All reptile owners need a power-out plan!! Please help me.

First, I would like to say that all reptile owners need an emergency power-out plan!! Many herps freeze in snow/wind storms when the power goes out and their heating elements no longer work.

As it is now getting pretty cold, my herps could easily die if the power went out, I need to figure out a plan. I am pretty much broke, so please keep that in mind when giving me suggestions!

What would you guys do if the power went out in winter? What should I do?

warm rice socks. As long as you have some rice and an old clean sock it's free

Well in extreme emergencies, and I've done this before, have a kerosene heater handy since there's no power required. Set it up safely and move any enclosures into that room. make sure you have some water handy for anyone that has humidity requirements as the heater will dry the air out like you wouldn't believe. It's not as good as having a generator but it'll do in a pinch.

Hi great topic for a very likely event. how do you heat rice if the power is out? I put my money on heat packs. a good cheap alternative. if you do not have the luxury of a generator.
Jack

I agree, great topic. I have gone 12 hours with no electricity last winter. If your house is insulated it doesn't cool down that fast. I did use heat pack's for the crested gecko's and leo but the beardies were fine. We were about ready to move the beardies to our travel trailer when the electricity came back on.

I've been worrying about this recently myself. Last winter we lost power for a full week. I'm not anticipating such a hard winter this year, but it's made me very aware it could happen. I'm not sure the kerosine heater is a viable option for a full week, and our generator is reserved for running the restaurant refrigerators. I suppose I'd have to run them up to a friend's house in civilization. BUT I'm determined to think positivly, so the power won't even flicker this year.

I keep emergency kits for our reptiles. We found that while many companies sell emergency kits for dogs and cats, there aren't any for exotics. Here is what I have in mine:
-several packets of 'hand warmers' the kind that get warm as soon as you open them and stay warm up to 8 hrs.
-canned veggies (for the herbivores, not the healthiest for them, but great for an emergency)
-commercial food
-freeze dried crickets(for the insectivores)
-mini first aid kit (including medical tape, gauze, neosporin and popsicle sticks for splints, just in case of injury)
-several hand towels (to wrap the hand warmers in, they can get too hot)
-harness for larger herps, or mobile container/habitat for smaller ones

Good Luck!

Wow I hadn't even thought of this really. Minnesota winters can be pretty vicious too.

Guess I'll stock up on the heat packs.

What a great idea! I have lost fish, years ago, due to power outages, plus major ice storms have come through here over the last two winters.. My (future)in-laws lost power for over two weeks, and there were many others who were out for longer! I need to make a plan, just in case! I am totally going to stock up on hand-warmers. They sell them in the check-out lines here, so I will pick up a few every grocery store trip.. The in-laws actually live nearby, but function under a different power company, so hopefully if we go out, they will retain. They don't like our animals, but in a pinch, I am sure they will let them stay there.

Hmm... this really got me thinking. I was raised by a crazy, conspiracy-theorist, survivalist, so I have kind of gone numb to this stuff. But I really should be thinking about it!! I have a small area in a closet with emergency supplies, which actually includes cat food.. why not be prepared for my other babies!!

Thanks so much for starting this topic. I'm sure alot of people don't think about a power-out plan until it actually happens.

If you don't have the money to purchase multiple hand warming packs, how about a hot water bottle? The temp from the faucet should be just enough to keep a beardie warm but yet not having to worry about burns. When the water's temp starts to cool down, all you have to do is to refill it with new warm water. This way you also don't have to worry about whether you'll have enough packs on hand.

Another idea is to dress yourself up in layers, then place your beardie in between one of them. You'd be amazed at how fast a beardie would warm up to body heat - just ask Pookie :mrgreen:

Buy a UPS for the computer, its a cheaper generator, the plug in a lower wattage bulb to it just to keep it through the storm.

Turn it off and on every hour i guess or 30 minutes to conserve power, depends on the size of your UPS, but 1000va should give you about a day for a light bulb I think.

The hand warmers are a fantastic idea, I can't believe I hadn't thought of them before! I live in Florida so winter isn't usually an issue but we've already had a couple nights where the temperature has dropped into the thirties and if my power happened to go out I'd have been in trouble(my kerosene heater has been gone since I moved to a warmer climate). I think I'm going to have to put them on my list. I might as well buy an entire case of them since my menagerie seems to be growing!

We actually have beardie survival kits just incase of any disasters. We live in the country an our power goes out several times through the winter. We do have a wood burning stove which helps to keep everyone warm. I keep several... like a case... of hand warmers in our kit just incase. Along with any other items we may need incase of a natural disaster, so we're not scrambling at the last minute in the time of need to locate these items. Mother nature doesn't always give you a warning so you have to be prepared at the spur of the moment.

Our house is all electric it takes electricity to run water even for us, as we have a well. So we also keep several gallons of water on hand too.

I found that the hand warmers are great an inexpensive. Some do tend to get quite warm so you may still need to wrap them in a hand towel so it's not to hot against your beardie. Having them on hand is quite a relief as you don't want to be panicing in the time of need. An you can use these wrapped in a hand towel under your bug enclosure as well so you don't loose all of their live feeders.

My beardies have never eating the freeze dried veggie but I have those on hand too just incase. It's always best to be prepared for the worst. It's seems as if..........if your prepared for the worst it usually doesn't happen. An if it does you won't be so paniced or stressed.

a great thread! Thanks for starting it, i've been worrying as well.

fresnowitte":43ea1 said:

Some do tend to get quite warm so you may still need to wrap them in a hand towel so it's not to hot against your beardie.

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Great point! if used incorrectly your beardie might be severely burned.as as stated it must be wrapped in a towel.