What to do in case of power outage - Page 2

trailblazer295 · 11-20-15, 08:09 PM

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 · 11-21-15, 08:54 AM

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 · 11-21-15, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PsychoSnake

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 · 11-21-15, 11:44 AM

Quote:

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.

Quote:

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 · 11-21-15, 12:26 PM

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 · 11-21-15, 07:25 PM

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 · 11-22-15, 01:38 AM

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 · 11-22-15, 03:57 AM

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 · 11-22-15, 06:30 AM

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

PsychoSnake · 11-22-15, 01:08 PM

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 · 11-22-15, 01:57 PM

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 · 11-22-15, 02:01 PM

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 · 11-22-15, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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 · 11-22-15, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer295

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 · 11-22-15, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785

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.