[General Care] Power out, temps will fall to @60F.

[Subflow22]

The issue is isolated to my apartment unit. Bills paid and both the electric company and the company that leases the power infrastructure say there are no issues on their end. Apartment leasing office looking into it. So when I left for work, the temps in my boa's cage were @82F, but will undoubtedly fall to @60F before too long if the power doesn't come back on. How much should I be panicking at this point? How long do I have before I should get him to a friends house? Will be be ok for the 6 hours until I get out of work?

Thanks in advance.

Sub

[Noelle7206]

Re: Power out, temps will fall to @60F.

Much depends on how insulated your apt. is...and how many windows etc. The best thing would be to bag each snake separately & securely (if you have more than one) and put that bag in an ice chest with either a chemical
heat pack (sold for hand warmers & airline shipping) OR with a couple good-sized jars of hot water...I had to do this for 4 days in a 45* house when an ice storm left me without power in '09, and ALL my snakes were fine. It
stayed a balmy 80*+ inside for a good 8 hours, at which point I re-filled the hot water.

I highly recommend everyone who keeps snakes make such preparations ahead of time: have on hand the ice chests/styrofoam boxes, the empty jars (if you have a gas hot water heater that will stay on without power) or
heat packs, and snake 'bags' (pillow cases are fine...thrift stores sell them cheaply too if you don't want to share yours...just make sure there's no holes, as a bored snake will find & enlarge them) and strong rubber bands and
wire twists (or zip ties) for securing the bags. If you power goes out, it may not be much fun to hunt for these items.

[Subflow22]

Re: Power out, temps will fall to @60F.

Thanks for the response! I would imagine the issue would be resolved before the end of the day. I have a friends who will keep them for me in smaller tanks for a few days if needed. My next question is how long can a typical (healthy) RTB stand temps @60F? I'll move him to my friends house tonight if the issue isn't resolved by then. He'll be ok for the 5 or so hours between now and then?

[Zaphod42]

Re: Power out, temps will fall to @60F.

While obviously not ideal he should be fine. I had a boa escape once while I was gone for a few days and it took me another two days to find him. So he spent 5 days in 60 degree weather (it was in a garage). I ended up finding him on a shelf super high up and he was really sluggish, still tried to rip my face off when I grabbed his tail, lol. I almost fell off the ladder. I monitored him closely for several days but he never had any issues. I've heard of other boas escaping and being found days later and they were fine as well. The only time I would really worry about it is if it was a gravid female.

I second the recommendation to be prepared though. I bought a bunch of shipping warmers from shipyourreptiles and I always have extra pillow cases for all my snakes. Luckily we've never had any extended power outages but it's always a possibility.


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[natieb]

Re: Power out, temps will fall to @60F.

60° for a short time isn't the end of the world. If the temp is low for more than a few hours, you run the risk of developing a respiratory infection, and extreme cold (30s and below) can be fatal in a hurry. I agree with what the others said about an insulated cooler and heat packs. The heat packs you get from a reptile shipping supplier are much preferable to the hand warmers you find at Walmart or an outdoors type store. Hand warmers hit a high temp (up to around 150 IIRC) and wear out quickly, while the shipping heat packs get a bit over 100 more gradually and last much longer.

[Subflow22]

Re: Power out, temps will fall to @60F.

Thanks all! Feeling a lot better.

[bcr_229]

Re: Power out, temps will fall to @60F.

If you just have the one snake, you can put him in a pillow case and then put him under your shirt to warm him up once you get home.

I have a room full of critters in racks so I have a generator to run an auxiliary heater in my herp room. If there's an outage during the winter, the rest of the house can crash (except the plumbing areas) but my herp room will be in the low 80's for the duration.

[Pandorasdad]

Re: Power out, temps will fall to @60F.

Agree with the others, I do. A short time near 60 won't be a big deal. If you have to go with hand warmers from Walmart or outdoor stores, wrap them in a towel with a couple of layers to keep the snake from burning itself.

[weird_science04]

Re: Power out, temps will fall to @60F.

I had a tornado come through my backyard one year. It put my power out for days and I was worried to death over it. Temps dropped in my house to 60's and I went out the next day to get a heater. However, all I could get was a kerosene heater. I was so paranoid about the fumes and the potential for it to get hot, I barely used it.

Needless to say, after a few days, only my ETB ended up with an RI. I was lucky for sure. However, a few hours of cooler temps probably will not really affect a healthy snake.

Just keep an eye on the snake afterwards to catch a possible RI early.

Star

[Serenityskyz]

Re: Power out, temps will fall to @60F.

I'm new on these boards so I don't know if this is the right thread to ask this but it seems similar. I live in Ontario and last year we were without power for 4 days. What do I do to keep a Colombian Rainbow Boa warm if it happens again? I saw the part about the hand warmers in a towel but I also need to watch humidity. Any ideas or maybe I would just have to take him visiting?!

[weird_science04]

Re: Power out, temps will fall to @60F.

Obviously the best option is a generator. However, it isn't always feasible. I wouldn't worry about humidity for a day or 2 if power goes out. Humidity naturally rises and falls where these boas natural environment is.

Star