Winter Husbandry (Yes, I know summer is just beginning...but)

[jylesa]

There was a power outage not too long ago where I live here--someone ran into a power pole apparently, but it got me thinking: The winters up here are pretty cold, and outages don't happen often (the one that happened a few weeks ago was the only one all year.) Granted, when they do happen, they get fixed pretty quickly, but it could happen when it's super cold out--how do you guys prepare (to keep the snakes warm) in the event something like this happens?

[Mr. Misha]

how do you guys prepare (to keep the snakes warm) in the event something like this happens?

This is meant for very small collections (5 or under) but I'd recommend investing in an insulated reptile box and heat packs. Then all you need to do is put the heat pack in the shipping box, cover it with crumpled newspaper and put the snake in a cloth reptile bag and in the insulated box.

Definitely should have a couple of these just in case: http://www.shipyourreptiles.com/shop/heat_packs/product

[kylearmbar]

Don't mention winter this soon...ppl have been shot for less.. seriously it just snowed last week here lol...Anyway I know a lot of ppl just wrap enclosures in blankets and such the best they can. If your real serious about being prepared you can order some 40 hour heat packs like they use for shipping. You can order some from ship your reptiles or LLL I think.

[jylesa]

Lol, now that I've said it, it's probably going to start snowing tomorrow. I've jinxed it.

These are good ideas. I thought about getting one of those back up battery generators but that seems like it'd be way pricey.

[bcr229]

With 36 snakes, 9 little pippers, more eggs on the way, and a small chest freezer full of frozen feeders plus my family's chest freezer (which has several deer and a butchered pig in it) and the kitchen refrigerator for my food... I have a generator. For a winter power outage the snakes would be moved to the room with my wood stove, the generator would power the blower to keep the room in the mid-80's. Two summers ago my generator more than paid for itself when the power was out for four days in July with daytime high temperatures over 100*F; I didn't lose a bit of perishable food.

You don't need a whole-house backup generator, just figure out what appliances you will need to run in extreme temperatures (super hot and super cold) to keep yourself and your animals healthy, get a portable unit that can be run outside, some heavy-duty extension cords, and surge protectors.

Oh, and expect your neighbors to get mad if you don't let them plug in a cord as well. I did let them throw their food into my freezer, they kicked over some gas money so it was all good.

Also be prepared to guard the thing 24/7. When the power was out we had ...extra... slow-moving foot/vehicle traffic through our neighborhood between midnight and 6:00 a.m. No, I never had to confront anyone, just showing that someone was awake in the house was enough to encourage them to move along.

[Michelle1221]

I had heat packs but this year we purchased a generator.

[Morris Reese]

Kind of a different subject, but the day I bought my snake it was kinda cool out. I turned on the heated seat and sat her between my legs.
I told my wife it was a waste of money when we bought the car.
YEP! I'm still eating those words. She feeds them to me often!!!