Power went out, will my snake be okay?

[juiceboxfaerii]

Yesterday, the strong winds caused a power outage in our neighborhood and knocked the back door of our house open. We don't know what time this happened, but I left the house at noon and my husband got home around 6. For up to a few hours, cold wind was blowing through our house and my ball python, Ribbon, had no heat source. When my husband got home, it was dark but he did his best; he took her out to the car and wrapped her around his neck and warmed her up for half an hour, then put her back in her tank because she peed on him. He didn't notice anything wrong with her and said she seemed fine, but when I got home at 9, I took her out of the tank and she seemed really stiff and kept her head upside down, like she couldn't figure out which way was up. She also started having fluid drip out her nose and making some wheezing noises. I kept her around my neck under my sweatshirt while we packed up the pets and their gear (we also have 2 cats and a chihuahua, who were chilling in the house like the freezing wind was a mild summer breeze). When we got to the hotel, we set up her travel tank and she seemed much more active at that point, and her head wasn't at that creepy upside down angle.

We called the emergency vet before we left and they said the best thing to do was get Ribbon warmed up, but they didn't tell us any more than that. Our power is back on today and we're at home again, but I'm still worried. She stopped leaking out of her nose and the wheezing stopped, but I heard her make a popping noise (only heard her do it twice in 2 hours this morning while she was around my neck). I know the fluid and popping noises indicate a respiratory problem, but the emergency vet made it sound like it should be cured just by getting her warmed up.

So, hopefully someone out there can help! Does it sound like Ribbon will be okay? Is there anything I should watch out for? What causes the fluid to come out her nose? We thought it was water, but when we got home today, there's a pale greenish brown puddle on the floor where she was dripping (we couldn't see it in the dark last night). Also, I was wondering if there's anything we can buy to be prepared for the next power outage, besides a power generator. Are there any battery powered heaters, or something to plug her heating pad into, that would work to keep her tank warm for up to like 15 hours?

[starmom]

Take her to a vet because it sounds like RI (respiratory infection.) RI's don not go away by themselves and need antibiotics from a prescribing vet. I'm so sorry this has happened to Ribbon....

[recycling goddess]

i keep 48 hour heat packs in my house at all times. our power never goes out (knock on wood) but if it does i'm ready with a simple solution till it comes back on!

[babygerl3094]

Yeah i had an electric problem a few days ago... and what i did was fill up some plastic bags with hot water and placed them in a container, covered them and poked holes on the top to let out the heat... and it raised my temps till i got everythin fixed....

[JenH]

Putting hot water in plastic soda bottles works too. I have a cheap styrofoam cooler that I can put 6 to 8 20oz bottles filled with hot water at the bottom then cover that with a towel. Put the snakes in pillow cases, lay them in and cover with another towel. They stay nice and snug. This works well for emergency transport.

I also have 40 hour heat packs for an emergency.....

[pangolin]

What's the best place to get heat packs? My power is pretty reliable, but I'd like to have some at hand just in case.

[JenH]

Any reptile supply will have them...

http://superiorenterprise.com/index....cbdf20a3ae3d9b

http://www.beanfarm.com/store/agora....4=Heat%20Packs

[Gloryhound]

The hot water idea will work for those with natural gas hot water tank or even a gas stove to warm water on. If you are all electric this really isn't an option. I have a back up generator that I can get set up in under an hour. A full tank of gas lasts about 12 hours and I can siphon from cars and lawn mowers if I have to. I think this is the best way to go as it actually states in the helix owner manual that you should not try hooking it up to a computer type UPS system. We generally loose power here once every other month for an hour or so. When I get an incubator I am going to look into some other things to make sure it stays running like finding a stat that will work on a computer ups system or possibly getting an auto start generator hooked into the house that runs on natural gas.