# Power Out - ?



## RainsOn (Nov 17, 2014)

We got snow here in Oklahoma early this season. I am in a remote area and it is not uncommon to have power outages during the winter. We run kerosene heaters and bundle up. What do I do to keep Digger, my Russian tort, warm for a couple days?


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## Jacqui (Nov 17, 2014)

I keep a supply of those hand warmers around along with smaller boxes they can fit in, so I don't try to heat a large area. I use towels, newspapers, and sheets for wrapping/insulating those boxes in. The handwarmer I place in old socks, pillowcases or under the containers I have the animal in. If you have ice chests or other insulated boxes those are good to place the smaller containers in.

Being you have a Russian, it's nice because they can take a bit more cold then some other varieties.


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## Prairie Mom (Nov 17, 2014)

RainsOn said:


> We got snow here in Oklahoma early this season. I am in a remote area and it is not uncommon to have power outages during the winter. We run kerosene heaters and bundle up. What do I do to keep Digger, my Russian tort, warm for a couple days?


This is such a great question! Thanks for posting this. I'm eager to read what members say on the subject.


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## johnsonnboswell (Nov 17, 2014)

If you have a source for heating water, such as a wood stove or a hot water tank with a pilot light (those are disappearing!) then fill any bottles or jars with hot water. Plastic soda bottles work. Instant hot water bottle. Good idea to insulate with a towel and use a small area instead of trying to heat a large habitat.


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## Maggie Cummings (Nov 19, 2014)

johnsonnboswell said:


> If you have a source for heating water, such as a wood stove or a hot water tank with a pilot light (those are disappearing!) then fill any bottles or jars with hot water. Plastic soda bottles work. Instant hot water bottle. Good idea to insulate with a towel and use a small area instead of trying to heat a large habitat.



That's what I use for the smaller guys. But what in the heck would I do with Bob? The power went out and in less than 2 hours his shed had dropped 25 degrees. It was 23 outside. In his case that still left his shed's ambient temp at 65, but what if it's off for hours? This paycheck I'm getting a remote temp gun...


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## johnsonnboswell (Nov 19, 2014)

Woodstove? Generator? A smaller area that can be insulated & warmed without him bulldozing his way out?


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## Prairie Mom (Nov 19, 2014)

Woodburning stove etc is great. Sadly, that remains on my wish list. I've been wondering if there are small space heaters that run on batteries?? If there is such a thing, I imagine we could crate a larger tortoise near a space heater. I'll have to investigate this a little more.


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## lisa127 (Nov 19, 2014)

Jacqui said:


> I keep a supply of those hand warmers around along with smaller boxes they can fit in, so I don't try to heat a large area. I use towels, newspapers, and sheets for wrapping/insulating those boxes in. The handwarmer I place in old socks, pillowcases or under the containers I have the animal in. If you have ice chests or other insulated boxes those are good to place the smaller containers in.
> 
> Being you have a Russian, it's nice because they can take a bit more cold then some other varieties.


this is exactly what I do. Except I order 40 hour heat packs from LLLReptile instead of hand warmers.


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Nov 19, 2014)

Prairie Mom said:


> Woodburning stove etc is great. Sadly, that remains on my wish list. I've been wondering if there are small space heaters that run on batteries?? If there is such a thing, I imagine we could crate a larger tortoise near a space heater. I'll have to investigate this a little more.


http://www.smarter.com/se--qq-battery+space+heaters.html
Apparently, there's a whole market for that! Could come in very handy...


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Nov 19, 2014)

What do you do if your tort is hibernating? Would power outs affect their core temp enough for them to be seriously disturbed?


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## Yvonne G (Nov 19, 2014)

As long as they are in a location that doesn't freeze it will be ok.


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## Millerlite (Nov 19, 2014)

I was given a small generator, I have yet to use it but I have it in case. We don't have harsh winters but the generator can come in handy for my pond, 

Kyle


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## Prairie Mom (Nov 19, 2014)

Yellow Turtle01 said:


> http://www.smarter.com/se--qq-battery+space+heaters.html
> Apparently, there's a whole market for that! Could come in very handy...


Thanks for checking this out for me, Delaney! I looked briefly on Amazon and couldn't find anything that doesn't require electricity. This one should work really nicely in an emergency! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Indoor-Conv...m-Garage-/251624790790?_trksid=p2054897.l4275 I'm going to look into those 40hr heat packs too!


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## Yellow Turtle01 (Nov 19, 2014)

Prairie Mom said:


> Thanks for checking this out for me, Delaney! I looked briefly on Amazon and couldn't find anything that doesn't require electricity. This one should work really nicely in an emergency! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Indoor-Conv...m-Garage-/251624790790?_trksid=p2054897.l4275 I'm going to look into those 40hr heat packs too!


Your welcome! Targets sells them too, but they were a lot smaller than could help with a 100pd tortoise


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## Prairie Mom (Nov 19, 2014)

Yellow Turtle01 said:


> Your welcome! Targets sells them too, but they were a lot smaller than could help with a 100pd tortoise


Target too, huh!? I had no idea. You must be a good shopper I think I need Santa to bring me one of those bigger space heaters


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## smarch (Nov 19, 2014)

We have a wood stove so I mean I dont have many worries, my cousin who also has a russian, brings him in a plastic container near the fireplace (glass doors closed of course) and honestly if one of us lost power significantly long I'd probably send Nank on a cousin "vacation" or offer for her Rafael to come over for a while (she's the only one I REALLY trust to sit Nank, but for weekends my dad's great about feeding him). Anyways before I get more off topic I have no idea how i'd deal with power outing in an apartment (probably send him here or to my cousin if it was cold enough) but I have thought up the hand warmer idea, so I'm glad people do that. I mean if i got really desperate I could go a little crazy and curl myself up in as many blankets as possible and share my body heat or go heat up my car (lol yup i'm crazy in case you didn't know)


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## Cowboy_Ken (Nov 19, 2014)

We've got wood heat for us and a huge generator we can literally “plug" our house into. This powers all our torts as well as our aquariums and most importantly, the satellite tv. We live on a well with a 1200 gal holding tank so even water is not an issue for us. Remember to have a car charger for your phone so you can stay up to date with the forum as well.


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## leigti (Nov 19, 2014)

Millerlite said:


> I was given a small generator, I have yet to use it but I have it in case. We don't have harsh winters but the generator can come in handy for my pond,
> 
> Kyle


Just a suggestion, I would do a trial run of that generator to make sure it works. You don't want to be in the middle of an emergency and realize it doesn't work or you don't know how to make it work.


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## Cowboy_Ken (Nov 19, 2014)

It's always best to do practice runs of any emergency.


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## wellington (Nov 19, 2014)

We have a small generator that will run the torts shed. The rest of us will have to hunker down with them. Within the next two years we will be getting one of those whole house generators that automatically comes on when power fails. At our other building, we never lost power, at our new place here, we have no idea if power is lost often or not. Hopefully not.


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## Taylor T. (Nov 20, 2014)

We have a wood stove, that in the winter heats our entire house. We would probobly just put him next to it and he would be nice and warm.


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## johnsonnboswell (Nov 20, 2014)

A reminder that wood stoves dry the air very fast, so you may need to add more water to the substrate sooner than usual.


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## Cowboy_Ken (Nov 20, 2014)

johnsonnboswell said:


> A reminder that wood stoves dry the air very fast, so you may need to add more water to the substrate sooner than usual.


And humid air feels warmer faster. I have a fogger on the top of our wood heater.


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## Taylor T. (Nov 21, 2014)

johnsonnboswell said:


> A reminder that wood stoves dry the air very fast, so you may need to add more water to the substrate sooner than usual.



I would only put him by the wood stove if the power went out. He currently is in the room adjacent to the wood stove. I also mist his enclosure every day/every other day, and have edible plants growing in his enclosure, which seem to help to keep the humidity in.


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## Amanda81 (Dec 5, 2014)

A couple years ago we had a horrible winter storm, woke up one morning and had no power, house was freezing. Thousands of people were out of power for weeks or months. My neighborhood was out for 2 wks. I lost almost all my fish, had to stay at a friends house in another town (I can not stand staying placed other then my own home) so I worked some overtime and bought a generator. I can almost plug my entire house up. Of course I don't, I plug the essentials up, TV, satellite, cell phone chargers, and the all important alarm clock. The only big things I plug up are the fridge and aquarium. Of course now I have the torts so they will get plugged up if we have any power outages. I always test it once winter is officially here and I make sure I have a couple 10gallon gas jugs on hand so I ain't having to run get it in the middle of the night. Cross fingers, we won't need to use it any this year!!


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## RainsOn (Dec 14, 2014)

Great! This is a great place to get help. I have some hand warmers and have more ideas now.
Thanks to all!
P.S. Merry Christmas!


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## tortoisenoob42 (Apr 27, 2015)

So what if your stuck in the FROG of your house. here in NC we dont get tht bad of snow but we do get hurricanes time from time so no really cold weather but kindof hot and humid weather once the ac craps out. BTW the tort would be a russian so i know they can be really adaptable.


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## DawnH (May 9, 2015)

Love the ideas on power outage during winter (especially since where we are moving will most likely be colder.) Putting a pot of water on top of your wood stove will help with humidity as well. As far as hurricanes go (we live in SETX) I have extra water on hand as well as Mazuri pellets. Also fans, etc. We DO have a generator (we lost have our house during Rita) as well as gas to run it. I am from CA so I am use to preparing for an emergency and feel it is better to err on the side of extreme caution then get hit with something you thought you wouldn't. Especially when you have pets you adore.


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## Anyfoot (May 15, 2015)

Prairie Mom said:


> Target too, huh!? I had no idea. You must be a good shopper I think I need Santa to bring me one of those bigger space heaters


Santa won't have them, he like the cold. lol


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## Cfr200 (May 26, 2015)

I have a small generator that will run my shed. It runs for about 12 hours on a tank of gas. One day I will get a built in natural gas generator that will also run my house. Luckily I do not lose power very often. Although we had an ice storm not too many years ago that the kept power off for about 10 days. The problem was people were stealing gas generators from people's yards.


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## Anyfoot (May 26, 2015)

Cfr200 said:


> I have a small generator that will run my shed. It runs for about 12 hours on a tank of gas. One day I will get a built in natural gas generator that will also run my house. Luckily I do not lose power very often. Although we had an ice storm not too many years ago that the kept power off for about 10 days. The problem was people were stealing gas generators from people's yards.


Wow. We are lucky. We rarely have power cuts. And if we do it'd never for more than 30 minutes.


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