will be fine as the incubator will settle to room temp.

[Evenstar]

Heh I'm about 30 mins north of detroit, the little city of pontiac. At least in our house extended power outages over 24hrs were not common. I've had my ball pythons for at least 6 yrs and colubrids before that and never needed a generator for power outages cause they simply didn't last that long, and certainly didn't happen during the winter months.Guess I need to abandon that mentality.

LoL! I was born in Pontiac and grew up in West Bloomfield. My hubby and I are in Midland now but we don't live too far out in the sticks - Saginaw is only 30 mins away. But this winter sure has been a strange one. Ironically, we haven't lost power once this year up here.