Lost snake(s), House full of pets

[ScalelessTime]

I have lost my Cornsnake since 1 month after Valentine's day. Now I am missing my Kingsnake who had been missing since the day before yesterday. I have heard that snakes do not wonder far from their homes. Tonight, I am going to leave out a bait and box trap in my room, or possibly a bait and bottle trap too. But, with a house full of dogs and cats, I am afraid that either, A: The animals will find and kill my babies, or B: The animals will eat the food left out and become sick.

What do I do as an alternative after no luck of moving things around?

What I have done:

I have moved clothing, checked furniture, and looked in the vents of my bedroom.
I have lay out a heating-pad in the middle of the floor.
I have kept the cage open and ready for his return.


A lesson learned:
How did I loss my snakes?
I lost my corn by him slipping through a small whole on the top of the cage lid.
I lost my king by him slithering off out of my site and forgetting about him about 30 minutes. (distracted by a movie)

Some easy to find signs:
The upside to being able to find my king is that he is in his shed week and today is his feeding day (Tuesdays). Those are very helpful things on finding my snakey.
I don't know a thing about my corn and I haven't seen any snake skin anywhere. I have a feeling he has either been eaten by one of the cats or escaped outside somehow.

Extra info:
My bedroom door is always closed because cats like to get into my room. My dog, a chihuahua, has seen and messed with my snakes before and doesn't seem to mind them. She sleeps with me and practically lives in my room. I have a bundle of tall baskets with a mountain of cloths on top of them. Behind the cloth baskets is closet with boxes on boxes. Against the opposite side of the cages, I have my bed against the wall on the ground (no stands).

Is there anything I can do to find my king or both king and corn? HELP!

[sharthun]

Wow, sorry to hear that both are missing! Good luck! I'm sure they will show up soon!

[Jim Smith]

If I understand you correctly, you saying that you lost your corn snake last March. That's 11 months ago and I would be very surprised if it could survive that long without access to water. Your king snake is another matter. I think you're right to be worried about your dogs and cats finding the snake and injuring it or killing it. Is there any way that you can "fence-off" the area of the house where the dogs and cats are to prevent the snake from going into that area?

I can relate to your dilemma as I also lost one of my Honduran Milk Snakes recently and she was missing for about nine days. I did much of the same things you're doing but they didn't seem to help. I found her when she knocked something over, making a noise that gave her away. My experience is that they usually stay pretty close to where they escape. It is amazing how well they can hide and then just show up.

I wish you the very best of luck and please keep us posted.

[Starbuck]

your dog (or cats) could easily have killed and eaten one or both of the snakes (regardless of how little your dog seemed to 'mind' the snakes, it is very different when it is crawling around unprotected). More likely, the king is hiding out somewhere.
Eating a f/t mouse should not make any of your mammal pets sick, though it may be messy. I would try to keep the dog out of the room tonight while your trap is set. The corn could very likely be gone outside for good; but the king is probably still in the house somewhere.

It doesn't sound like you 'learned' any lesson, other than it sucks to lose a snake (2 snakes). Negligence (in letting him out of your sight?) is not endearing, and you are responsible for those snakes should then end up being eaten by a cat etc. I apologize if it seems like I'm calling you out/making you feel worse, but having lost 2 snakes before (and finding only one of them), i can tell you how much it sucks, and it will take a lot more than leaving a heat pad out and moving some stuff to find them.

I would put the heat pad against a wall or in a dark place like a closet. It is very unlikely that your snake is going to happen to slither across a wide open space.

[ScalelessTime]

Thanks you. My mom talked to her friends who have owned snakes and they keep saying that my corn is still alive. I have many doubts though. Do you think it could be possible on finding my king moving about during the day? In his cage, he sleeps around the afternoon and at 2-3pm he starts moving till next morning.

There could be a possible chance my corn is still alive though. We have a water bowl in the kitchen next to the one of the dog beds. But, that would give away their presence I wouldn't doubt. Should I keep looking in my room or expand my search? I lost my milk once and found him in a peed on boot outside my door.

[Starbuck]

the snake i found came out of my air conditioner in the evening, when it started to get cold outside. Its possible it could be at any time of day, though i think most people tend to find them in the evening.

it is possible that your corn is still alive, but it could be anywhere in your house or outside. i would worry more about your king right now as it is more likely that you could still find it

[Hurrok]

Corns are pretty smart, I lost mine and ended up finding her coming out of a burrow in one of my plants. She probably got water from the same source and it was closer to a heat register too so she had it made!

However since it's been quite awhile you might not see her again, but you still never know! Luckily my place doesn't have vents or anything like that but they are sneaky little things....Best of luck!

[CosmicOwl]

This isn't directed at anybody in particular, I just think they are good rules to follow. In my opinion, snakes should not escape under normal circumstances. There are a few simple ways of keeping it from happening. If you're using a screen top cage, make sure that the lid locks and that there are no small gaps between the lid and the tank. Also make sure there are no small holes in the screen. If you're using a tub, make you the lid has latches that will keep it shut. If you feel that the latches on there own aren't strong enough to keep the lid on, use straps, bungee cords or binder clips to firmly hold the lid in place.

Regardless of whether you're using a tank or a tub or a custom enclosure, you should make sure to fill any small gaps. Even if the gap seems too small for the snake to fit through, you should still fill it. And obviously do not let a snake out of your sight. If you're handling a snake, turn off all distractions and focus all of your attention on that task. You'd rather be safe than sorry.

[ScalelessTime]

I have secured everything in my tanks ever since I lost my corn. Now I just need to stop being distracted. Thanks for the tips.

[Brylee1233]

My sister lost her corn snake for two weeks. At the time we had a cat, and a dog. They both would have killed it if they could have. But niether of them did. (So I don't think you should worry about the animals eating them much...) We found her (like I said) two weeks later, under a pillow in the middle of our living room.

I am sorry that is all I can help you with, so don't worry about the animals eating the snakes. Good luck!! I hope you find them soon!!

[ScalelessTime]

Well, another day has went by and there is no sign at all. I have lay out flour by the doors and vents on the floor just in case if he ever exited or not. I plugged the bottom of my main door with a towel and set out a bottle with a fuzzie inside over night. I went to school the next morning and closed the door behind me. I came home and the door was wide open. I'm a little bit angry at whoever opened my door (still do not know who) so I am hoping he didn't wander away into the next room or something...

I will try again tonight while leaving out some water...

[Sharlynn93]

we had one get loose for a month...4 dogs and 2 cats in the house...dog alerted us to her climbing down from the entertainment center...must have been keeping warm under the dvd player since that was the only thing we didn't move on there when we rearranged the living room after she escaped...try around your electronics?

[drumcrush]

Wow, that's a bummer. I wish you luck, hope you find em! Hopefully alive :)

[ScalelessTime]

I found my King! I will post later with two videos and the story. Thank you all for your concern and tips!

[Shann]

So glad you found him!

[ScalelessTime]

The story

So, I started to go into a little bit of depression, beating myself up because I lost my snake from my own fault. My parents could tell a drastic change in my emotions so they felt a little sympathy and they started to look in my room just to help out. (I had no clue they were doing this)

I went to get a bowl for my king so if he was still in my room, he would have some water. I went to my room to set it on the floor and I saw my parents going through everything that looked like a good hiding spot for a sneaky snake. (which I already looked in)

And then, all of a sudden, Mr. Louise here came to see what all the commotion was about. He was just hanging out on his neighboring snake's cage just watching. I felt my heart explode and I fell into tears. I didn't want Louise to be like Valentine and never found. I was so scared that I would never see him again.

I give a million thanks to the force above and to your guys's help. ;)

Two vids

When I first found him (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMHWmhR5b-k&feature=youtu.be)

FEED ME! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyRH_U_Umbk&feature=youtu.be)

Feeding time (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNuhHhkDQYc&feature=youtu.be)

[sharthun]

Glad you found your snake! Was that a pinky or fuzzie you were trying to feed? Your snake can definitely eat larger prey.

[drumcrush]

Sweet! Good to hear you found Him!

[EL Ziggy]

Great news! Thats a beautiful king snake you have. He could definitely handle larger prey though.

[ScalelessTime]

That was a fuzzy, do you really think I should bump him up?

[lisas]

I'm glad that you found him. I lost my corn snake for a month once - she ended up in a baseboard heater. It's probably too late for your corn, but I'd never give up looking.

[sharthun]

That was a fuzzy, do you really think I should bump him up?

Yep! My 4 month old Black Milk eats two large fuzzies per feeding and he is 94 grams.

[mistersprinkles]

I lost my king by him slithering off out of my site and forgetting about him about 30 minutes. (distracted by a movie)


That's really not acceptable behavior from a responsible reptile keeper. Imagine if you lived in a building and the snake got into another unit and frightened some ignorant woman who was afraid of snakes. More negative press against reptile owners. More ammo for people who want to ban reptiles as pets.

You never let a snake out of your sight when you have it out of its enclosure.

[ScalelessTime]

Thank you for the repeat.

[ScalelessTime]

So, for a snake at his size, should I feed him two pinkies or give him a hopper?

[sharthun]

So, for a snake at his size, should I feed him two pinkies or give him a hopper?

He could probably eat 2 hoppers or one small mouse.

[EL Ziggy]

He could probably eat 2 hoppers or one small mouse.

I concur ;). At the very least he can handle hoppers.

[ScalelessTime]

I change it next Tuesday. Wasn't sure when to bump him up, guess it's time. :)

[Skits]

Good on finding him! Just advice about your corn, my first snake that I ever owned had went missing and I never found sheds anywhere. I thought he got eaten by my cats as well, but a few months later we found him in the basement. I hope he'll just pop up one day.

[Skits]

That's really not acceptable behavior from a responsible reptile keeper. Imagine if you lived in a building and the snake got into another unit and frightened some ignorant woman who was afraid of snakes. More negative press against reptile owners. More ammo for people who want to ban reptiles as pets.

You never let a snake out of your sight when you have it out of its enclosure.

I also agree with this.

[ScalelessTime]

Thanks. :)