Smoke signals

[SSSSnakes]

It was time to feed my new lemon blast ball. I had him in his new enclosure and I was having problems with condensation on the lid. So I drilled a few new vent holes to allow more air flow. I then offered him a fuzzie mouse which he did not want at the time, so I left it in his hide box with him. A little later I went to check on him, I misjudged the size of the vent holes, and found the mouse stilt there and the snake missing. My wife and I turned the house up side down looking for him. Then we noticed our cat, Smokie, staring at the curtains by the sliding glass doors. He was looking at it like a hunting dog pointing out prey. He is now back in his enclosure safe and sound thanks to Smokie.

My cat is a better snake hunter than I am.

How many of you have had a snake get loose and where did you find it?

[JacobH]

My corn snake haywire got out the 3rd day that I had him didn't have locks for the cage yet so I put my laundry basket filled with clothes ontop seemed good enough, but boy was I wrong he slithered his way right out even ripping a scale or 2 off of himself I was so devistated I looked every where went out and got mice for snake traps (not harmful) made every room bright as day and super cold besides my room and after about a week I gave up a little searching a lot less until one day my friend came over walked in my room saw haywire squeezing himself behind his tank and came to wake me up while I was on my sofa with a 4 foot snake in his hands I was so shocked and happy even took my friend out to eat! This is how he got his name haywire crazy little *******!

[Tiny Boidae]

My rat snake got loose once last year. Simply left it unlocked and all he needed was a few hours before he was gone. I have all my snakes in a sealed room they can't get out of so I knew he was contained at least. Searched for an hour and after checking this exact spot three times, I found him in this little storage bin I keep under his enclosure. There's a piece of cardboard at the bottom that keeps it from collapsing in and he got under that.

[dannybgoode]

Ha i can relate to this. Twice my little boys P obsoletus has escaped only for the cat to give the game away.

First time as just before we moved house and I was worried we might not find him in time. One night as we were putting said boy to bed the was a commotion in the attic with the cat clearly trying to get to something and sure enough there he was.

Second time as just after we moved and cat was staring intently at the wardrobe and sure enough snake was behind it.

[SSSSnakes]

Ha i can relate to this. Twice my little boys P obsoletus has escaped only for the cat to give the game away.

First time as just before we moved house and I was worried we might not find him in time. One night as we were putting said boy to bed the was a commotion in the attic with the cat clearly trying to get to something and sure enough there he was.

Second time as just after we moved and cat was staring intently at the wardrobe and sure enough snake was behind it.

Seems if you lose a snake, the best way to find it is to get a cat. Ha ha

[dannybgoode]

So long as you find the cat finding the snake before any damage is done!

I couldn't believe the gap the obsoletus squeezed through - I thought I'd sealed the hole but had left a gap I could barely squeeze a finger in. Bearing in mind the snake is a 4' sub adult I'm impressed and amazed it could get through it.

[bigsnakegirl785]

I've only had two escapes on my watch, and those were over 2 years ago. One was because I fed Bud (ball python) while I was half-asleep and forgot to latch his tub. I found him within a few minutes underneath the TV across the room. The other one was Demigod (garter snake), and he was small enough to slip out under the tub's lid, and I found him on the opposite side of the room from where I found Bud, curled up under a guitar case within minutes of beginning the search as well.

The most memorable escape was probably Cloud (boa constrictor). At the time I had him housed at my mom's house because my father didn't want me having another snake, and he escaped while I was gone. Apparently, my mom had taken him out to handle him, but didn't shut the lid correctly (you had to move the hygrometer wire aside so the lid would close completely), and he wiggled out. She found him surrounded by 3 cats, and I didn't even know until I came to visit 2 weeks later and found him covered all over in pale gray scars. He's almost 6 years old now and only 2 or 3 of the largest scars are still visible, and even those are slowly fading with time.

[trailblazer295]

Had 2 problems but neither was much of a hider. Found my bp curled up on top of his cage over the heat panel and my king was laying in the open on the carpet. I had to stare at it for a second before things registered. A dark brown snake on beige carpet sticks out. Luckily nothing bad happened I didn't even realize they were missing.

[TeamSlitherin]

Hahaha, I JUST went to snuggle my Dumeril's 2 days ago, only to find an empty cage. Found her the next day, hiding under an umbrella that had fallen between the couch and the wall. When I was 12 or so, I had a ball python that was always on the run. He would invariably come out when he was hungry. Once, during one of his expeditions, my beta fish went missing from its bowl. I'd like to think my BP was stealthy enough to nab a fish out of a bowl without knocking it over, but the reality is...it was probably a prank perpetrated by a sibling who later got cold feet about taking credit ;)

[RAD House]

I lost my juvenile corn snake when he was able to slip out between the sliding plastic doors I had installed on the new cage I built for him. He was able to get into a small unfinished mechanical room and subsequently behind the walls. I tried every method I read about to try to catch him to no avail. A few months later I found a shed in the closet which renewed my hope and I again unsuccessfully tried to catch him. Winter came and went and I had come to terms with fact that there was no way he had made it this long with out food. Just about eight months after got out I was walking downstairs to talk to the wife and saw something move in the middle of the floor. To my amazement the little guy decided to come home. He did even try to flee when I picked him up, either from willingness or being on death's door. There are few times in my life I have been so excited.

[Doug 351]

It was time to feed my new lemon blast ball. I had him in his new enclosure and I was having problems with condensation on the lid. So I drilled a few new vent holes to allow more air flow. I then offered him a fuzzie mouse which he did not want at the time, so I left it in his hide box with him. A little later I went to check on him, I misjudged the size of the vent holes, and found the mouse stilt there and the snake missing. My wife and I turned the house up side down looking for him. Then we noticed our cat, Smokie, staring at the curtains by the sliding glass doors. He was looking at it like a hunting dog pointing out prey. He is now back in his enclosure safe and sound thanks to Smokie.

My cat is a better snake hunter than I am.

How many of you have had a snake get loose and where did you find it?

My Texas ratsnake has escaped MANY times... I've found it in all kinds of places. My wife found her once in a Christmas gift bag on the top shelf of her closet. It's hard to imagine how it even got there.

My cat did find a full grown wild Texas ratsnake for me once.

But was really funny was a baby speckled king. I was playing with it and fell asleep. The next day, one of the dogs was in the passage to the kitchen. The snake behind it, and the cat behind the snake.

The cat would paw the snake, the snake react and strike the dogs tail. The snake thought the dog was messing with it, the dog thought the cat was messing with it, and the cat was laughing at two idiots! This went on for several minutes before I broke it up.

[Aaron_S]

I'm surprised in still in this hobby after the start I had....

I had just purchased my very first snake from a pet store as a child. They said to feed it in a few days on the feeding day with the pinky mice they recommended from their store. I did 4 days later as the suggested. Snake got it down just fine seemingly but it had suddenly passed away. We took it to the store and they couldn't figure it out so they gave me a new one.

A few months go by and everything is fine and the snake had a tough shed cycle. (12 year old me isn't as savvy as I am now) and I made a humid hide. I made the holes too big and it escaped. A few days later I found the snake under the dining room table, decapitated. I guess the cats got it.

The one and only time I've had a snake escape.