View Full Version : How many people have lost snakes and never found them?
With the big news here in kansas about the family who found a ball python in their toilet I am just curious how many people here on this board have lost snakes and not found them?
I for one have lost two. A baby bullsnake years ago that I had for two days and didnt get the tub lid on correctly. And recently my nelsons milksnake. I transferred my snakes to some cages I traded for and two escaped, luckily my cornsnake was just hanging out on top the cage.Needless to say I am not using those cages for snakes. I have had others escape but found them.
My son lost a baby cornsnake from an incorrectly snapped on screen lid on his ten gallon several years ago as well.
So tally is 3 here in Kansas.One was a local species.
I know why I dont keep hots:rolleyes:
Georgia
09-30-15, 08:59 AM
I have a 7ft black racer prowling around my house currently...
Sylphie
09-30-15, 09:26 AM
None, one of our corns is master of escaping, but we always found him (once he was out for 3 months). :D
D Grade
09-30-15, 12:04 PM
Unfortunately I just joined this club. My Sonoran Gopher got out of her Viv and is somewhere in the house. Not sure if I'll find her but highly doubtful.
EL Ziggy
09-30-15, 06:56 PM
Unfortunately I just joined this club. My Sonoran Gopher got out of her Viv and is somewhere in the house. Not sure if I'll find her but highly doubtful.
I'm sorry to hear that D. I hope she finds her way back to you. Better V than Medusa.
toddnbecka
09-30-15, 11:23 PM
I've lost several babies over the years, like you said, one reason I wouldn't keep hots even if they were legal in MD. I've had a few larger ones escape their enclosures as well, but they turned up again. Longest MIA was my female everglades rat, before I started putting bricks on the lid. She was loose in the basement for 2-3 weeks before I found her again.
Tsubaki
10-01-15, 01:02 AM
I never lost a snake, once one got out because the fat**** decided to destroy his entire tub and press out the top though! He was so big he couldn't leave the room.
Wdnesday99
10-01-15, 03:18 AM
I saved up to buy a blood red corn from bhb, which is one of my favorite breeders, and i lost it the next day because the lid locked shut but left the smallest hole on one side which she escaped through.
I saved up to buy a blood red corn from bhb, which is one of my favorite breeders, and i lost it the next day because the lid locked shut but left the smallest hole on one side which she escaped through.
Thats what happened with my bullsnake, had her only a couple days.I was so mad at myself too. BHB doesnt sell inexpensive snakes either, that really sucks.
We also lost a ball python once but found her in the wall 3 months later. Someone was watching my animals while we were on vacation so it wasnt my fault.
lost a beautiful retic...he apparently met the hot water tank...the hot water tank won. this was about 3 yrs ago. Still sick about it.
blackbear
10-01-15, 09:12 AM
My milksnake just recently discovered she can escape. Just a few days ago I heard the screen lift and shut again. When I looked, she had slithered out and into the printer nearby. Two hours and one dismantled printer later, we couldn't find her. She got out without us noticing somehow. I was worried she had gotten out of the room and met the dogs, but the next day I found her in the closet. I put some things on top of the screen to prevent it from happening again, but the very next night she got out and managed to squeeze herself underneath her tank. Luckily I found her. I now have the screen secured with velcro strips hotglued to the glass and screen until I can buy some clips. She hasn't given up though. She's still occasionally wedging herself between the screen and the lip of the tank.
ManSlaughter33
10-01-15, 10:39 AM
My Boa managed to get out 2x ( NO IDEA HOW ) we probably had about 6 full boxes holding the lid down. still.
I slapped on some hasp locks and she hasnt managed to escape since
EL Ziggy
10-01-15, 11:59 AM
I did lose a BP many years ago when I first started keeping snakes. Now I'm pretty compulsive about making sure my enclosures are always secured. I know accidents still happen though. One time I was changing water, got distracted, and left one of my cages open. It could have turned out pretty bad if my snake hadn't been too lazy after just being fed.
Doug 351
10-01-15, 06:06 PM
I've lost a few small ones....but never one over a foot long...if you want to count escapes with recoveries, we're over a dozen, easy...
Actually, I believe it was only two juveniles.....a speckled king and (I can't remember the other....) ....maybe it was only one....????
With so many escapes....I'm thinking there has to be another...but then, each one, I keep remembering recovery.
D Grade
10-01-15, 08:58 PM
I'm sorry to hear that D. I hope she finds her way back to you. Better V than Medusa.
Yeah definitely, if that was the case I'd quarantine the house off and we'd be sleeping in the car. Well my wife and daughter would be, I'd be looking for her till I found her. Lol
toddnbecka
10-01-15, 11:41 PM
I now have the screen secured with velcro strips hotglued to the glass and screen until I can buy some clips. She hasn't given up though. She's still occasionally wedging herself between the screen and the lip of the tank.
I cut pegboard to fit inside the aquarium rim, then put the screen top over that, and secure it in place with tera tie down straps. No way they can wedge between the rim and the screen, and the holes in the pegboard provide plenty of ventilation, while still retaining more humidity than an open screen top.
Doug 351
10-05-15, 09:59 AM
I cut pegboard to fit inside the aquarium rim, then put the screen top over that, and secure it in place with tera tie down straps. No way they can wedge between the rim and the screen, and the holes in the pegboard provide plenty of ventilation, while still retaining more humidity than an open screen top.
But doesn't that make it a pain to open?
toddnbecka
10-06-15, 12:49 AM
I run a zip tie through a couple holes for a quick and easy handle for the pegboard.
The pegboard is a good idea, would help hold in heat as well. I may do that for my tanks. I have a couple of 40 gallons, though my corns are too big to escape easily now. Its when they are little worms that seem to find the smallest gap to get out of.
sophiedufort
10-07-15, 10:19 PM
Well, we found a great solution to keep the lids shut. No weights, no clips. We use velcro. We attach two small pieces first, one to the side of the tank and one on the lid, then we run a velcro piece over both. It works beautifully. Not even our strongest snakes can lift a lid secured with velcro.
Trouble is, we didn't put the velcro yet on our new addition's tank, thinking that she's so small she can't even reach the lid, let alone lift it, and today she disappeared. We are waiting for her to show up.
http://i.imgur.com/zMHCXQL.jpg
jjhill001
10-08-15, 08:47 PM
Unfortunately I just joined this club. My Sonoran Gopher got out of her Viv and is somewhere in the house. Not sure if I'll find her but highly doubtful.
Check in recliners, that's where I found my Sonoran when it got out. Sometimes they just turn up.
Doug 351
10-08-15, 11:35 PM
Ummmm....do wives count?
Ummmm....do wives count?
Bazinga lol
RAD House
10-10-15, 11:10 AM
I lost my corn snake maize a few months ago and have yet to see any sign of him. I set some traps baited with mice and a heat pad to no avail. As it is summer and our back door is always open I have a feeling he may have wondered outside. Even though he was my favorite snake at the time, if he did make it outside I would rather he became a meal for something than harm a native species.
Akuma223
10-10-15, 12:00 PM
I've lost two snakes, an eastern milk and a cornsnake. Never found either. I have had my garter snake they get out numerous times because of what an airhead I am, and my little hypo Everglades vulpina recently did the same. I found her, and always find Theodore. Longest Theodore has been gone was a week and I somehow found him because I smelled him out? That was a weird day, he didn't poop but I smelled just the slightest hint of snake and saw him slither past the back of my desk. I lunged for him like a tiger and he's never gotten so far since.
I am an over protective person lol. I've never lost an animal. But then again I never had snakes before this. I can see how it happens though. You should see my little corn snakes tanks lolol. I have the sliding lid on them, and I tape the edges around the bottoms where they can't touch it on the outside, and then I have pieces of cardboard stuck in the tiny gaps left when the lid is shut with books on those! Told you I was paranoid of losing my animals, what can I say? ROTFL
Oh and the small tanks are "inside" a bigger tank that has the sliding lid on it hehe.
Georgia
10-16-15, 07:18 AM
My rattlers are just to damn fat and lazy to really attempt a jailbreak lol
jjhill001
10-16-15, 03:21 PM
I've lost two snakes, an eastern milk and a cornsnake. Never found either. I have had my garter snake they get out numerous times because of what an airhead I am, and my little hypo Everglades vulpina recently did the same. I found her, and always find Theodore. Longest Theodore has been gone was a week and I somehow found him because I smelled him out? That was a weird day, he didn't poop but I smelled just the slightest hint of snake and saw him slither past the back of my desk. I lunged for him like a tiger and he's never gotten so far since.
Who did you get your hypo everglades from?
jjhill001
10-16-15, 03:22 PM
My rattlers are just to damn fat and lazy to really attempt a jailbreak lol
"Hey you left the lid open! Close it, its getting cold in here!"
jjhill001
10-16-15, 03:23 PM
Well, we found a great solution to keep the lids shut. No weights, no clips. We use velcro. We attach two small pieces first, one to the side of the tank and one on the lid, then we run a velcro piece over both. It works beautifully. Not even our strongest snakes can lift a lid secured with velcro.
Trouble is, we didn't put the velcro yet on our new addition's tank, thinking that she's so small she can't even reach the lid, let alone lift it, and today she disappeared. We are waiting for her to show up.
http://i.imgur.com/zMHCXQL.jpg
This is also a great trick for securing the lids to tubs so you are sure that the middle part is also secure.
Akuma223
10-17-15, 12:44 PM
Who did you get your hypo everglades from?
I got her from a guy named Nate outside Rochester NY. Saw his ad for hatchlings he bred on Craigslist and couldn't pass it up.
natsirtremraf
10-22-15, 03:12 PM
I've had one escape. My T+ Nic escaped one night because my roommate brought home to unexpected company in the middle of the night. We got talking about our snakes so I showed them Eve. Well, at the time, I was trying to get humidity higher in her glass aquarium and I had plastic wrap around most of the top screen. I put her right back in after having her out for 2 minutes. Since it was late and I was getting sleepy I put the screen back on and didn't notice that the plastic wrap was holding it up.
Well in the morning she was gone. Somewhere in the crowded master bedroom with 2 cats, a ferret and a dog. After, frantically tearing the entire room apart and searching through everything for hours. I found she had obviously got out of her tank and crawled in the first box that was next to the tank because I didn't know that it had a handle hole. She was no more that 6 feet from her tank...
Just happy I found her though. Hope you guys find your missing babies.
Wingbeats
10-22-15, 11:33 PM
Ugh, Chaska somehow wormed her way out from behind the fluorescent lights installed in her new T8 cage. Last time, I found her trying to get back in her old enclosure...so I've been leaving her cage open each night. Once again, flour is out around everything. Back in searching mode, siiigh....(and yes, the gap between the lights and the ceiling I discovered is now sealed).
Hopefully she comes back before things get too cold!
Wingbeats
10-23-15, 07:09 PM
Welp, go figure. For the last few days, I put out a bottle-with-a-mouse trap, put out flour around warm appliances, all that jazz....
...and I found Chaska today just chilling in one of her hides like nothing happened. Go figure, that leaving her enclosure cracked open is the thing that works!
Anyways, I have fixed the gap between the light and the ceiling. Now stay put, little houdini noodle :P
serpentgirl123
10-23-15, 07:49 PM
Congrats on a safe and relatively peaceful/calm return!
toddnbecka
10-24-15, 12:06 AM
Put a couple extra bricks on the lid... lol.
Georgia
10-24-15, 01:24 AM
Update: 6 ft black rat is still MIA in my studio apartment....amazing that they can vanish like they do.
sophiedufort
10-25-15, 04:25 PM
This little troublemaker is the greatest pain in the butt. He disappeared almost three weeks ago and we thought him dead. We even blamed poor Chester, our super pastel bp, for eating him.
Today was a terrible day for us at many levels. And to top it all, this little guy showed up. A good thing, as everybody would say. But where did he show up? In our landlord's house, which is connected to ours, on top of their drapes in the living room, falling to the floor when the landlord's wife pulled the drapes down. And she has a huge phobia when it comes to snakes. Easy to imagine what followed. For the next couple of hours we thought that we had to find another house. As in - immediately. Then she calmed down and decided to let us stay. After all, she knew about the snakes from the beginning, and this was just a very unfortunate incident that we promised not to have repeated.
The little brat seems to be very healthy and alert, just very thirsty when he arrived. I would whoop his butt if he had one.
trailblazer295
10-25-15, 04:46 PM
Little he does look, quite a bit of trouble for such a small snake. Lol glad it worked out in the end. I'm curious how he climbed the drapes in the first place.
EL Ziggy
10-25-15, 05:12 PM
I'm glad you got your critter back and everything worked out with the landlord Sophie. Too bad you can't ground him. :)
trailblazer295
10-25-15, 05:20 PM
I'm glad you got your critter back and everything worked out with the landlord Sophie. Too bad you can't ground him. :)
Judging by where he was found he doesn't much like the ground :D
sophiedufort
10-26-15, 07:34 AM
Lol! Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I have no clue how he got up the drapes, let alone how he managed to get into the landlord's part of the house. Mike and I checked, double checked and triple checked before we moved in. There were no holes, nothing that would allow one of our snakes to worm their way into the adjacent habitation. We keep the door closed at all times, so no escape that way either. I'm puzzled.
trailblazer295
10-26-15, 07:38 AM
A true master never reveals his secrets lol
DollysMom
11-05-15, 12:19 PM
My 60 gram normal corn, Dolly, escaped on Sept 22 and is still missing. He managed to turn a latch that I had believed to be secure and pushed out the corner of the lid.
Now I have different lids and 2 pieces of Velcro One Wrap that completely go around each viv, that I can cinch down tight. I have the corners additionally blocked with hot glued in weatherstripping. I also have Zilla heavy duty clips on the ends. I've watched my 15 gram corn snake Cleo test and she can't find a way out. Each time I close my vivs. I pull up on all four sides and all four corners. If the lid budges I redo until it is absolutely immovable.
I have seen no sign of my missing snake. I haven't given up hope and there's a new, secured viv waiting for Dolly if we ever find him. Losing him was beyond painful. He is a great little snake.
millertime89
11-08-15, 01:07 AM
I went home for my mom's funeral and while I was there my former roommate (who is also a snake owner) cared for my snakes. I had a male Savu that somehow managed to get out and was never seen again. No idea what happened. Pretty sure I never got the full story.
My african house snake escaped from a very tiny hole that was in the screen of his tank. It's been a year already (this week) that he's been gone. It really sucks and I wonder every day where he is. There's lots of holes in the basement, he could be in the floors or in the walls. I'm just hoping he's safe wherever he is, but I know it could be way worse since it's been so long.
I had lost a corn snake a few years ago, and found him after 8 months. :) Unfortunately I was stupid and fed him right after I found him, he regurged and passed away. Stupid newbie mistake that I'll never repeat.
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