• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

Reptile-related emergency preparedness

T

Teatime

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Hello all. In recent years I've become very interested in learning about general preparedness, either "bug out" style or sheltering in place. I thought we could compare notes on this topic, figure out some emergency plans.

So, we've had really intense flooding in my area in the last few years. We're also prone to heavy snow fall. Natural or man-made disasters can necessitate an evacuation, and there's not always advanced warning. Not too long ago there was a fuel spill nearby and it was a bio-hazard so they forced everyone in that area to leave until the next day. If there's an impending weather-related disaster and you keep an eye on the forecast it could be better to pack up your car before the storm hits and head for a safer location rather than getting stuck in your house due to impassable roads. Alternately, figuring out how to shelter in place and survive without power/water/basic services will be very important.

You should never leave your pets behind during an evacuation. That being said, I know some people have tons of reptiles and it becomes very complicated to evacuate them all. I was wondering if anyone with a lot of herps can weigh in on this subject, how to evacuate everyone or keep temperatures up during periods of no power. Also if you feed F/T and everything starts to defrost, that could be a disaster in and of itself.

I only have a few snakes and one cat. I have travel cages for everyone, but I think it might be easier to put each snake into a pillowcase and get an insulated cooler with some heat packs. Grouping them all together wouldn't provide a way to get them to their individual ideal temperatures but I'd hope it would keep them warm enough during a winter emergency. I'd need a separate cooler for the frozen feeders.

For sheltering in place with no power, the cooler would come in handy for the frozen/refrigerated items but there's not really a way to keep everyone warm. Heat packs inside the enclosure? I would worry they'd get too hot to place directly inside the cage, but also wouldn't heat up the area good enough if placed outside of the cage. If anyone has insight on this, I'd appreciate it. What brand of heat packs work the best, etc.

Other resources:

https://www.petcoach.co/article/an-evacuation-kit-for-your-herp/

https://redrover.org/resource/disaster-tips-for-reptiles-and-amphibians/

https://www.herpcenter.com/reptile-articles/reptile-first-aid-kit/

Please feel free to add your thoughts, plans, and resources also!
 
Glad to see you're thinking ahead...I've personally been thru a long power outage (days) caused by power lines downed by an ice storm. I keep a number of ice chests (empty & on hand stored in garage). Some are handy for food too, but during the ice storm, I had no generator back-up & a cold house: none of my snakes were in any way impacted health-wise, because I bagged each one separately and put only a few in separate ice chests, each with a large jar of hot water for warmth. I have a gas-hot water heater, and the jar of hot water lasted about 8-9 hours before needing replacement. I wished I could have been in there myself...;) as it stayed a balmy 82*. I now have heat packs on hand too, in case, but the main thing is to have ice chests (or even styrofoam boxes that food was shipped in) on hand, to protect animals from temperature extremes of any kind. I use them for transport, moving or just a vet trip too...hot sun streaming in thru car windows can also kill, as can excessive heat coming up from the vehicle floor during a long trip. (I can remember on another forum the member whose favorite boa was bagged only, and kept on the floor of his truck during a long ride & the snake died from heat exposure...he didn't realize how hot the floor was getting or how poorly insulated his truck was...so very sad.) So don't let this happen to YOUR pets. You put human kids in car seats or seat belts, you have to protect traveling pets too, and snakes travel VERY easily this way...I've moved halfway across country with my snakes bagged/& in ice chests. Just be sure you don't over-crowd them, they should be of similar weights, not smooshing each other if their bags over-lap. And minimal ventilation needed, as with air shipment.
 
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