What to do in case of power outage

[PsychoSnake]

Power is out city wide in my area due to an apocalyptic wind storm. 911 is not responding to calls due to high volume and the city has requested to only can emergency services if it's life or death. The power company can't handle the volume of phone calls either. On my way home I saw a transformer lighting up with electricity and a few downed trees. Nearly everything is closed. Generators are sold out.

Fortunately I was home when the power went out after a loud crushing sound and I moved all my snakes into the. best insulated room and shut the doors to it. I am currently heating the room with large candles (its keeping the room at 73) and I bought a kerosene heater from home depot before its generators went out. It's really bad here.

Anyone have suggestions on keeping the snakes warm? It is expected that the power outage will be prolonged.

[PsychoSnake]

Update: the power outage has reached historic levels. Slightly less than half of power customers do not have power in the entire county. My only connection to the outside world is my cell phone on dwindling power, my landline phone, and the radio in my vehicles. Holy crap it is boring!

I will be transferring my frozen rodents tomorrow morning to a friend who still has power. The snakes are staying at a stable temperature of 71 without any heating elements on. I've got the window covered halfway with a blanket which is the primary leaking point in the room. My body seems to be helping keep the ambient temperature up. All other areas in the house are cold! Tomorrow morning I'll fire up the kerosene heater with the window open for a short while to raise temps in the snake room. My retics and anacondas are the ones I'm most worried about as they have recently had a huge meal. They need the heat to digest! I'll also go for a little drive to recharge my phone soon.

[treaux]

Wow. That's a long outage. Glad you're getting by.

I guess that's one benefit to having a wood burning stove to heat my living room/den.

[Tsubaki]

Damn, good luck! I have a solar power charger + battery charger for my phone in case of power outages, maybe something beneficial for next time.

[trailblazer295]

Be careful with the volume of candles, they put off carbon monoxide and enough of them in a small space can increase the PPM.

I've been thinking about my plans for a power outage a lot lately. This just gives me more of a kick in the butt.

[Jim Smith]

It's funny that this subject should come up today. I was actually looking at whole-house backup generators this morning. I'm looking at one that runs on natural gas and have it run whenever we need it. We don't get a lot of power outages where I am because all the utilities are buried, but the ones we do have can be a bit longer than usual. The last one was caused by a utilities construction crew who cut the wires and never even knew it. I went down to where they were working and told the foreman and he wanted to argue with me saying that they hadn't done anything wrong and it wasn't them. That took three days to get sorted out as the crew packed up and left without reporting any problems. Oh well, as they say, "We can put a man on the moon, but we can't stop a fool with a backhoe." Psychosnake, good luck with your outage and I hope they get it sorted out soon and get you back up and running.

[chairman]

Easiest way to provide emergency heat is to use a gas stove to boil water, place that water in sealed containers, and put the containers next to your enclosures. Put a blanket or sleeping bag, preferably a down one, over the whole cage.

Repeat as necessary when the water cools.

[PsychoSnake]

Well power is still out. With no heat on last night the temperature in the snake room only dropped to 69. I only burned candles during the few initial hours of craziness. Right now I'm blasting the room With the kerosene heater with a window open and ites heating things up fast. I only.plan to run it when necessary.

I just called to cancel the shipment of a rosy boa I ordered.

I don't have a gas house stove but I do have a little camper propane stove I can boil water in. The racks/glass terrariums have been covered all night.

Everyone (snakes) appears to be okay but since the damage is so extensive the power company has to first restore its power transmitters and then they are going to concentrate on restoring power to hospitals and emergency services. I'm thinking I'll be without power for at least a few days. This is the worst storm we've had since 1996. Back then all schools were shut down and some people were without power for two weeks.

[PsychoSnake]

Crazy day! Stores are either closed or sold out. The line at McDonalds was 15 cars long and Starbucks was so full the line started outside. Someone hit my car head on today but we both lived. I worked all day.... I'm glad my dad was home to take care of the snakes, but it's getting colder outside and harder to keep the snake room warm. I'm glad I'm home before sunset. Traffic is awful. Traffic lights on busy roads are often out. Power lines and trees blocking most main roads at some point.

The current report is 70% of the county is without power and it will take 3-5 days to restore it. It's evidently the worst outage ever experienced in this area.

[PsychoSnake]

Update: Most of the city is still without power, including me. But some of my neighbors do have power! One block away! Hopefully it'll turn on tomorrow. Most stores (that are open) are completely out of supplies. The shelves are just empty. Traffic is ridiculous because of all the trees and power lines and nonfunctional lights. Lots of car accidents!

As for the snakes I've been able to keep them between 69-77 F with the kerosene heater. My temp gun has been extremely useful. We usually have to check temperatures between 1-2 am and I just point the gun on the walls from my bed. Sucks for my dad because he's on vacation visiting me and we have to live in the snake room. My living room if freezing. I'm worried about the pipes freezing.

[PsychoSnake]

Well, still no power. This is getting old. I had to take my dad to urgent care last night. It was a lot colder last night too. I woke up to this: Daisy, my largest female today boa pointing her belly towards the direction of the kerosene heater. My dad had fired it up before I woke up.

[Albert Clark]

So sorry about your emergent dilemma! This sounds really bad. Are you able to get your hands on a case of 40 hour heat packs and some aluminum foil? I know if you have to order them that could be problematic. I think there are 72 hrs heat packs also. What about a battery operated heater? Just a thought. Hope you get through this ok and the power returns quickly.

[bigsnakegirl785]

I once had power out for 2 weeks during the big snowstorm here in NC ~6 years back, it was like 3' of snow and we lived out in the country. The city limits had power again after 3 days. The only thing that saved us was the wood stove.

We don't have any way to create any sort of heat without electricity here, we have the means to connect our stove to our oil/gas/whatever it is but that's probably not something that will happen this year. :/

I think your kerosene heater is going to be your saving grace PsychoSnake. Is there a reason you aren't able to run it for longer than you currently are?

[trailblazer295]

Gas or wood fireplaces are a great investment. Look nice when everything is good but will work when the power goes out and can put a lot of heat into the house. Can easily raise the temp of the area into the high 70s. The rest of the house might be cold but that area won't be.

Good luck though, obviously less options during the problem when stocks in stores are gone.

[PsychoSnake]

Are you able to get your hands on a case of 40 hour heat packs and some aluminum foil? I know if you have to order them that could be problematic. I think there are 72 hrs heat packs also.
That's just it. I have to order it.
I think your kerosene heater is going to be your saving grace PsychoSnake. Is there a reason you aren't able to run it for longer than you currently are?
Definitely. The problem with the kerosene heater is that a) it produces carbon monoxide and requires having the window open whenever running it and b) just running it when necessary requires a gallon of kerosene a day. At the rate it's currently being used I will have heat until Monday.

The good news: most of the city is back online. The power company has been importing linemen from out of state and they are working 24/7. Transmission lines are close to being repaired and they are now working on distribution lines. I still don't have power but the city is beginning to go back to normality. However we are running out of gasoline.

[trailblazer295]

That's the problem with a lot of space heaters, electric needs power and the rest burning fuel has by products.

I can't think of anything that will help at the moment, brain is a bit clouded from a few beverages. If I think of something I'll post it. If you know someone who has a portable generator it would be good. During a local ice storm last year there was a guy going house to house with a gas powered generator who ran each furnace for awhile to warm the house up then moved on to the next one.

[pet_snake_78]

Put a Carbon Monoxide detector in the room to be on the safe side. How many BTUs is your kerosene heater? Might have to drive out of the city to find more fuel but I'd fill up another 5 gallons or so of fuel to be on the safe side. I would imagine most snakes would be fine with 70s-80 as long as they don't need to digest food. I was reading that VPI keeps a lot of snakes at a constant 80F. Overheating would be a big issue, though.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Definitely. The problem with the kerosene heater is that a) it produces carbon monoxide and requires having the window open whenever running it and b) just running it when necessary requires a gallon of kerosene a day. At the rate it's currently being used I will have heat until Monday.

The good news: most of the city is back online. The power company has been importing linemen from out of state and they are working 24/7. Transmission lines are close to being repaired and they are now working on distribution lines. I still don't have power but the city is beginning to go back to normality. However we are running out of gasoline.

That's a lot of fuel, for sure. >.> Hopefully your power will be brought back up soon with all that help, how are the snakes that recently ate doing?

[PsychoSnake]

Put a Carbon Monoxide detector in the room to be on the safe side. How many BTUs is your kerosene heater? Might have to drive out of the city to find more fuel but I'd fill up another 5 gallons or so of fuel to be on the safe side. I would imagine most snakes would be fine with 70s-80 as long as they don't need to digest food. I was reading that VPI keeps a lot of snakes at a constant 80F. Overheating would be a big issue, though.
I already have a CO detector in the house. The heater can generate 2300 BTUs at its max setting. The room is 12 x 8 x 8. I'm very lucky to have my dad in town. He babysat the snakes all night while I was working. It's really hard to juggle work and keeping the snakes warm.

That's a lot of fuel, for sure. >.> Hopefully your power will be brought back up soon with all that help, how are the snakes that recently ate doing?
I just got five more gallons of kerosene. Restoration is estimated to occur on Sunday or Monday. They are doing well. My green anaconda pooped and the retics are becoming more active and show signs of food moving to the cloaca. My dad rearranged the snake room to more efficiently deliver great to the snakes. They seem to enjoy it.

[PsychoSnake]

Here's a picture of the survival snake room. The tubs on the floor are the hardest to heat. Going to the Target that still has power to get another tub to elevate them off the floor.

[PsychoSnake]

Well my dad flew home today so now it's just me and the snakes. Pretty lonely. I asked local reptile enthusiasts with power to help but I got turned away. Because the heater has to be run so frequently I'm basically unemployed ("on vacation ") until I get power back. This is kind of soul crushing. The power company just released a statement today that although 70% of customers have had their power restored my particular area is a very complex situation and will take much longer to restore.

I'm going to have to turn off my cell soon which means no internet. Most of my neighbors have fled. It's tough. No internet most of the time. No TV. No radio other than the car. No one willing to call my damn landline to communicate with me because they prefer texts. My landline doesn't require power people!

Ugh, sorry, just sick of this. It's so isolating.

Snakes are doing okay as long as there is constant monitoring. So there's that.

[PsychoSnake]

It's getting colder and it's been harder to keep things warm. I fell asleep for three hours and that's too long now without heating. It's so cold I have to heat the room up every hour. The snakes can't stay here for much longer. I have to get them to power. I'm starting to freak out.

[PsychoSnake]

Update: I bought a battery powered radio. It's keeping my mind calmer through all this nonesense. As I said nights are getting tough. It's a miracle my pipes haven't frozen yet. I've been heating up water in a pot on my kerosene heater and filling saved Talenti gelato cups as make shift heat packs. For those most at risk of getting too cold (bottom rack snakes) I've bagged them and threw them in bed with me. Fatty (my female green anaconda) just barely fits in my largest snake bag. God I hope she doesn't pee the bed. She pees frequently.

[trailblazer295]

Keeping water flowing through the lines will help prevent freezing. Or shut off your main and drain the water

[PsychoSnake]

I'm going to try and overnight a sshipment of heat packs on Monday. I may be without power until Wednesday or longer. I had to cancel my Thanksgiving plans too. No Thanksgiving this year.

[pet_snake_78]

Why not get a second kerosene heater and heat the whole darn place up? I think as long as you keep a slight crack in a window, it's safe enough to snooze with it going especially if you have the auto tip off shutoff. Would also probably make it less likely that the temps would drop so drastically in the snake room if the whole floor they are is at least somewhat warm.

[pet_snake_78]

Early winter storms can be a huge issue, we had one here a few years ago that took the power down for days. It's even worse than the dead of winter because some of the trees still had leaves causing more snow weight buildup and more downed lines. Whole house generator might be on next year's christmas list.

[trailblazer295]

Early winter storms can be a huge issue, we had one here a few years ago that took the power down for days. It's even worse than the dead of winter because some of the trees still had leaves causing more snow weight buildup and more downed lines. Whole house generator might be on next year's christmas list.

All the recent stories of power outages has me paranoid. Even locally some peoples power is going out due to wind. No snow yet to take lines down.

[bigsnakegirl785]

All the recent stories of power outages has me paranoid. Even locally some peoples power is going out due to wind. No snow yet to take lines down.

Yeah same here, I might go ahead and invest in a small generator for the snakes and my phone this Black Friday rather than getting my gaming computer's parts....Bigger if I can afford it. I don't really like the idea of being in a store during that mess, but I think a generator will be my best bet.

Hopefully everything starts looking up PsychoSnake, this is a terrible situation to be in. :(

[trailblazer295]

Yeah same here, I might go ahead and invest in a small generator for the snakes and my phone this Black Friday rather than getting my gaming computer's parts....Bigger if I can afford it. I don't really like the idea of being in a store during that mess, but I think a generator will be my best bet.

Hopefully everything starts looking up PsychoSnake, this is a terrible situation to be in. :(

Be mindful of the fuel your generator uses and keep in mind that gas stations can't pump fuel if they are down. Gasoline doesn't last well in storage and propane requires multiple small tanks or a big tank. For outages a few days that would probably work but prolonged ones you could end up running into issues. I don't know where you live in terms of your fuel options. Personally I have my own home so I'm saving for a natural gas powered one so it's unlimited but it's over $2g starting price. I'm planning for the worst because last year an ice storm knocked out power to some friends and family members for over a week.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Be mindful of the fuel your generator uses and keep in mind that gas stations can't pump fuel if they are down. Gasoline doesn't last well in storage and propane requires multiple small tanks or a big tank. For outages a few days that would probably work but prolonged ones you could end up running into issues. I don't know where you live in terms of your fuel options. Personally I have my own home so I'm saving for a natural gas powered one so it's unlimited but it's over $2g starting price. I'm planning for the worst because last year an ice storm knocked out power to some friends and family members for over a week.

I normally keep my car's gas tank completely full, once it gets to about 1/2 tank I re-fill it. So that gives me 18 gallons at a time, so hopefully that will have me covered for at least a few days if that's what I go with, and if any of the counties within 45 minutes in any direction around me still have power I can make trips out. Any sort of natural gas or kerosene is easy to come by here, it's just expensive of course.

I don't have the means to get something like that natural gas one you mentioned this year, but maybe next year. I just really need something enough to keep the snakes warm and power our phones, stuff like that.

[trailblazer295]

Wait was that a typo you go out and buy natural gas? I don't think that's possible. Propane converts to it's liquid state at -40f while natural gas is -200something. I've only ever heard of it done on trucks but even then it's not common due to the equipment required to keep it that cold. Propane is 250x the volume in vapour while natural gas is 600x the volume.

When I meant stored gas I meant jerry cans for a generator not in the car. Of course keeping your car fueled is a good idea.

I don't have them means right now either to buy one. It might be cheaper in the states then up here. Of course everything is more expensive. But long term it's a better investment just due to longevity. More so if you live in an area where power outages are common.

[bigsnakegirl785]

I'm not sure where I said I go out and buy natural gas, I did say natural gas is easy to come by because a lot of people have natural gas heaters around here. We had one at the apartment I used to live in, it was delivered I believe but not 100% because the apartment owners took care of it. Kerosene, gasoline, propane, I can get ahold of whatever type of fuel I need around here. The natural gas just came to mind first because I used to heat with it, if you can't power a regular small generator with natural gas then I can get ahold of whatever other types of fuels are generally used.

Ah, are you not able to transfer gasoline from your car to generator at home? If so, I would only really be buying fuel for the generator before an expected storm anyway, so the shelf life doesn't matter much as a long as it lasts at least a week.

I do also have a big propane tank to power our monitor heater outside, but I'm not sure if I'm able to incorporate that into a small generator?

[PsychoSnake]

In my case there is a gas shortage because everyone is having the same ideas. There is also a propane shortage.

My salvation: my friend let me bring my snakes over to her house as she never lost power. They are being kept at 80 degrees although bagged in a large tub.

[chairman]

Have you considered a solar system? There is a variety where the power is provided by a battery bank w/ AC converter. The solar panel(s) charge the batteries when you lose power but your electrical grid keeps it maintained when there's no sunlight. A small system won't run your whole house but can maintain a room.

I only suggest this because I was in a similar situation as yourself and ended up buying myself a gas generator to avoid it in the future. Said generator hasn't been run in 5 years...

[PsychoSnake]

I unfortunately rent so any modifications to the duplex like that are out of the question. I am also under employed and need to get a second job to pay my future bills if my current job doesn't pick up more clients soon. I wish I owned my own home, but I can't afford anything but the crappiest fixer upper (unlivable).

My dad has a solar system on his house in California so I'm well versed with it. He's thinking of investing in a battery for it.

The good news is the snakes are warm now at my friend's house, which also enables me to take more work. I went ahead and ordered more snakes bags and heat packs.

The bad news is we're going to have a (possibly) major snow storm tonight/tomorrow and the ETA on getting my power restored is now Thursday. My power went out last Tuesday, on my birthday in fact! Happy birthday to me!

[PsychoSnake]

Update on the power crisis:

I HAVE POWER!!!!!!!!!

My power was restored this morning on the first snow day of the season. My pipes did not freeze, my pilot light did not go out, my internet is back online, and everything appears to be in working order now. I have been without power for 7 days and it has been a nightmare.

The snakes are still bagged and hanging out in my friend's indoor pool room, which is 80 degrees and humid. I hand watered them last night with a syringe so they had the opportunity to hydrate. My yearling rosy boas were very thirsty!

They will be moving back home once I get the house aired out (strong smell of kerosene) and the snake room cleaned and organized. Right now my house is so crazy disorganized right now it looks like it has been robbed.

I'm so excited! I can resume normal life soon.

[trailblazer295]

Congrats on the good news.

I think this should be a wake up call to the rest of us with winter coming to formulate a power outage plan. Most people think "it won't happen to me".

[bigsnakegirl785]

Great news!!!

[PsychoSnake]

Congrats on the good news.

I think this should be a wake up call to the rest of us with winter coming to formulate a power outage plan. Most people think "it won't happen to me".
It really came as a shock to the whole area. There were warnings of the oncoming wind storm but nobody took it seriously. The winds turned out to be hurricane strength. My state imported help from several other states and Canada too to work on it 24/7 and not everyone has power yet.

I'm exhausted from it all. I did order heat packs and more snake bags for next time.

My recommendation for a preparedness kit for anyone experiencing an extended power outage in the cold:

A) temp gun - this is your reptile's life line! Do not leave this out!!
B) snake bags for all sizes of snakes in your collection, and extras too
D) a case of 72 hour heat packs (I wish I had these)
C) a large tub with air holes to fit all your bagged snakes into that fits easily into your vehicle (if you have giants you need to figure out the transportation logistics ahead of time)
D) newspaper (to soak up messes in the bags)
E) a syringe for watering small snakes and a squeeze bottle for larger snakes when bagged -- don't assume your snakes aren't thirsty! Thirsty snakes will drink. Their thirst may surprise you. If they don't you still have the satisfaction knowing you at least offered it.
F) gloves and disinfecting wipes - just useful
G) an evacuation plan -- where? Who can help? Who will help? Bird people who hate snakes saved mine when reptile people turned me away. Don't assume you can tough all situations out. Nothing is full proof.

Everything else is up to you.