Hurricane Prep and Reptiles

[MzLaurie]

Hi All! With Milton barreling down on those of us in FL, I figured it was a good time to brush off some helpful hints and tricks I've learned in my 20+ years of living down here.
1. Get feeders now. Don't get them shipped, unless you are paying for overnight, because they will be delayed in transit (like I'm sure my silks will be that I ordered yesterday without thinking it through... Apparently I am not immune from bone-headed thinking)
2. Have food to feed those feeders, as well as water. For a few days powdered food and water crystals will suffice - not to be used long term, but in a pinch when you don't have power for a week, it will work.
3. Have a go-box for each of your animals, in easy reach, and with everything you need in them (this is good advice for everyone all of the time, but especially now). For my chams I have shoeboxes with a towel in the bottom, and a bendy vine to grab. Mesh laundry pop-up hampers also work great as temp cages, with a bendy vine zip-tied into it.
4. If you have a lanai, make sure you have a tree for each chameleon, and distance from each other. During Irma we were out of power for a week. I would take my boys to the lanai (thankfully the screens didn't rip) and put them in the tree. We didn't have power so I sat out there monitoring them. I think they could feel the barometric drop and understood they were not to try to fight each other. We had bearded dragons at the time, so I made a little corner for them, with a barracade (we also have cats) so they were safe. And again, I was out there each day.
5. Start filling containers with water for misting, and general cleaning. If you have a spare bathtub they are great to fill so you have potable water, but even gallon containers filled and sitting around would work.
6. Get a box of latex gloves - again, depending on the severity of the storm you could be out of power and water for days (if you are on a well and lose your equipment it cannot legally be turned back on until after your power is restored).

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm not on here constantly, so if you have a pressing question that you need help with, feel free to email me at: [email protected] (please don't steal that address and spam me, though!) Good luck to those already suffering from Helene and to those of us facing down Milton.

Love all of your suggestions. I just want to share a thing that did for all the years I spent in Florida. I stored everything in large unused trash cans that way I could empty my Xmas decor out of one for example and I had a large clean container to store water in for after the storm passed. Also trash cans outside can be anchored and filled with water so they don’t go airborne. Florida is getting hit so hard this year. I hope the wild chams fair ok.

 

[Tkrd69]

Lived in Florida for 55 years, born here plan on staying till the end. Was raised to always be prepared. Having a good generator is a must in Florida if you can afford it, we try to have 3 months food and water just in case. MREs might not taste good but they have some good companies that make them. Went to a yard sale years ago and got 500 family meals and powered drink mixes in a air tight pelican tote for $5 including the tote. Stay safe out there my prayers go out to everyone affected by these storms.

 

[Tkrd69]

We have power now for 15 minutes. Thankfully the tireless linemen and women work their butts off to get everybody electricity.