Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok- I'm posting this here b/c there is so much traffic.

Our heater died last nite/ this morning sometime...

We have a 2 car garage thats been converted to the reptile house. Sheetrocked, sealed up- no holes- blah blah blah. Had a/c all summer HAD heat... until recently...

Its 1:30 in the morning and its just getting colder. There is nothing I can do right this second. I got 2 space heaters from walmart that arent doing anything. I have every heat pad, heat light, heat tape, heat cable, heat everything i can find in use. I even had friends bring over 2 other space heaters. The heater ran for the house still works but the one we ran for the garage is dead dead dead!
I've been running my washer/dryer b/c they are out there as well (the only non-reptile related things in the room) and that's helped a bit. but the 4 space heaters dont come close to the big heater... It dropped the temp from 84-86 to a nasty 74 during the day- and now were sitting at 70. I have the door to the house open and hte house heater cranked with vents shut on the far side of the house to push all the heat out the vent nearest to the door. I already had 90% of the screen top cages covered- I added towels to the top of those cages and put towels or blankets in everyones cages- all the snakes are hiding under the blankets- on the heat pads- under the lights...

What else can i do?!?!

UUUGGGGHHH!! I hate holidays- everything I need is closed!!!
I will be at lowes bright and early tomarrow (yay- with all the idiots out shopping) but i HAVE TO GET A HEATER.

anything else i can do NOW that i'm not thinking of?
thanks
-----
The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

Fill up water bottles or something similair with warm water, place a few together and they should stay warm for a while. I've done this in conjuntion with a cooler, or something else insulated and the temps stay fairly constant for at least an hour, if not more.

Thanks! I stuck some bottles in for the iguanas- just nestled htem around thier bodies- didnt even wake up.
I just went back to walmart- since they're the only ones open at now... 2:45 am... i got 3 more heaters- and now its a nice 85-90 degrees out there. I have some 31 lights on, 25 or so heat pads going... 8 heaters i think... and water bottles around the igs...

ugh!

I think its under control- and my washer just sprang a leak everywhere- came back from walmart to find my husband sopping up water from all over the garage and all our cords are up on cinderblocks- to keep them out of the water...
I guess i'm glad everythings on sale tomarrow since i'm buying a heater AND a washer- might as well get a dryer too- since i'm sure i've worn it out by running it for almost 24 hours straight...
no sleep for me- sales start in 3 hours (yuck)

thanks for the water bottle idea-
Beth
-----
The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

fire up the bbq. pretty much just a propane heater!
-----
James.....
"Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought the beast back."

the radiator type elec. oil heaters are pretty good.tha lg round kerosine are better.Where are you ,that you are freakin about 70*i just fed babies and my snake rooms are at 70*but if it hits 69 i turn on the radiators until brumation then i only turn on minimum heat in the morning to take the nip out of the air from the freezing nights out side.
Rescued animals can sleep all winter with min. heat .Just a thought. Chris

that temperature is fine. forget about the room temperature, worry about the temps in the cage. My room gets to 65 sometimes, but that doesnt mean the critters don't have access to warmth in their cages/racks.

things that might help:

temps usually vary from 3-5 degrees from the floor to the ceiling. if you have extra space elevate things.

anything resting directly on the floor will lose heat. If you have anything directly on the floor, elevate it.

and everything else in the room. carbon monoxide. sounds like you did a great job. kd