Found my girl!

[Lefitte]

Little Miss Eir decided to give me a heart attack this week. Apparently, after feeding her and my hognose, I forgot to latch her cage. She's in an AP cage with swinging doors. One of the doors slightly catches so when I feed her I just close it without bothering to lock it in case I need in there again. Well, I forgot to move the tabs over the door when I was done and the next day all she had to do was push it a little. I found her door open within an hour of her getting out but I couldn't find her anywhere. I also have 5 cats and had no way to lock them up until she was found, whenever that may be.

Six days later, my cat starts hunting in the pantry so I dug around the trashcan and recycling and found her wedged against the wall and a couple of old cookie sheets. She's completely unharmed. She did have questions for me after I put her back though. For about ten minutes after I set her back in her cage she stared out of the door like "Where at? Why here?". That's the last time that happens with you little girl!

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/12042636_10209182590066944_4750231381062972620_n.j pg?oh=76bb073d28ff88bbd9ae3ce3084aa171&oe=579118DB

And her best recent pic just for extra fun.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/10934043_10208924725300486_1270524834143009597_n.j pg?oh=823ba1bea3950317e667f136b6a93ebb&oe=57797155

[Minkness]

Awww! Congrats! I knowbwhat a relief that is ^_^

[Lefitte]

Such a relief! I was having dreams nearly ever night that I would walk out into the room and find her just hanging out in her cage like what? I left the cage door open just in case. I knew she would come out eventually. The climate meant that she could stay out for months but she's a hungry girl once things warm up. I do have a friend that describes kings as 'garbage disposals' haha.

[AwesomeGuy376]

Glad you found her ^_^ its a shame when bad things happen to snakes

[EL Ziggy]

I'm glad you found her Lefitte. Makes me extra vigilant about double checking my locks and latches. :)

[Lefitte]

Yeah, I'm usually so vigilant. The night it happened, I was suuper tired from an exam that day. It was also the first time that I fed both girls on the same night. Their feedings usually fall on different days so it distracted me. I'm going to start using the metal locks from now on I think.

[toddnbecka]

Happy ending, glad you found her relatively quickly and unharmed. I've had a number of escapes, mostly the Dominicans. Lost the baby Okeetee corn and diamondback water snakes, never did find them again. I suspect that they squeezed out under the basement door and ventured out into the world. The everglades rat was loose for a while, but she and the various Dominicans are too large to leave the basement. They typically get returned to custody within a day or three. One female loves to soak in the aquariums, both times she's gotten out I've found her having a nice warm soak. The other female ends up in the rug rolled up and stuffed up against the basement door to keep the draft out. Last time I found her there she was too cold to move, but seemed to be fine after a gradual warm-up back in her enclosure. I learned the hard way that silicone isn't always effective for gluing vents into plywood.

[Albert Clark]

Congrats Leftie and tnb! We all have had the unfortunate , heartbreaking escapee situation to deal with at one time or another. Some of us were lucky enough to get the animal back unharmed. We do have to be much more cognizant of securing our snakes in their enclosures. It's our responsibility as keepers to protect them and protect ourselves.

[Lefitte]

I was pretty confident that I would find her, my fear was in not knowing what state she would be in when I did. I have often said that if my snakes were to escape, especially while so young, that it would be a death sentence because of my cats. It's my main reason for being so vigilant. My hognose is in one of those small glass tanks with the sliding screen. It's held in place by a little peg and I make sure to never ever forget the peg. My BRB is in a storage tote with latches on each side. I always make sure to put the latches on. I look for these things throughout the day. I glance at the thermometers in their cages as I walk by. My brb is next to my bed so he's one of the first things I see and think about in the morning. The other two are out in the kitchen/diningroom area so I look at them before I get myself breakfast in the morning. Then every time I enter either room throughout the day, I glance, I check. That's why I knew that it had been less than an hour when I discovered she was gone. I'm extremely cautious when it comes to them so it was pretty hard finding out that she was missing. I'm just so, so glad that she wasn't hurt. She has been swiped once before by one of my cats when she decided to leap from her cage for the first time so I have some silver ointment for wounds but I'm very happy that I didn't need to use it.

[Tsubaki]

Glad you found her! :)

[macandchz]

wow! you are lucky she's ok with the cats around! that's your Easter present!