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Keeping Warm Rolling blackouts and single digit temps in Texas - terrified

4boipigs

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I'm SO SCARED for my pigs. As the title says we have a terrible winter storm and chances are power will go out numerous times and/or for a long time. There just isn't enough power for Texas and there's tons of outages and rolling blackouts. I got blankets over their cages (not ALL the way, they have air flow) and I will be moving them away from drafty walls. If it gets cold enough they'll have to go in their travel carrier and be covered in blankets. I have a lot of pets to worry about but I fear for my pigs the most as I feel they are most vulerable. What else can I do? They are on fleece bedding and have lots of hides so at least they can use their own body heat for a while. The roads are not safe so we can't magically travel somewhere warmer.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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I think you can rest easy. Pigs don't deal well with heat at all, but if you have blankets I think they'll be ok. There was a news feed story here just a day or two ago of a pig being found in a snowbank in Connecticut, and it was 20F there. The pig had been there at least a few days, and was very thin and malnourished and not taken care of but he is ok now.

Last year, another story of pigs being dumped in the snow in Pennsylvania. I know some of them survived as well.

If your house stays above 59 degrees I think you have little to worry about. Providing blankets for them to snuggle in should be just what they need.
 

TheGuineaPigGal

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I saw the southern states were getting snow today. You can take a thick blanket and cover all the windows with one, that should help keep heat inside your house. Keep all faucets dripping a little to prevent pipes from freezing. Give the guinea pigs and other pets WARM water to drink, it will take longer for it to freeze if its warm. I assume by other pets you mean like dogs and cats? If I am correct, I assume you feed them canned food, and/or dry food, that does not perish for a while. Charge all useful electronics to 100%

Please, try to stay calm. We are here if you need anything. Best wishes for you, your pets, your family, and your pigs
 

4boipigs

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To say that Texas is in a catastrophic state is an understatement. We are safe for now. This power crap makes me want to move back to Missouri.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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To say that Texas is in a catastrophic state is an understatement. We are safe for now. This power crap makes me want to move back to Missouri.

I have a couple of friends that live where you are. I have one friend just outside of Dallas and he says its horribly cold (for Texas) and the roads are lousy. No surprise since the DOT there is NOT prepared for snow or ice of any kind. He's originally from Chicago so it doesn't faze him at all. He said his house went down to about 63 with the rolling blackouts, power on for 20 minutes and off for 40.

Stay home, and stay safe. YOUR body heat can help with your pigs too if it gets colder inside your home.
 

HunterRose13

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To say that Texas is in a catastrophic state is an understatement. We are safe for now. This power crap makes me want to move back to Missouri.
We are facing the same in Missouri right now. I am going to get the space heater and generator ready. As noted hang blankets over the windows.
 

TheGuineaPigGal

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We are facing the same in Missouri right now. I am going to get the space heater and generator ready. As noted hang blankets over the windows.

Same in Wisconsin. This weather sucks. It was -30 F this weekend. At least we are used to winter, though.
 

bpatters

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I'm in Houston, and my power was out for about 8 hours.

Texas doesn't participate in the national power grid. We've got our own, and it's very poorly managed. There's been no investment in it for years, and it is just not up to coping with the kind of cold we've got.

It got down to 45 in my house today. That is NOT a comfortable temperature!
 

LittleSqueakers

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I keep around some of those air-activated heat patches that are used for minor pains and injuries and can be found in the pharmacy section of just about anywhere. I figure if I cover them over with towels or find some other way to keep them away from direct contact with the pigs they can work to provide some extra heat for up to 6-8 hours. You just want to be absolutely sure that the pigs can't reach them to chew on them or get close enough to them to get too hot or get burned. But it will work in an emergency if the power goes out and it gets dangerously cold.
 

4boipigs

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I'm in Houston, and my power was out for about 8 hours.

Texas doesn't participate in the national power grid. We've got our own, and it's very poorly managed. There's been no investment in it for years, and it is just not up to coping with the kind of cold we've got.

It got down to 45 in my house today. That is NOT a comfortable temperature!

What have you been doing? My power went out 5.30pm last nite. I covered the cages in lots of blankets and gave extra food and hay. I had to leave home because my dog is not doing well. I'm going back home and may be able to wrap some hot water bottles for them. All hotels are full. My kitties are home too. There is no gas stove or anything, using my neighbor when she is home. No one knows when the power will be back. I can only hope they don't die.

They were crying and begging for food and acting normal this morning.
 

TheGuineaPigGal

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What have you been doing? My power went out 5.30pm last nite. I covered the cages in lots of blankets and gave extra food and hay. I had to leave home because my dog is not doing well. I'm going back home and may be able to wrap some hot water bottles for them. All hotels are full. My kitties are home too. There is no gas stove or anything, using my neighbor when she is home. No one knows when the power will be back. I can only hope they don't die.

They were crying and begging for food and acting normal this morning.

I am sending prayers for you and [MENTION=13820]bpatters[/MENTION].
 

bpatters

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@4boipigs, that sounds reasonable.

Make sure they've got hideys they can get in that aren't much larger than they are. Those will help trap body heat, and will keep them warmer.

If they're haired pigs, they should be OK. We had one pig on here that was found under a bush in a snow bank, and it took a couple of days to catch it. It was hungry, but fine.

How often are you able to get home to see about them?
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Your weather is going to gradually improve over the next few days, and by Thursday (Friday for sure) you shouldn't need to worry. You've made it this far, your pigs are gonna be ok!
 

4boipigs

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I was staying about five minutes away so I was able to check on them a few times. We aren't supposed to get anymore snow. As the temps rise we should be ok. The temp in the house got to 42 and their cages weren't much better even with all the blankets. Unfortunately I also lost some of my bettas...so many people have lost fish and reptiles and other stock because of ERCOT or whoever I should blame. I was hysterical yesterday due to my fish loss. Most of these guys I 'rescued' from pet stores a couple yrs ago to help recover and now they're just dead.
 

Kelsie

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I'm so sorry that you lost some of your fish. At the present time I don't have any fish because I'm taking a little break but I know how much it hurts to lose even one fish. I once had a cory that outlived many of my other fish. When he died I cried like a baby.

I'm here in the PNW and we only had one day of heavy snow and to listen to people here you would have thought it was the end of the world. I'm so happy to hear that things are slowly getting back to normal for all of you folks.
 

GuineaPigQueen1

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I am in the same boat in Texas. I put my piggies in my room (which is the warmest room in my house). I put blankets that are fleece that I use to liner their carrier. I put more hay on the floor, used a hidey that traps heat, have water just in case the water goes out, snuggling with them a lot more, and stocked up on food. Stay safe and I am so sorry for the fish I understand fish grief and being super worried after pets die and be over protective seconds later.
 

4boipigs

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Everyone seems to be fine still. Things should be looking up in Texas hopefully...and if I am lucky I can go to work today. Need to buy hay from there asap!
 

bpatters

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Ercot would be a good place to place blame. But the real culprit are the Texas legislature, George W. Bush, and Rick Perry. Perry even had the gall yesterday to say that Texans would rather suffer a freeze than have to meet federal standards for their electric grid. Well, no, you blithering idiot, we would NOT! They can regulate the hell out of the electric grid as far as I'm concerned if it means we have electricity.

Hospitals in Texas don't have enough water for medical staff to wash their hands. They're having to use porta-potties, and use plastic bags to fish feces out of toilets because they can't be flushed.

My electricity just came back on after the second outage -- 24 hours this time. And no water this time because I had a burst hydrant outside. I got the hydrant fixed, but it was almost dark, so I didn't turn it back on because I didn't have time to fix any other leaks that might be there. And also, we don't have enough water pressure to be able to use water anyway.

It's a mess.
 

GuineaPigQueen1

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What I did was stock up on 3 water bottles of fresh water for my two girls. I put them in my room the warmest safest room in my house. (Where they were was the safest but it gets super cold and they are in a corner that heats in far away because no direct sunlight hits there) We have 7 bags of lettuce and kale for them. Stay safe and I get your frustration bpatters me and my family are super lucky north of Texas because we have hot and cold water that we just got hot water back yesterday. We had no outages, we have a warm fire place, and we stocked up on food and have a car that has snow drive. I feel bad about ever one else who are freezing at home with pets because they can’t bring them with them because warming stations won’t allow them, and the people that pipes busted for them. If you need some tips I could give you some. Stay safe!
 

GuineaPigQueen1

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By the way how do you chose a profile pic and how to change my tag for cavy newbie, because in my personal opinion I think I am more of a cavy slave.
 
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