Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So here we are in October and a freak storm comes through leaving 2.7 million people without power and I'm one of them. At first I wasn't to worried because our lines are all still up but we are now beginning day #5.

I have been throwing in hand warmers and hot water bottles with the snakes to keep them semi warm and I have a propane heater that I can use to take the chill off but can't leave it on long due to fumes. Well yesterday I really got into cages when I got home from work and everyone was ice cold temps in the 50s so I bundled everyone up in pillow cases and last night they slept with us in the bed. This morning I put bricks on the grill and put them all into one cage. I really don't know what else to do

Anyways I have seen posts befor on planning for the unexpected, from power outages to even keepers death, and I always though it to be a good idea to be ready I just never took the time

Only good thing is we might have power today might not be till midnight but it should be today
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-Stephen-

0.1 Fiance (Babe)
1.0 German Short Haired Pointer (Franklin)
1.0 norm corn (Jake)
1.0 col redtail boa (Dixie)
0.2 ball python (Montie & Bella)
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Torpaz & Saphira)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Amus & Roxie)

Keep them as warm as you can, the heated bricks are a great idea, the large thermal mass should keep that cage warm for a fair time. Maybe rotate one or two from the grill to the cage. Just be careful they are not too hot or that the snakes can't come in contact with them. Once the power comes back on, get them back to temp and in individual cages and keep an eye on them for RI's. Should be OK even with the cold temps.

I have a 7KW generator I can use as a backup. although it does not typically get really cold here in CA.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

last night at about 8 the truck with the flashing lights came through and after a quick survey of the street they started right out in front... not even 20 miniuts later the house came alive. hows that we waited 5 days for a 20 miniut fix....

Dave I did what you said and seperated everyony first thing last night and set up individual cages and bumped up heat. everyone seemed to be okay just a little cold, Saphira was in the middle of a bad shed when i got her set up so i gave her an extra wet towel, and i think i heard a little bit of a wease from Dixi but im not sure.

other than weasing what should i watch for?

i checked on them first ting this morning and they where all much more lively and responsive but i figured it best not to disturb them too much at least for a day or to.

Cliff the heat packs i was using i think are the same thing your talking about, only these ones i have are just palm sized hand warmers i use them for work. i think its the same thing though a chemical reaction thats triggered by air when the packet is opened. the little ones claim good for 12 hours. those other one sound like they would have been much better but these where what i had at the time.

this storm came in saturday afternoon it started snowing about 2 and lasted into sunday morning dropping about 14". now here in new england a 14" snow storm is no big deal, however it was still october.... warmer temps make for wet snow, wet snow is both heavy and sticky. pile heavy snow on trees in the winter is bad enout branches will break, but pile heavy snow on trees in the fall when there are still leaves to collect that much more!!! thats when branches and whole trees come down, and quite often with trees come power lines. saturday night i went out to clear some now, while i was out there i could hear branches cracking. one rather loud crack was followed by a crash and i looked up to see my neighbors lose power, the branch fell and ripped the lines right off thier house.... i went to see if they where okay or if they needed help after that it was time to go inside lol.

anyways there are sitll a lot of people out but as for us we are back
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-Stephen-

0.1 Fiance (Babe)
1.0 German Short Haired Pointer (Franklin)
1.0 norm corn (Jake)
1.0 col redtail boa (Dixie)
0.2 ball python (Montie & Bella)
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Torpaz & Saphira)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Amus & Roxie)

Stephen,
....Glad to see you have power back. Most of the chemical hand warmers you get at hardware and outdoor stores are made to make heat for 4 to 18 hours. You can get longer lasting ones from places like TSK supplies and Ship Your Reptiles which both adverise here on kingsnake. They have them in 20 and 30 and 40 and 60 and 72 hour versions. The 30 hour ones are the cheapest and seem to be the most used in shipping reptiles. The shorter term ones get a little hotter than the longer lasting ones. They contain powdered iron and carbon. When exposed to humid air the iron rusts. Rusting or the conversion of iron to iron oxide is an exothermic reaction. The carbon acts as a catalyst increasing the speed of the reaction. MRE heaters use the same reaction but at super high speed to produce lots of heat in a hurry. They also produce lots of fumes. I was worried when we started using heatpacks for shipping reptiles that the gas produced by the reaction might be toxic but it seems to cause no harm to the snakes even when shipped in boxes with very little ventilation.
Jeff

I just did a little research and found out that MRE heaters have magnesium and sodium in addition to the iron. The magnesium acts as a very dissimilar meatl to the iron and sodium produces heat when exposed to water. No wonder they work so well and produce so much fumes. Warning. Do not use MRE heaters to ship reptiles or warm their cages. If you have ever used an MRE heater you would not need that warning.

hey Jeff

i checked out the packages for the heat packs i was using, i wasnt sure if they where the MRE type you where talking about. i dont think they are the ingredient list iron dust, activated charcoal powder, cellulose and just a couple other things but nothing about magnesium and sodium. so i think that they are okay to use

ill look into TSK and Ship you reptiles i should get some just to have on hand. thanks for you post and your research!
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-Stephen-

0.1 Fiance (Babe)
1.0 German Short Haired Pointer (Franklin)
1.0 norm corn (Jake)
1.0 col redtail boa (Dixie)
0.2 ball python (Montie & Bella)
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Torpaz & Saphira)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Amus & Roxie)

Stephen,
...MRE heaters are much different, they are bigger and fold open to put the MRE food packets into them. I probably should not have even included them in this discussion.
Jeff

OHHHH YEAH!!! lol sorry I didn't make the connection yea Meals Ready to Eat i know what your talking about now, and no not those
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-Stephen-

0.1 Fiance (Babe)
1.0 German Short Haired Pointer (Franklin)
1.0 norm corn (Jake)
1.0 col redtail boa (Dixie)
0.2 ball python (Montie & Bella)
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Torpaz & Saphira)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Amus & Roxie)

Glad they finally got to you and that none of your animals appear to have suffered from it. Here's hoping they all get back to normal after being back up to temp.
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AKA Kith or Kerry

0.1 BRB

We don't have this issue much in California, but it was nice to get a reminder from a chameleon breeder I subscribe to a few days ago. Here is what they have to say:
http://wp.screameleons.com/4-tips-to-surviving-a-power-outage/
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Jess Losee
0.2 BRBs

Maybe try ones close to hospitals, typically the hospitals power a block or so around them on their back up generators.
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Jess Losee
0.2 BRBs

Not surprising, considering that San Diego can't even handle a rain storm despite the fact that we get several every winter. No drainage and pretty much every roof leaks. RAINPOCALYPSE every year. Sigh.
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~Cynthia

"And in the spring, I shed my skin and it blows away with the changing wind..."

I WISH I had the money to get a generator, even if just a small one to power snake cages and a small heater,