Cold resilience

[anthroterra]

I've searched old threads for info on winter preparedness, but I didn't see any posts on what a ball python can survive. I have backup heat in case of a power outage, but am going to be gone a week in December and want to plan in case there is a power outage and I'm not home to warm them. I have 2 ball pythons and 2 corns (who should be more ok since they are native to the area unless it gets too cold)

-I don't have anyone able to take them in for a week (and don't trust anyone to stay here)
-I can't have someone leave the propane heater on unattended
-I may be able to have neighbors switch out reusable heat packs

Any input or other ideas?

[anthroterra]

*crickets*

[Coluber42]

I guess without a backup power supply, it's kind of hard to think up what you could do to maintain temperatures if the power goes out and you're not around. What do you think are the chances of that happening, and how cold do you think it's likely to get? Would your pipes be in danger of freezing? Do you have a plan for that?

I would say that if having a neighbor change out heat packs is a possibility, then you could prepare for it in advance just in case. For starters, get some foam insulation board or whatever else you can find to insulate your enclosures and wrap them all up on all sides (including underneath) so they lose heat as slowly as possible, before you leave. Decide where the heat packs are going to go, and make sure to put a hide close to that spot so even if the rest of the enclosure gets cold, the snake has somewhere warm. Once you have some sort of insulated setup, you can keep it in some closet just in case and then if you ever need it you'll have it.

Judging by the stories of people's BP's going missing in the house for days or weeks and being found in unlikely places, they seem to survive temperatures in the 60's; I don't know how cold you could get away with, but I would imagine that the risks increase as the temperature drops. It also seems that a big problem with lower temperatures is digestion, so you probably want to leave the snakes with an empty stomach just in case.

[paulh]

I had a 2-day power outage in December quite a few years ago. Room temperature got down in the low 60s Fahrenheit. My snakes at the time included a Burmese python and a couple of ball pythons. No extra heat sources. I just left the room closed up so heat loss would be as slow as possible. All the snakes came through with no problems.