Power Outage- advice?

Hi guys,

I have 3 baby turts. Around 7-9 months old.

Were having bad ice storms here - last night around 7PM the power went out and has not come back on since, it's the next day at 12:46PM. I know the power can still come on at any point today and I'm praying it will, but what if it doesn't? Trees are falling and power cords are being brought down from them, so I'm no sure that this will be dealt with today.

I'm worried about the turtles, so far I've been putting in hot water today evey once and a while to bring the temperature back up to the 80s but this isn't exactly ideal. And I don't have any lighting for them right now since the powers out

I've never gone through a power outage with my turtles before, does anyone please have any advice for me of things I can do to care for my babies without power?

Obviously a generator is the most ideal option, but I can't really afford one on my own especially at Christmas time. Ugh. Any advice would be appreciated thank you and Happy Holidays

Thanks but that doesn't exactly apply to me, I have 3 water turtles. Your post is for tortoises. Different care.

The only thing mentioned in that thread that would work for me is getting a generator, and that isn't exactly possible for me today.

Anyone else have any advice ? Please? My turtles have been in the dark for almost a full day now

Are you in MI? My parents lost power and are at my house with all their pets. They didn't bring the turtles tho. They will be fine till Tuesday with no light/filter. But my previous thread about losing power might help. Do you have a fireplace you could put them by?

I'm in Ontario, Canada. It's a bad ice storm, the radios are saying could be up to 72 hours without power. It's really cold in the house and unfortunately I don't have a fire place

I will try reading your thread thanks

Sorry, I didn't read through the thread entirely. Maybe hand warmer pads? I was hoping others would have chimed in by now. I hope your guys are doing okay.

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I've also read some people use warm water in a bottle or something.

Put the turtles in a smaller container and move them over to the heater in your house. Do you use a wood-burning stove? That's one way to keep them warm. Otherwise, you can heat water and keep adding warm water to their container. What about your water heater? Is it fueled by gas? You can put their container on top of the water heater.

If worse comes to worse, you can strap them to you around your middle next to your skin and carry them around like a mama oppossum. (JK)

How cold is it getting and what type are they? Most water turtles are very cold tolerant, there are some that actually get frozen in ice for the winter. My brother has RES's outside and one of them has chosen to stay in the pond during the ice storm. He finally caught him and put him inside, but the little guy managed to survive quite nicely, in water, at temps below freezing for almost a week. While it is not optimal, your babies should be ok with temps down as low as the 60's with no problems. Do what Yvonne suggested (not the strap them around your middle thing, the other things, lol...) to keep them a bit warmer, but 80 all the time is not really necessary. In fact, you might be causeing more harm by constantly warming and cooling them.

They're at my boyfriends house, they don't have a wood stove or fire place or any hear source currently. Only normal furnace which is out along with the power.
Powers been out for about 43 hours now
We have not let the tank temp go under 74, when he woke up today he said it was around 70.
I don't wanna harm them by cooling and heating though...
I'm at work right now my bf is at home with them I will call him and tell him to move them to a trudge for now?
Or??

We currently have 75 gallon tank. All my turts are under 8-9 months old and are still small babies. 2 res and 1 missi map

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I'm in GTA of Ontario Canada. There's been an ice storm and it's currently at -2 last night got up to -10 and could get colder I'm hoping the power goes on today but not for sure

They do make a power converter that attaches to your auto battery and converts the DC power to AC power. Cost less than a generator but provides only enough power to run maybe 800 watts or so.

But that would run a small heater for one room or several in tank heaters.

Or a simpler but labor intensive way would be to heat water in your auto and then put a jug of the heated water into your tank.

And wow that's incredible! I didn't realize RES could adapt that way with the ice but I don't wanna risk it still lol

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Okau thank you I will look into that power supply you mentioned hopefully I can find one

I have a Russian desert tortoise and whenever the power goes out I just put a towel over three quarters of the tank so the heat stays in. But if its a long lasting power outage I would use a generater to power the heat lamps.

Are you saying the turtles are in a 75 gallon aquarium? I would get a few blankets and wrap the tank up. The water will keep itself warm if you don't allow the cold room temperature to contact the glass. It should stay warm enough for several days if you wrap it up.

Yeah they are in their tank which is 75 gallon.... I still have their old 20 gallon tank but their not using it anymore should I move them in their with their water ? Or keep in their tank and just wrap with towels ??

Yvonne G said:

Are you saying the turtles are in a 75 gallon aquarium? I would get a few blankets and wrap the tank up. The water will keep itself warm if you don't allow the cold room temperature to contact the glass. It should stay warm enough for several days if you wrap it up.

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Should I put them in their old tank for now with the water from their current tank? Or are they ok in the 75 gallon? We haven't let the water go under 70

The power is back on!!!! Thank u all for the advice above happy holidays

My parents still have no power. So you're lucky. No Christmas for us tomorrow, the house is 40* and my dad has to stay with the generator. He has quite a few turtles too. The cats and 3lb dog are staying with me.

lkwagner said:

My parents still have no power. So you're lucky. No Christmas for us tomorrow, the house is 40* and my dad has to stay with the generator. He has quite a few turtles too. The cats and 3lb dog are staying with me.

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I'm so sorry to hear that! I hope their power comes on soon and I hope all the animals are doing okay all the best to you and your family xo !!