How do I prepare for a storm/power outage?

[LTMets44]

We are expected the storm to hit tonight. I am hoping we wont get hit too hard, but I am nervous that the power may go out. Usually when the power goes out, we just wait it out. But now I have a BD to worry about. Is there anything I can buy in the future, that if the power goes out, I can still provide lights for my beardie? I can't afford a generator and have no place to store one, unless there is a small battery operated type generator?

Any advice?


Thank you

 

[sean8172]

If the outage is only temporary, your beardie should be fine without light. How warm do you keep you home? If the temps inside stay in the 60s, something should be okay. If you're worried about heat, hand warmers will work for a temporary fix. You can get them at your local drug store, or maybe even Wal-Mart. A very bright (non LCD) flashlight can produce some heat as well. But much, but a little. A small generator would be your best bet for back up power in the future. Bottom line, if your house doesn't get extremely cold, your little guy (or girl) will be okay for a short while.

 

[gilliesexotics]

Hi, You can buy a generator for 100-150 that will be powerful enough to run your lights. I cant think of anything cheaper than that to provide light/ heat in a power outage unless you want to go big bucks. Like the above post if it is temporary, lights arent a necessity unless it is for heat.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Another possibility for power outages is to use a Power Inverter. These plug into your car cigarette lighter or attach to your car's battery to give you power.

You can find Inverters at Walmart and most Auto Supply places but the best place to buy them would be an RV supplier or better yet a Truckstop...I have been a longhaul trucker for over **cough cough mutter** 25 years and Inverters are almost a necessity in a rig...lol

Just make sure when you look at them that the one you are looking to purchase puts out enough watts to more than cover the total wattage of the bulbs you want to run off of them...the wattage output on those things have 2 numbers...one is a Continuous output and the other will be a peak output or burst output. The Continuous output is the important one so if for instance you have a 75 watt basking bulb and a 15watt UV bulb and say a 100 watt CHE...you would have a total need of 75+15+ 100=185watts..you would need a inverter that puts out at least 200 watts continuous power and preferably 300 watts....you can usually buy a good 300 watt Inverter at most Truckstops for about 30-40 bucks that will give you a couple of outlets and plugs into a car cigarette lighter and that comes in a nice hardshell case for storing when you aren't using it.

Just beware that when using an Inverter you will need to idle your car periodically at least or you will end up with a very dead battery in a short amount of time



Stay Safe!

 

[LTMets44]

Thank you all for the tips. We are going on day 2 without power. Gotham is currently laying on a blanket with hand warmers underneath it. He seems to be doing fine for now. Hopefully we get the power back on soon.

 

[Aleena]

So sad! Good luck, and let us know how you're doing.

 

[river-7]

wishing all the best for anyone that is the way of this storm-Hope all your babies stay warm and safe-Bella-aka-river

 

[LTMets44]

Still no power here. They are expecting us to be without power for about a week. Gotham has been relocated to my daughters boyfriends house. He has had and cared for every lizard in the past from BD's to iguanas to monitors, so I know he will take good care of Gotham.

 

[river-7]

I just purchased today- 4-heat packs that are used for shipping,!-is good for 72-hours and i was thinking about going tomorrow and getting one of those large flash lights that work-men use and that should throw some kind of heat for the babies[battery operated].I don't know how much heat they throw but it must be some lol-and lasts for awhile. Even though we are in Canada-they also had a warning that we might lose power and the last black-out we had lasted 2-3-days. So not going to take any chances. we have some 6500 without power now and their still trying to fix it. bella-aka-river

 

[BeardieMama]

Ya we lost power for a couple days and I was so worried about Harry. I made sure the wood stove was roaring so the house stayed warm and I used my hubby's dewalt battery operated flashlight for some basking time. Harry could have cared less. He noticed his lights were off, looked at me, turned around and went to bed. He slept until his lights came back on. Refused to bask with the flashlight. I did spoil him a little and let him sleep beside my bed where it was nice and toasty until the power came back. So sad all the people still without power though. My heart goes out to them all!!

 

[river-7]

HI: I think the flash light idea is about the best outside of a generator which most people don't have room for[or can't afford one] it must at least throw a little heat so i bought them a couple of days ago. The salesman said they do throw some heat[yah]. So i am all prepared just in case and i bought some beardie pelletts that are in a little cup pre-mixed and you just add a little water to soften just in case you can't get out for crix; So at least my mind is eased a little and i tried some pellets to make sure they would eat them and good babies they are-They did try them, mind you not too much but they tried and it won't be too much of a shock if we get hit with the storm.Keep safe everyone-Bella-aka-river

 

[LTMets44]

Power came back on today. 7 days without power.. Could have been worse tho.. I will be picking Gotham up later on today.. I have missed him. (Wonder if he missed me) lol

Thanks for the support guys!

Good luck to all the rest who have lost way more than power!

 

[LunaLupus]

One thing we keep in the house in case of emergencies are Hot Hands. Pop one, wrap it in a blanket and you have a hot spot for your beardie, snake, or any other herp. Living in the midwest these keep my mind at ease when the storms start in the winter.

 

[Aleena]

Glad to hear your power is back on!

 

[NaTasha Brinkley]

where are you located? I'm in long island and we got hit pretty hard. I STILL have no power at my house so I've been staying with my mother in law and had to bring Rocky here with us. He went 2 days without lights and we were putting hot water bottles in his enclosure to keep him warm. I was really worried about him at first b/c my mother in law didn't have power for the first couple of days either, as soon as she got it back I brought him here, but idk what I would have done if I couldn't find a place for him!

 

[LTMets44]

I'm in Northern NJ. We didn't get hit that hard but I lost power for 7 days. I dropped off Gotham at my daughters boyfriends house because he was the only one that had power. It is pretty scary when you don't know what to do. The 1st day I went out and bought hand warmers as suggested above to keep him warm. For the future I will look into some type of generator just to be prepared.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

That hurricane is a great example of the importance of planning ahead and having a plan in place before things like that or any potential situation that might knock out the power or heat where you live. Not just for the sake of the creatures you care for but also for yourself and family members.
Being from Southern Louisiana I learned from an early age that one of the biggest keys to eliminating or drastically reducing the stress and anxiety when things like this are headed your way is to make that plan, get what supplies you will need and keep them on hand and already have your plan B set up just in case it's worse than you figured it would be.
I feel fortunate having grown up in an area where storms like that were common and frequent cause being prepared well ahead of time was instilled in me and think that even folks that don't live in areas where major storms are common should still look ahead and ask "What if?" and decided what they will do. Every area of the country has weather related situations that pop up or set in and wreak havoc at some point.

I'm thrilled that all of you made it through and that your dragons did as well. Please do take what happened and for the next one already have your Plan A and Plan B ready to go. You will find that having those set makes riding the storms out much much smoother...even the rough ones

Enjoy!

 

[LTMets44]

Buddha - Great words of advice. I think we all go around saying, "That won't happen to me". But you never know. This was the worse power outrage that I ever been through and I lived in this area all of my life. I have friends that have been preparing for the apocalypse for a long time, and still wasn't prepared for this storm. They did tell me that this was a huge eye opener for them and on the bright side of this storm, it exposed weaknesses in their "Plan B".

I know that this storm certainly opened MY eyes and I will slowly but surely acquire everything I need in case something like this ever happens again (or worse)