HELP!!! My baby corn snake is in danger!!!?

Question

we have a storm coming (I live in Virginia) and may lose power. The snake's heat lamp plugs into an outlet and she would die without any heat for a whole night. Usually, you're supposed to hold them when the power goes out to supply them with body heat, but she just ate yesterday and you're not supposed to hold them for a couple days after they eat or they could regurgitate the mouse. I'm looking around for battery powered heat lamps today, but I don't know of any pet store that carries them. I'm thinking about using one of my mom's ThermaCare heat wraps that are supposed to stay hot for 8 hours to wrap around one side of the bottom of the tank, but I don't know if that would be enough. how can I keep my baby warm???

Answer 1

Unless it gets below freezing you won't have to worry.

Coach

Answer 2

Ok I have had the same issue if the power goes out get water bottles and heat a bunch of water then fill the bottles with water and wrap them or put a blanket or towel over them put them at the bottom of your tank and your corn snake can get warm this way also when this happens i put a flashlihght on the top of the tank pointing down so i can keep an eye on my reptiles and so they don't get scared by the whole comotion of the lights and the putting stuff into there tank. Good Luck this will work perfectly. I eventually just bought a generator for like $200 because I have almost twenty tanks right now and having to heat all of them was really nerve wrecking and it was scary because I didn't want anything to happen to my reptiles now though I have nothing to worry about so this is another route if you have a lot of pets or if you don't want all the hassle if you get a lot of power outages.

Answer 3

Generally you only have to wait 24 hrs to hold snake after a meal. If he/she held regularly. If so, it may not get stressed enough to be a problem at all even if sooner than that. The more they are used to it the better the transition. My snakes think I'm a nice warm tree, sort of.Do you have a langerie laundry bag with a zipper? Place the snake in it then put it in your clothes so you won't have to stress about it escaping which would transfer to the snake making it nervous. The key is calm. If it were not for the meal the snake probably would be fine without the heat but with it just eating, the heat is vital for digestion. I don't know how cold it is where you are from but if you have gas heat you can warm up clothing by placing them in a roasting pan then removing them to wrap around the snake container until they cool. I'm big on making use of what you've got. I hope this helps.
peace, nanaboss

The guy's advice about water bottles is good if you have a way to heat them up. I'm glad he got a generator with so many tanks.

Answer 4

I've used hot water bottles before during power outages. You will usually have enough hot water already in the water heater to give you a good supply. If it's too hot you can wrap a towel around it and remove the towel as the water inside starts to cool off.

But unless you regularly keep your house in the 50s, your snake should be just fine with a few hours of no heat.

Answer 5

Your snake will be fine. Any temporary device you use to keep her warm might end up burning her. Snakes can handle low temperatures for a few days, especially corn snakes. Her metabolism will slow down and she will just merely "pause" until it warms up again. As long as the house stays above freezing (there can be a temperature difference up to 15-20 degrees regardless of a heater), then the snake will be fine. They are animals that have survived in places like Virginia's outdoors long before you decided to take one as a pet.

Also, snakes haven't been bred into utter helplessness like some cats and dogs, so their bodies haven't changed and their instincts are still there. Give her a place to hide and leave her alone. If you must keep her warm, warm up a small container--not the snake directly.

You have one of the toughest pets you could possibly have. So relax.

Answer 6

Go to a hardware store to find a battery powered lamp they should have it. If not, the heat wrap should work as long as it is about 98 degrees farenheit. This is because if your bodt temp could keep it warm, that's about the average temp it should be. Good luck with your snake and pray the power doesn't go out.

Answer 7

I used to have water dragons. When the power went out, I would fill a bottle with hot water and set it in the cage. The lizards would get close to it for warmth. When it cooled somewhat, they would drape themselves over it. Then I would refill the bottle with hot water again. If you think your snake might burn itself on a hot bottle (I have heard of this) wrap the bottle with cloth, or make the water not too hot.
If worse comes to worst, it won't do your snake any serious harm to regurgitate the mouse. You'll just have to feed it again when the house warms up.

Answer 8

Well, if you *must*, put her in a pillowcase, tie the opening with a shoelace and carrier her inside your shirt.

Otherwise try to find a generator, or go to Walmart and clean them out of those little heatpacks, the kind you put in your mittens in the winter and it supplies heat for 6 hours.

Do you have a fireplace? Another option would be to heat a brick in the fireplace (or a rock), and then wrap it in a thick towel and put that in her cage.. .Then start up another brick and keep replacing them as they cool off.

Snakes are resilient and cornsnakes, being from North America, can handle temperature fluctuations. Keep her as warm as you can, do your best, and hope for the best. It should be fine.

Answer 9

if its indoors, and the temps not under 58 you shouldn't be all that bad off. A heat wrap on the tank would be fine in that condition. If its much colder then I recommend something a bit warmer. Maybe a pillow case with shredded paper and a warm hands pad. However like I said, if its not that cold don't worry.

Answer 10

Itt'le be fine if it stays above 32. Last time I looked, corn snakes live in the wild in Virginia. Anyone hooking up generaters to keep the wild ones warm? I didnt think so. Relax.

Answer 11

Calm down!!! There's absolutely no reason your snake is in any danger at all, unless it goes & stays below freezing for several days. These snakes can tolerate a wide range of temperatures & a cool period will NOT harm your snake. These snakes & their cousins (rat snakes) survive full blown winters, snow/ice & all that, with no ill effects & no help from humans. Just make sure your snake is not in a draft & has sufficient substrate to bury itself in & it will be just fine without any extra help from you.