Keeping BP safe during long term power outage?

[Guiding Golden]

I'm in CT, in the path of Hurricane Sandy, which is expected to hit us tomorrow afternoon/evening. Last year, our area was affected by Hurricane Irene- although I believe it was a tropical storm by the time it hit us- and most of our state lost power for about a week, with some areas around two weeks. We didn't have a snake then. We have a generator, so we should be able to keep our heat sources for our BP running, assuming we're able to stay in our house.

How can we prepare to care for him and keep him warm if we run out of gas for the generator or have to leave our house?

[ewaldrep]

I'm not sure, you could order some of the warming packs for shipping and try those out for the days you are out of gas. I would also consider holding them often and allowing your body temp to warm them, maybe even putting them under your shirt next to your belly. They should survive a short period of cold, they do tend to be "hardy" for the most part. Good luck!

[loonunit]

Yeah, hand warmers, plus a down blanket over the tank or rack.

A caution with the hand warmers: They get very hot. A snake could burn itself if it cuddles up too tightly with the warmer. Might want to put the hand warmer in a paper bag with some crumpled up paper between the edge of the bag and the heat source. Or any other solution that puts some space between the warmer and the snake...

[BHReptiles]

I definitely vote for the holding. If you just have the one snake, allow some of your natural body heat to help warm it up. You can also cover the cage with a blanket or put some hand warmers in a towel and place that in the tank. Hopefully there won't be a power outage and it won't be an issue.

[BPro927]

Generator!

[Gpoop]

Generator!

Those are sold out in my area lol

[baskingbaby]

Glad someone else asked this question as I'm in the same boat, but in Delaware. Supposed to get slammed and normally my bearded dragons are fine for a few days without power, but only having this snake for a week is making me nervous! My power goes out if a gnat flies by the power lines....so I'm almost positive it will be going out soon. I bought some extra hand warmers (10 hour ones were only 79 cents at Boscovs) and would wrap them in a washcloth or something so they can't have direct skin contact with it like someone else said. And I always hold off food due to no basking temps...

[BleedingOrange36]

My girlfriend gave me another idea also that might help. We have a gas stove, we will still be able to boil water. I wonder if we heat water up and put it in ziplock freezer bags, or in a 2 liter soda bottle or similar. Put that inside the Rack and cages. Just an idea for people that don't have heat packs or generators.

[LLLReptile]

I actually keep 1 to 2 shipping heat packs on hand for each of my snakes in the event of needing to evacuate or there's a power outage etc. 40 hour heat packs, in a paper bag, work perfectly for heating up an area of a tub for a while. Plus since they last about 40 hours, you can plan how many you'll need, and just pick up that many. I've never had to go more than the 40 hours with them, so a couple weeks of relying on them may get a little old...but I've found it extremely effective. I use them when we are out at presentations for the day as well when the weather is cooler.

-Jen

[TheSnakeGuy]

My girlfriend gave me another idea also that might help. We have a gas stove, we will still be able to boil water. I wonder if we heat water up and put it in ziplock freezer bags, or in a 2 liter soda bottle or similar. Put that inside the Rack and cages. Just an idea for people that don't have heat packs or generators.

The 2 liter bottle is a great idea. I would fill up 2 of them water as hot as you can get it(without melting the bottle when you pour it in) and then wrap it in foil and a towel. This would be good for a snake or lizard to snuggle up against without risk of burn.