planning for power outages.

[Newyork]

So here in washington it's getting really nasty weather wise. the power has been off and on a few times. If the power is out for a long time what should i do with my T to keep her warm? I'm sure this has been discussed before so sorry about that. In an unexpected power outage what can i do for her and how long can i wait before doing that?

Normally if the power is out we put all of our animals and plants in the bathroom and plug a space heater into a generator. Will this work for a T in an emergancy?

 

[blazetown]

Sure will. If your house isn't gonna get too bad you can cover enclosures with a blanket as soon as the power goes off.....works better for aquariums though.

 

[Red Eyes]

You could keep a few of these heat packs around ... http://superiorenterprise.com/index.php?cPath=29&osCsid=433d4cc88f955bcba84c8a913be80460.

 

[Newyork]

Yeah . . . i've been doing that. She's in an aquarium. At what tempurature should i do somthing else?

 

[Newyork]

If i was to use heatpacks how would i use them.

 

[SuperRad]

Heat packs should be put on one far side of your enclosure so your T can freely move to or away from the heat as it feels necessary. It's the same principal as using a heat pad, if you were to use one. I'd suggest looking at one of those threads as a referance.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I am praying our power does not go out that would be horrible. It is not often Oregon has 16 degrees on the wall for the low with 7 degree wind chill. The part that is scary is the wind is gusting from 35-55mph so if ever there was a time to suspect a wide spread power outage it would be now.
I don’t have a backup plan. With tons of Ts packed into a room I am not sure what I would do. So lets just hope it does not happen. If it does go out I'll be in bed under the covers with my deli of gbb eggs.

 

[MVDaniel]

I use battery backups like the type you would use for a computer system. Works great!

 

[betuana]

For a few Ts heat packs would probably work. A heat pack for every couple adult cages/tanks: Stand the pack on end and press it between the walls of 2 of the tanks so it warms both of them. For smaller enclosures, putting a heat pack in the middle of them and putting several around them should work...

For a very small collection, you could always move the cage(s) under a comforter with you to use your own body heat to help keep them warm. But this wouldn't work for more than a very small number of enclosures...used it a number of times when I had ball pythons and was living in a house where the heater would randomly shut itself off in the middle of the night - woke up several times to a house in the 30s and 40s...brrr...the pythons went in a pillowcase and under the comforter...

Cardboard boxes, newspaper, styrofoam, all make fairly good insulators. In an engineering class I took we had a project where each of us got to use newspaper, cardboard boxes, and garbage bags to attempt to make a container that will insulate well. A glass of water with a digital thermometer was placed in each person's insulator, and they were placed outside in the cold (snow, below freezing, chicago winter...). We monitored them inside to see whose worked best. We found that cardboard and newspaper make EXCELLENT insulators. Stuffing clothing you're wearing with newspaper is a cold weather survival tactic I've read in a few places...The black garbage bag only really made a difference if it was in the sun, the color absorbed heat, etc.

Styrofoam is often used for insulated shipping boxes. I'm saving all my shipping boxes right now for the insulating properties.

Even if you just have boxes and paper, you can stick cages in the boxes (or open the boxes up to surround a group of cages, large or small) and put a box over the top (leave some space for airflow though) to help hold in heat. You could even lay down some cardboard/newspaper, put 4 large tanks on it, stick a heat pack in between where they all meet, wrap newspaper/cardboard (or both) around the sides, leave a bit of space for air flow on the top, and put cardboard/newspaper over the top. The one heat pack should be able to help keep the 4 adult enclosures at a good temperature for some time, especially with the added insulation.

Many places sell sticky plastic sheets that can be stuck to the sill around windows to help add an insulating layer - these wouldn't be a bad investment at least for a T room to help keep it warmer. For extra security, if you don't mind losing the window for the season, you could pack newspaper between the glass and plastic layer.

If hot water is still available with a power outage (depends on how its heated, and how big of a water heater there is) plastic jugs and other containers can be filled with hot water to make temporary heat packs. If its packed in between cages and in cardboard it won't cool as quickly as it might while outside...and it should give enough time to hit a store to get some heat packs that will last longer, since the room shouldn't instantly cool either. If water is heated separately of power (gas, etc) and continues to be heated with a power outage, this could be used as a more long term solution..

For large, high value collections, a small generator and a space heater for a T room are not a bad investment. They may cost a few hundred dollars, but if one has several thousand invested in their Ts it would be worthwhile I would think. However, lots of boxes, paper, and heat packs could still work, but may be more work and cost in the long run, depending on the size of the collection.

There also appear to be emergency heaters that run on either a stored charge, propane, or other methods. One of these would potentially work - just make sure its safe for use indoors (fumes and all.)

A lower tech solution if power is expected to be back in a relatively short time (not out for many hours or days at a time) could be to use extra blankets, cardboard, newspaper, etc to line the walls (especially around/over windows, outlets, air vents, and other breaks in the built in insulation), as well as the ceiling, etc of the T room to help reduce heat loss. I'd still try to pack blankets, cardboard, and newspaper around the cages as well to insulate them too.

For planning ahead in case of a problem, you could always make sure you have cardboard or paper to line the cages, or even more go to a builders store and buy some sheets of that foam insulation stuff, cut it down to the sizes you'd need to enclose your cages with it, and have it stacked somewhere just in case, with some heat packs ready to activate and use as well. Up to a point it will cost less than a generator/emergency heater (and once this doesn't cost less, then just get a heater)

Towels, blankets, sheets, clothing, etc can all also serve in place of newspaper or boxes if thats what you have available! Books too - lots of paper layers there, standing books around the cages should help add some insulation.

Anyway, thats all I've come up with so far in sitting here and brainstorming. Hopefully some of those ideas are helpful to some of you who are trying to figure out what to do to secure your Ts. And hopefully none of the ideas are ever needed and everyone's power keeps working!

 

[Travis K]

Can you safely burn kerosine heaters indoors? I think there is some kind of clean combustable fuel safe for indore use isn't there?

Also NewYork, What part of WA do you live?

We have outages 3 or 4 times every winter at my house and we use a gas generator to keep the house warm.

 

[Newyork]

Thanks for all the really great information. I actually already have my window covered . . . filling it with newspaper sounds like a great trick. I live in western washington so it doesn't get near as cold as spokane but we have several power outages a year usually. We just got blasted with about a foot of snow and suprisingly the power has not gone out for multi hour streches . . . yet. All the trees are staying off the power lines. I've already been keeping a blanket over my tarantula's tank because at night my house somtimes drops to 65 degrees or so. I'm going to go prepare since tonight there is supposed to be more and i'm supposed to be gone. Thanks so much.

 

[syndicate]

I was thinking about this recently as well.Its always good to have some sort of emergency plan.especially if you have a lot of money invested into your collection.I like the heat pack idea.You could easily pack most of your collection into boxs and use some 62 hour packs in there.

 

[barabootom]

I like the heat pack idea too. I usually turn up my heat a few degrees if I'm expecting a storm, that way if the power does go out for a short while the house doesn't cool too much. That wouldn't be of any use if there was a long duration power outage. I hope that doesn't happen to anyone in cold temps.

 

[Arachtis]

In case of an extreme power outage that lasts for days, I would look into something like this:

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=736999

I am crossing my fingers that we make it through winter without any major storms to knock out the power.

 

[rustym3talh3ad]

Can you safely burn kerosine heaters indoors? I think there is some kind of clean combustable fuel safe for indore use isn't there?

Also NewYork, What part of WA do you live?

We have outages 3 or 4 times every winter at my house and we use a gas generator to keep the house warm.

yes, i have a kerosene heater and we use it during the winter just to cut heat costs, its safe for small children as well as pets, the trick is to light it and turn it off outside so that the first/last couple puffs of fumes burn off out there not in ur house (the first light up and the last burn out put off dark smoke that smells funny) another really cool thing about them is if u put a metal pan of water on top of it, ull get a nice humidifier for ur house, which makes it a bit more comfortable during the dry winter.

 

[Trav]

Woodstove and generator. Part of my town just lost its power due to heavy snow and winds.

 

[blazetown]

What part of Canada you in Trav? I'm in southern ontario and so far all we've had is a lot of snow so I'm not concerned with power outtage. If my power does go out though i can move most of my slings upstairs closer to our gas fireplace.

 

[Trav]

I'm on Vancouver Island B.C.

 

[Newyork]

basically if the power goes out we're taking my tarantula to one of my mom's friends. Her house almost always has power. I'd have to stay to though since i'm pretty sure she doesn't like spiders.

 

[white_feather]

I am liking the idea of cardboard boxes around the cages. I never thought of that or the water jug thing. I have a sterno powered camp stove and a small pot to warm the water in so I am going to make up yet another emergency kit for my T's. Perhaps I will get a cabinet with doors on it, line it with aluminum foil since it is an excellent heat reflector. If I leave enough space in between each tank to put a gallon jug of water then I could heat my five tanks easily. The power plant that I can see from my house is the one that caused the great blackout several years ago and we were out of power for at least a day and a half but it was warm out, I would hate for that to happen in the winter. Keep the tips coming everyone.