Winter Woes and Reptiles

So you've got a house full of reptiles and the power goes off, due to the weather. What do you do now? You should have a back-up plan for yourselves, let along your pets! But do you?

If you live in an apartment, or rent a house, you might be at the mercy of the landlord. If you live in a rural area, you might be at the mercy of the power company, and your location on their power grid.

Either of these mean you may get power immediately, in a few hours, but in worst case scenarios, it may be days, or even weeks! If it's weeks, only a move to a new environment will help. In the case of hours, or a day, there might be other alternatives, that are safe and relatively inexpensive.

First let's look at what you're keeping. If you have amphibians, most of them can stand some cooling off. If you have snakes or turtles native to North America, they can also stand a small cooling off period. When I say "cooling off period" I mean a gradual cooling off, and a gradual return to warmth. If the power goes off, the animal's enclosure should cool naturally. If the power comes back on again, the animals will be getting an abrupt return to warmth. This should be avoided, in my opinion. If the heat goes off, for several hours, turn off the bulbs and/or heat pads under the animals. When it comes back on again, warm up the house, and after an hour or so, put the heat pads, etc back on.

If you have tropical animals, you're best to put them in some sort of styrofoam enclosure to keep their temperatures somewhat constant. Or, you can keep them wrapped around your body, preferably confined in enclosures (such as snake bags.) You can use those little hand-warming heat packs that are available at some stores, BUT you do NOT want to keep them in a tightly closed space, such as a styrofoam box, as they use up the oxygen in that space, and so can suffocate the animal.

If the power stays off long enough, you may have to take your animals to a motel or other safe place, with guaranteed heat, to keep them warm. Of course you do NOT want to feed anything while the weather and indoor temps are questionable. A week without food should have no deleterious effects.

Do NOT place lit candles in their enclosures. I have heard of this being done and this is definitely NOT a good idea, under any circumstances.

These thoughts come after we got a call from some people who's pet alligator got cold during a recent winter storm. Alligators can and do hibernate in the wild, so a small cold snap should have no bad effect on this animal. Again, a gradual cooling (as in the case of a power outtage) and the gradual warming up of this animal should have no long term effects.

When the temperatures and weather stabillize with your reptile collection then you can continue your feeding schedule, and enjoy your critters.