What to do in the event of a power outage?

MiyagiCham

MiyagiCham

Member
So as many people in the Northeast may know, we are about to get hit with a pretty nasty snowstorm that'll leave close to a foot of snow on the ground. My neighborhood has always had some poor electricity that will go out pretty easily. I don't want my cham (Or any of my other reptiles, for that matter) to freeze in the event that the power goes out and we lose power for his bulbs and our central air vents. We had a generator, but it got wrecked a few years back after Hurricane Sandy. Any advice for keeping them warm if the power goes out? Maybe some kind of gas powered heater?
 
Please dont run anything that uses ethanol gasoline in your home. Not only will your pets die but you will be putting everyone in your house at risk. Im lucky enough to have natural gas and I stalled a small heater in the wall of my back room where my reptiles are to keep it nkce and warm even in the event of an outage. Another thing I used for my reef tank when I had it was a battery backup. It would keep my pump running for 72 hours to circulate water. If you only had the heat bulb plugged into it, it would probably last for a week. Of course cover the cage with a blanket to contain the heat. Thats all I have for now, I'm sure others will chime in.
 
Gavinsons said:
Please dont run anything that uses ethanol gasoline in your home. Not only will your pets die but you will be putting everyone in your house at risk. Im lucky enough to have natural gas and I stalled a small heater in the wall of my back room where my reptiles are to keep it nkce and warm even in the event of an outage. Another thing I used for my reef tank when I had it was a battery backup. It would keep my pump running for 72 hours to circulate water. If you only had the heat bulb plugged into it, it would probably last for a week. Of course cover the cage with a blanket to contain the heat. Thats all I have for now, I'm sure others will chime in.
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If we lose power, I'll try the blanket technique. I know my father had a kerosine heater, and my mother knows of someone with a propane heater, but I don't know if either would be healthy. Maybe I could find a battery powered heater, but as for now I just hope to god that my power doesn't go out.
 
Never run propane or kerosene heaters indoors. You and your pets will die of co2 poisoning. Do you have a gas or electric water heater? If gas, you can buy hot water bottles and place them in the cages for radiant heat. Otherwise an outdoor generator or battery powered heater are really your only options.
 
When I took my guy to the vet I filled a water bottle with hot water and wrapped it in a towel, and put that in a box with him. When I opened the box, he was sitting on the warm towel. If you have access to hot water, maybe you can work something out in a small, well ventilated box?
 
What section of Philadelphia are you from? I've never lost power for more than an hour or so and your cham should be able to deal with that
 
So I have been looking around on the interwebs and at the pages of stores like home depot and stuff and I was able to find electric battery powered heaters, which I believe will be really useful in this situation. I'm gonna run out and get one tomorrow.
JGuinan007 said:
John Levitt house? I guess everything is electric? I grew up in Penndel
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Yeah, it seems as though certain areas of most of our neighborhoods have varying electrical power. Some groups of houses can hold up in even the most wicked storms, and others power goes out in the most gentle gust of wind. Sadly, my house is the latter.
 
What kind of a chameleon? Is that a panther in your avatar? There was a panther that had a walk about in Lousianna until around Christmas. The temps got down to close to freezing if I remember correctly.

I don't even know if I would cover the cages with blankets. I wouldn't expect to lose power in a snow storm. Is there an ice storm expected?

If you were to lose power for several days and can't keep the house about 40F, I might pack them up in little shipping boxes and take them somewhere--a friend's house or a hotel. If I had to be in a house that isn't above 50, I would pack myself up and go to a hotel.

Don't use a gas or kerosene heater indoors as everyone has warned. Carbon monoxide kills and most people don't feel it coming.
 
jajeanpierre said:
What kind of a chameleon? Is that a panther in your avatar? There was a panther that had a walk about in Lousianna until around Christmas. The temps got down to close to freezing if I remember correctly.

I don't even know if I would cover the cages with blankets. I wouldn't expect to lose power in a snow storm. Is there an ice storm expected?

If you were to lose power for several days and can't keep the house about 40F, I might pack them up in little shipping boxes and take them somewhere--a friend's house or a hotel. If I had to be in a house that isn't above 50, I would pack myself up and go to a hotel.

Don't use a gas or kerosene heater indoors as everyone has warned. Carbon monoxide kills and most people don't feel it coming.
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Yes he is Panther. I just think I might lose power due to the poorly built power lines, and I wanted to get some recommendations on what to do in the event that I do lose power. And can a panther actually live in that low of temps? I would've thought that they'd give up and say "Yeah, screw this." By 40 degrees! Lol. Either way, I'd rather keep him warm than freezing.
 
MiyagiCham said:
So I have been looking around on the interwebs and at the pages of stores like home depot and stuff and I was able to find electric battery powered heaters, which I believe will be really useful in this situation. I'm gonna run out and get one tomorrow.

Yeah, it seems as though certain areas of most of our neighborhoods have varying electrical power. Some groups of houses can hold up in even the most wicked storms, and others power goes out in the most gentle gust of wind. Sadly, my house is the latter.
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LOL I remember those days when I was young it used to happen to us a lot but most of the trees were cut down around the power lines in my parents neighbor hood and it doesn't happen too much anymore. Anyway another thing besides the hot water bottle might be to get heat packs like hot hands
 
MiyagiCham said:
Yes he is Panther. I just think I might lose power due to the poorly built power lines, and I wanted to get some recommendations on what to do in the event that I do lose power. And can a panther actually live in that low of temps? I would've thought that they'd give up and say "Yeah, screw this." By 40 degrees! Lol. Either way, I'd rather keep him warm than freezing.
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In this kind of situation, I think overheating (with hot water bottles or chemical heat packs) is more a risk to your chameleon than just letting him get cold. You really need to know how those heat packs work, if they use oxygen (I think they all do) and whether or not they release fumes.

I wish I could find the thread about the panther that was lost for something like six months and found in December. The temperatures were down near freezing.

I would be more worried about adding heat than letting him get cold. If it gets too cold, pack him up and take him to some place heated.

They don't feel cold the way we do. For us, we die if our body temperature drops only a few degrees. A cold blooded animal just slows down. I think he'll be fine.
 
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