Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Before I get any animal I always have a plan of what to do incase the power goes out for an extended period of time. I have a few questions though about power outages and corn snakes.

1) At what temp should I start to worry and take my corn to a heated biulding( such as my high school or a friends house)?

2) Sometime there is no way to leave the house when the power goes out (tree will fall...) I had an Idea or heating up some towels in a pan of water, ringing them out, placing the towels in a sealed plastic bag and putting that in the tank either under or on top of the apen bedding. What do you think? I am able to heat the water with a propane grill that has a burner attached.

3) Sometimes the grill is at my moms house so if the power went out when she had it then the above idea would be void. 2 years ago the power went out in the middl eof the winter for a little over a week. The house reached a temp of 45 F. I asked a friend of mine that a had a young ball pythone what she did. She said she got her old sling out from wwhen she boke her collar bone, put velcroe on all the sides to shut it, put her snake in and kept the sling under her shirt. I guess that sounds like a good Idea, but would it cause too much stress to a corn?

In case you were wondering, yes my power does go out that often to where I like to have a plan of action. I dont really worry about them in the summer, but as I live in Michigan, the winter power outages are what I like to plan for.

I would really like any input you have! Please share your ideas/plans. Thanks.

if there is food in snakes' gut...it will be a problem....

if it pukes it out....problem solved......

if empty one way or other.....do not worry at all.......

I have brumated corns down to 40-45 degrees already.....a little cold......but they lived.........*(only lost 2 snakes that winter.....first I ever lost any actually......one was a huge 6 1/2 foot yellow rat..about 6 years old.NO reason to have died..)......

....they'll live.....worry about humans.........you'll be colder than them..........

yep.........JY
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.....wow....you people....really.....you are exactly like I thought.........

............right?

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If the power goes out for a long time i would cover the cage and place a heat gel pad that was warmed by the stove(wood) or water faucet etc and place under the tank where the heating pad is, this might work during the winter, but during the summer,, warm towels up some how and place over tank, like in the sunshine if available or something. Or better yet, make a pouch you can atttach to yourself like a fanny pack and put snakes in there if not too big. lol
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My roomates are2 boas, 4 corns,Rotti,3cats and snake food AKA the food chain.

Just get some of the heat packs that we use to ship herps. They last for different periods of time (often 30 - 40 hours or so). You need them only if it gets REALLY cold (below 45 or so) or if they have food in their guts. Corns are easier that way than pythons and boas. Remember that the heat packs use oxygen, so don't make the cage airtight - maybe wrap a blanket around it if you are using the heat packs. Or just put the heat pack under the hide box and insulate the box with something. Then the snake can leave if it gets too hot. Peek at the thermometer in the cage or hide box occasionally to see if you need more than one pack. Be careful not to overheat. They are cheap insurance and last practically forever if you don't open them.

See the link I posted in a thread below (a few days ago) about shipping snakes if you need more info on the heat packs or where to get them.

Don't use a propane grill in the house - that can be dangerous.

The heat packs are a really good Idea, thanks, I will order some before winter sets in. Dont worry the grill is NEVER used inside.

if the weather ever gets that bad here in indiana I'd put them in a hotel under children til it passed. If the weather was really harsh, I'd put on for a vacation and put them on florida.
My corns are my kids...
Link

Oddly enough I just went through the problem of loosing power for 4 days. Although my issue was not the cold it was the heat and that is far more dangerous then the cold to corns. When I built my new house 2 years ago my wife only request id that I have a snake room that was not part of the main house. She wanted it on a different air system and not in the house itself. At first this sounded expensive but it turned out not to be, we built a three car garage and had the single third car built into the snake room. We wired it, insulated it, added a sink and a separate a/c unit and bam snake room that met her requirements.
When hurricane charley kicked out buts two weeks ago, we were with out power and a generator was the best investment I made. For about $600.00 I had power to all of my refrigerators, and freezers, a small a/c unit, TV, Lamps and all kinds of other things people just take for granted. I was living large compared to most. I would recommend that you invest in a generator if your power goes out often form winter storms. Not only will you be able to keep your snakes warm but you too! (just don’t run it inside the house, back porch is the best place to run one.
Good luck
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

I recall a winter when we were without power for two days - I had my bermese and my ball stuffed into pillow sacks and then put them under my clothes and allowed them to use my body heat.

At night I put one sack on each side of me and that kept them warm enough.

just an idea in case things get bad.

Now - I have battery backup systems as well as hot packs.

That's awsome, putting them in bags and sleeping with them. Very ingenious! I lay on my couch with my burm and he fits down the length of my legs, around my neck and back under my arms. I always hold his neck near his head. I usually fall asleep and his slightest move wakes me up. How long do your batteries last? I am also considering battery back-up. I have a brand new generator but it doesn't work right. It's in the shop now.
I also want to use battery back up for my sump pump but it's outdoors.

DZ

well this happened to me i had a power inverter for my truck
allows you to plug 120 volt into 12 volt outlet ok not to mention we live on lake erie so we get some raunchy weather in the winter so what i did was took a heating pad AND a spare
thermostat put all 14 ball pythons in in this huge sweater box
type in my front seat for four and a half days starting my truck every couple hours that was two years ago all snakes still hear and accounted for