# URGENT READ No power lots of heat



## NickJR (Jul 28, 2011)

So our power went out here in fairfax va last night with about a million other people in the maryland Va DC area. To cut to the point today we have a Heat advisory and we currently are at 98 outside. My tanks have hit 91deg currently and i have been misting every 30min with ice cold water to keep temps down.. Please any suggestions would be great.. have over 100 frogs so moving them out is not a easy / small task..

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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

You can fill two liter jugs with cool water and place them in the vivs. They will help regulate temps.


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## NickJR (Jul 28, 2011)

awesome will try it

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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

If you still have ice, some folks have put it into bags and then placed on the tops of the vivs to help cool them down.


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## ConFuCiuZ (Jul 13, 2011)

Would Phase 22 panels work if i place them in the viv?


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## NathanB (Jan 21, 2008)

if it gets too hot, pack up the frogs and put them in a cooler if you have to


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

What about into containers and then into a bathtub with water?


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

You can also pick up a couple battery operated fans, and place a pan of ice behind them--blows cold air like a directional air conditioner. Also, cover any windows in the room with heavy cloth--will help insulate the outdoor heat.


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## poison beauties (Mar 1, 2010)

And before you add to the hundred plus frogs use some of the cash you keep offering to buy up those proven bene's at discount prices for and get an emergency generator......


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

We lost power as well and they are expecting it could take 4 days or more to restore it. I have 4 inch vents running across the front or the vertices and my high temperature was 81F in the upper tanks (with a local high of over 93F) Tightly closed tanks will get much hotter.

Vent your house after it cools off in the evening and close all of the drapes and curtains first thing to help keep the temps down. We have our generator running and when needed we'll either use the portable AC or move the frogs. Right now the generator is powering the sump pump, two freezers, a refrigerator and some fans....
My IPhone is my only net access.

Ed


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

Good luck Ed and nick


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

107 here, today. Drapes are closed. All lights are out except one overhead bulb in the frog room to give them some ambient light. Been sitting here with my fingers crossed while sorting out containers to pack them up and drive them to the nearest relative with electricity if needed.

Even with the AC running non-stop, the temp inside my house is 82... 

Power's been going out in pockets around me. Luckily I'm on the same grid as the fire station down the road, so, when it goes out, it's usually not out for that long. Hours to a couple days, at most. I guess that can be a long time if you're a dart frog 

I put a water bottle in my gecko tank and now he's sleeping on it.


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## ZookeeperDoug (Jun 5, 2011)

Wow guys. I didn't even think about how much this storm would effect froggers. I hope everything turns out well.


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## srrrio (May 12, 2007)

Oh you guys are living my nightmares, good luck all


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## Peter Keane (Jun 11, 2005)

Nightmare indeed.. Best of luck to all affected 
Peter


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

11:00 and finally the temp has dropped to 90.


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## SamsonsFrogs (Mar 4, 2009)

I am glad I read this thread! If my power goes out I'm going to need all the advice given. Good Luck guys....keep em cool and I hope your power gets restored asap! I couldn't guess the amount of stress you guys are going through. 

Sam Cavoulas


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## mad6291 (May 28, 2012)

What a nightmare! Hope everyone effected gets through with no losses! Best of luck


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

I keep a few phase 22 panels in the freezer just in case this happens.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

I have my tree frogs in a temporary tub while I finish up their tank. They've been comfy in there until tonight. The female has been crawling all over the place, trying to get out. I'd mist it and she'd settle down. Then start up again. Just now I put their tub into the bathtub with a couple of inches of water in it. Now she's back to normal. 

My gecko is lying in his pond. 

The darts seem to be riding it out just fine, though.


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## reptileman79 (Aug 8, 2010)

Wow good luck to you guys with power outages on the east coast  Hope everyone comes away from these outages with no losses.


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## 19jeffro83 (Sep 5, 2011)

Ed said:


> We lost power as well and they are expecting it could take 4 days or more to restore it. I have 4 inch vents running across the front or the vertices and my high temperature was 81F in the upper tanks (with a local high of over 93F) Tightly closed tanks will get much hotter.
> 
> Vent your house after it cools off in the evening and close all of the drapes and curtains first thing to help keep the temps down. We have our generator running and when needed we'll either use the portable AC or move the frogs. Right now the generator is powering the sump pump, two freezers, a refrigerator and some fans....
> My IPhone is my only net access.
> ...


Is your power still out Ed? I only lost mine for a few hours yesterday morning and I don't think I'm far from you ( I'm in tomsriver). Good luck and I you need a hand w anything let me know.


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

I just thought of this late last night. During this heat spell I put the sprinkler on my roof and turned it on to wet down the roof of my frog room. It seems to help, maybe you guys should give it a shot. I guess it's evaporative cooling, the same principle as putting ice on top of your vivs.


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## 19jeffro83 (Sep 5, 2011)

Rusty_Shackleford said:


> I just thought of this late last night. During this heat spell I put the sprinkler on my roof and turned it on to wet down the roof of my frog room. It seems to help, maybe you guys should give it a shot. I guess it's evaporative cooling, the same principle as putting ice on top of your vivs.


Good idea!


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## NickJR (Jul 28, 2011)

sorry i havent got back on. had to charge my phone in the car.. so far ive still got no power and have been putting big bags of ice on my tanks.. so far its been keeping my tanks at 72-83 it varys. Thanks for all the advice and good luck to others in the same situation!

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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

On my way to get a big bag of ice (for the darts), as soon as I finish this coffee. Was up until 5am because it was too hot to sleep. And I have power and AC!

Tree frogs and gecko are floating in containers in the bath tub and seem to be happy.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Here is what my Sip thinks of her container of ice:


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

Kris I think she want you to mix her a gin and tonic to go with that ice.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

19jeffro83 said:


> Is your power still out Ed? I only lost mine for a few hours yesterday morning and I don't think I'm far from you ( I'm in tomsriver). Good luck and I you need a hand w anything let me know.


We're down near Millville, we got power back this morning (but still had some brown outs since then.)

The E. tricolor and pumilio called all day yesterday and last night the hourglass and horned frog joined the chorus. Still no Internet access so I probably won't be back until net access is restored. 

Has anyone heard from Oddlot (Lou)?

Ed


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)




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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

I watched sale ads over the winter, and grabbed a portable ac/heater and backup generator for the frog room - once the collection gets to a size where it would not be easy to move the frogs to a place with working ac, etc if the power goes out for any length of time, it's just not worth the risk.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Well internet just came back on... even though we've had two more power outages since 6 pm... 

Ed


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## Froggywv (Aug 9, 2010)

Our power went out Friday night and they are thinking its going to be a solid week without power. Trying to cool off my frogs, my house was 88 degrees last night... Ice inside petri dishes. My cobalts are watching me with the ice, and as soon as I put it in the tanks they are right on top of it (it has a lid on it). Terribilis are all hiding, and they are in the one room of the house that heats up first... I've been putting ice in their pool as well as the petri dish.

Thought I lost one of my cobalts last night, tho, scared the crap out of me. I was getting ready to reload the petri dishes and my female was sitting on top of it, crouched down, not moving. I reached in, she jumped off, stood at the glass looking at me and the second it was in the tank she jumped right back on top of it. 
All tanks are vented, lids cracked open, hoping the power comes back on sooner than they have projected, or I'm going to be carrying 3 frog temp tanks into the office tomorrow... work has power...


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## JeremyHuff (Apr 22, 2008)

Froggywv said:


> All tanks are vented, lids cracked open, hoping the power comes back on sooner than they have projected, or I'm going to be carrying 3 frog temp tanks into the office tomorrow... work has power...


Take them to work, don't wait. Better safe than sorry.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

I lost my gecko yesterday. Today I've already called into work to let them know I'm staying home to keep my tanks iced. No option of taking creatures to the office.


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## Robzilla56 (Aug 2, 2011)

Wow that's terrible in this heat! Good thinking on the generator Ed...Hang in there you guys.

Another suggestion for desperate measures is using a car battery. I got a sweet AC power inverter that's a 1,000 watts when the Tornadoes came through Raleigh last year. It worked great and when your car battery is about to die it beeps so you can crank your car for five minutes then it would last for about 2 hours at a time. Not really a good long term solution but works good for desperate measures...

Robbie


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## Zoomie (Jul 3, 2011)

Kris, so sorry to hear that.

We are a little under under 5 hours away. If there is anything that we can do, just say that word and I'll haul butt.

Cory and I talked about this on Wednesday when we heard temps were going to be up to 104F. We were worried about the local power grid being swamped. We tossed a bunch of phase panels in the freezer and made sure we had some ice.

We live in an upstairs apartment and the logistics of a generator just don't work.

Sincerely counting our blessings this morning and pulling for all of you dealing with this. Hang in there !


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

People who are not involved in this precarious hobby will never know how emotionally wrapped up we can get with the anxiety of being hostage to the weather...I feel so sad for you all who are having these issues...wish there was something practical to do for you...


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## NickJR (Jul 28, 2011)

Update: i got my power back on without one loss due to all the help uou guys gave. i put bag after bag of ice to keep my tanks cool. I hope every one else in the same situation i was in make out without any losses..

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## Brian317 (Feb 11, 2011)

Judy S said:


> People who are not involved in this precarious hobby will never know how emotionally wrapped up we can get with the anxiety of being hostage to the weather...I feel so sad for you all who are having these issues...wish there was something practical to do for you...


^This. I with you all that have lost power the best and hopefully it will kick back on sooner than later.....

I've been looking at generators and inverters the past couple of days. Those storms JUST missed us and also some of my friends without darts have been without power for a couple days....always gotta have a plan I assume...


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## dartsanddragons (Jun 6, 2004)

Sorry to hear for those who lost power, we were very lucky there are about 700,000 in the area who lost power. We have a 3 1/2 ton unit and it was barely keeping up with the heat at the hottest point. I keep all of my Frogs "150+Tads+" in our summer kitchen, it has an old hand dug Well under the floor and stays pretty cool. For those of you not having a generator, a friend works at Lowes and has told me that when this happens they sell a Shit load of generators only to have about half returned within a week, they have a no questions asked return policy but once they are returned with gas in them they can no longer sell them as new and the can not ship them back to the supplier so they sell them at about 50% off. Keep your eye out and get one if it's works for you. Best of luck to you all.


Scott


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

In the same way I have my emergency responder bag ready to go I keep two huge 3inch thick styrofoam containers on hand, filled with heat packs and phase/gel packs, cups, paper towels. Worst case I can move frogs and then transport boxes to the lab or a cool/warm location. Well worth the prep.


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## RarePlantBroker (Aug 3, 2008)

Hope all of you get power back soon.

Like Ed had posted, we have a similar plan here for hurricane season. I keep all of my frogs in my living room--and have a portable a/c that will work with my generator. The room's big enough for a couple air mattresses--so the family can sleep in a/c too....


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## Froggywv (Aug 9, 2010)

Thankfully its not as hot today as it has been. My living room is holding at 80. Ice is hard to find, I found ONE bag at Kroger, that went in the cooler so we have cold water to drink. I needed something to put in the tanks, so they got frozen peas in a container LOL 

Here is how happy my cobalts were to get their new container of frozen stuff.


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## SMenigoz (Feb 17, 2004)

dartsanddragons said:


> ... only to have about half returned within a week, they have a no questions asked return policy but once they are returned with gas in them they can no longer sell them as new and the can not ship them back to the supplier so they sell them at about 50% off. Keep your eye out and get one if it's works for you. Best of luck to you all.


Power outages occured all around me (Frederick, MD) yet we have been [knock on wood] fully operational. With a sizable collection, I have every intention to visit my local hardware store for a used generator. Thanks for the tip Scott!
Scott


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

Get the best one you can afford...not the Harry Homeowner's size--because that can barely keep a refrigerator going...My husband is in construction, and although the business itself is suffering, if we needed the generator-we could run just about every darn electric thing in the house... Hopefully some of these good ideas about keeping the frogs cool will make it permanently into some sort of "sticky" for new people who may be caught in a bad situation and not have some of these great ideas...love the cobalt....


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## Froggywv (Aug 9, 2010)

Wow, never knew that about the used generators!!! They are becoming a VERY hot commodity around here. All stores are sold out, people were driving to the coast, even 8 hours away to find a generator. I bet a lot of them get used and then get sent back to the store. nice  I think I'll be generator shopping in the next week or two, I'll let this all die down and keep an eye on Lowes.


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## Tomdarr (Aug 25, 2010)

We are on day three of no power just outside of Huntington, WV. I am fortunate enough to work for a company that has allowed me to bring all of my frogs and tadpoles to our datacenter facility to house them. We have a nice backup generator that could probably power a city block and air conditioning to match. I have also been staying in our office at night on a cot along with the family dog. My wife and daughter have been staying with some of her family close by that have power. I can't take the dog to their house. 

I have decided that this will be the time that I get a generator of some sort. Our power usually goes out a few times a year where there is 1 - 7 days of no power. This is usually in the winter and I have a wood burning stove that takes care of heat on those occasions but this actually seems much harder to deal with. Finding bags of ice here has proven to be pretty difficult. As soon as some is delivered it is immediately bought out. Lines for gas have turned into 30 - 60 minute waits. Lots of small things that make me wish I were better prepared have cropped up. 

Even with the irritation/stress factor of all of this I feel pretty fortunate. I have found that family, company, and friends have all been very generous and helpful. It feels pretty good to know that in times of there have been so many ready to help.


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## Froggywv (Aug 9, 2010)

Our power just came back on! I am so happy!! Tom or whoever is close to Charleston, WV. If ur still waiting for AC n are worried about ur frogs you are welcome to bring them over. I can make space for a couple of tanks until your AC is back on. Just send me a message. 

I was actually digging the temp tanks out to take the frogs into the office tonight when the power kicked on. This fan feels like heaven! LOL


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## NickJR (Jul 28, 2011)

glad your back up!

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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

stemcellular said:


> In the same way I have my emergency responder bag ready to go I keep two huge 3inch thick styrofoam containers on hand, filled with heat packs and phase/gel packs, cups, paper towels. Worst case I can move frogs and then transport boxes to the lab or a cool/warm location. Well worth the prep.


where can you get the phase/gel packs that you are referring to??? Sounds like a good backup plan...


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

I get gel packs free from work, Judy. We throw away hundreds each day, sadly.


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## SamsonsFrogs (Mar 4, 2009)

Judy S said:


> where can you get the phase/gel packs that you are referring to??? Sounds like a good backup plan...


We get ours from here Deprecated Browser Error

Hmmm....Link is working, but text is not right.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

thank you for that link to Cryropak with its various products like the phase packs...wish that I wouldn't have to dig deeper to get the product prices, but will when I have more time. Clicking on that link does work...


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

although I do not want the power outages, here in the midwest, we're suffering drought and extreme heat. There will be no grilling today and in many places, no fire works except over the water. I live in KC, and in the state next to me (CO), there are wildfires but I'm sure you guys already knew that.


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## siples (Aug 14, 2004)

Good luck to everybody, this heat is stifling and no end in sight. I had my frog room in one of our spare bedrooms for years and everytime we were on vacation I was in touch with the frog sitter many times per day. Some years ago our power did go out and I moved all 18 tanks to the basement which was no easy task!!!!! Finally last year I mentioned to Lynn that I was thinking about building a frog room in the basement, well I made a supplies list and the next day it was in the driveway!!!!!! I guess my wife saw an oppurtunity and ran with it, a constant 64 degrees and I use a small electric heater and hold it about 72, best thing I ever did. Lynn's happy, I have no more paranoia and the loose flys we all get are contained it has given me great piece of mind, I hope all you guys animals get through this.


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## JeremyHuff (Apr 22, 2008)

Judy S said:


> thank you for that link to Cryropak with its various products like the phase packs...wish that I wouldn't have to dig deeper to get the product prices, but will when I have more time. Clicking on that link does work...


The pouches are $89 for 48 ct. I don't know what shipping is since they are 10 min from my house I pick them up.


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

would of been great if you had a cellar. i have one ac in my living room. that is where the frogs are. but when i unplug the ac the plug is hot. i can only get the room to be in the low 80s so down in my celllar they went. the crappy thing is it will be hotter as the week goes plus the humdity. feel bad for everyone who is with out power. but isn't that the way it always happens no power when it is hot/humid or wintery cold.
best of luck with your frogs everyone.


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

JeremyHuff said:


> The pouches are $89 for 48 ct. I don't know what shipping is since they are 10 min from my house I pick them up.


They might be a good item to take to some of the shows...I'd buy some, but don't need THAT many!!


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

If my power goes out, I would probably put ice packs ontop of the tanks and cover with a towel for insulation, or take the frogs out, put in deli cup, and put in a cooler with phase 22 panels and gel packs. an LED nightlight would give them light until they can be put back in their tanks. I'd rather the frogs live in cramped deli cups for a few days instead of experiencing extreme heat.


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## sampson1269 (May 4, 2010)

We got lucky, power only went out for a minute. I know this don't help most people out there, but, we built our house a few years ago and with us always having animals plus trying to be super energy efficient we built and icf house(insulating concrete form) which looks like a 4' x 18" styrofoam lego block 2 and a half inches thick on each side with 8" of concrete in the middle and a 18 seer dual stage 4ton heat pump. if we keep the kids from running in and out the house will hold a decent temp for days without power. If anyone decides to build a house, think about using something like this, also, electric bill is dirt cheap. wrapping a tank in styrofoam might help keep temps down with ice on top longer.


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## Froggywv (Aug 9, 2010)

Well, one good thing that the power outage has brought on - my cobalt male finally started calling and I've noticed courting behavior for the first time ever! Bout time!!!  They are right around 1 1/2 years old, before now they just didn't seem interested in each other. They each had their own end of the tank, now they are side by side with the male calling and drumming his toes LOL I can see his sides vibrating, and one of my cats is VERY curious about the tank now, I think he can hear the male


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## rahunt2 (Jan 4, 2009)

I wish you the best of luck. Regular misting, turn off the lights to eliminate heat, maximize air circulation, make sure the frogs can soak because water will always help them survive the heat. I like the creativity of the other posts and I hope you weather this incident with frogs in tact.


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## slipperheads (Oct 17, 2007)

Bags of ice, wrapped in cloth. Put it in the viv and itll really help


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## rahunt2 (Jan 4, 2009)

Wow, I cannot believe I wrote turn off the lights in my response to a post about power outages.
Feel free to tell me if your first thought was "What an idiot." when you read that.


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## pnwpdf (Nov 9, 2010)

Geez, I feel lucky living here in the pacific northwest. I haven't turned on my AC for more than a few hours here this year, no problems with temps at all.


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## dartsanddragons (Jun 6, 2004)

Hi All
I thought I would bump this a bit, If you lose power and don't have a generator you can buy a cheap 20.00 or so construction heater that runs on propane it will help keep things warm, but be aware that you should monitor this heater and keep things safe.

scott


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## ZookeeperDoug (Jun 5, 2011)

dartsanddragons said:


> Hi All
> I thought I would bump this a bit, If you lose power and don't have a generator you can buy a cheap 20.00 or so construction heater that runs on propane it will help keep things warm, but be aware that you should monitor this heater and keep things safe.
> 
> scott


This is something with some kind of snorkle or venting right? So it pumps heat inside but doesn't use up oxygen and produce carbon monoxide inside, of course right?

I'm just saying, I've heard of people doing some pretty stupid stuff, like running the gas stove inside for heat and suffocating themselves. I'm not exactly sure what a "construction heater" really is or how it works.


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## dartsanddragons (Jun 6, 2004)

I am sure it will use up some Oxygen, i would make sure that you have the upper portion of a window or two slightly open, this should only be used if you have no other heat source available or you get the better quality heaters. Thanks for pointing that out.


scott


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## jlb (Oct 15, 2006)

sampson1269 said:


> We got lucky, power only went out for a minute. I know this don't help most people out there, but, we built our house a few years ago and with us always having animals plus trying to be super energy efficient we built and icf house(insulating concrete form) which looks like a 4' x 18" styrofoam lego block 2 and a half inches thick on each side with 8" of concrete in the middle and a 18 seer dual stage 4ton heat pump. if we keep the kids from running in and out the house will hold a decent temp for days without power. If anyone decides to build a house, think about using something like this, also, electric bill is dirt cheap. wrapping a tank in styrofoam might help keep temps down with ice on top longer.


That style of construction is great!!! My aunt and uncle have a home like that in central Illinois. In addition to the insulation, the house is so quiet I think you could hear a mouse fart!


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## dartfanatic (Sep 24, 2012)

If you have access to dry ice wrap chunks in paper or in plastic bags and tape or adhere them to one side of the tank. At least it'll give them cool areas to retreat to. Maybe close to their hides, obviously not in the tanks though.


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