oh god :(

[Clownfishie]

I can't believe this happened, but one of the albinos escaped yesterday :( I'm freaking out -- when I went to feed everyone last night, I noticed Aidan, my albino male, sitting on TOP of the lid -- I scooped him up and stuck him back in the cage, but as soon as I saw him I had this horrible feeling that when I looked in the tank, there was going to be one less leo than there was supposed to be -- and sure enough, Montana was missing :( There's an aloe plant in there, close to one of the 2 "doors" in the lid, and apparently they managed to climb up it and get out. I didn't find out until after 1 am yesterday, so I couldn't rip the room apart like I wanted to -- but I looked everywhere in the room with a flashlight and didn't find any sign of her :( This morning as soon as I got up I dismantled the entire room looking for her.... with no luck :(
The herp room is in the basement -- she's definitely not in the herp room, unless she's figure out how to turn invisible. And the rest of the basement is one gigantic pile of crap, she could be anywhere :( The other thing I'm worried about is the cats -- I've been comforting myself with the fact that if one of them had found her first, I would have found some sign of it ... they wouldn't just gobble her down whole.

All in all, I'm a wreck... I'm so worried, and I feel so guilty... if anyone has any happy stories about finding their leos safe and sound after escapes, or any suggestions for finding her, I could sure use them right now :(

Jen

[leolover]

i hope u find it im praying for ya

[beth wallbank]

Sorry to hear that you have a houdini on your hands. I had the same thing happen last year with a blizzard that wouldn't stay in his cage. I tore the house apart several times with no luck. About two weeks into no sign of him missing, and with having 4 cats and three dogs in the house that would surely eat him without hesitation, I got an idea to powder the floor around the place in corners and under things with flour. Just a light dusting did the job. I check the flour several times a day for foot prints, and after three days VOILA!!! behind our big screen TV there were tiny leopard gecko footprints in the flour. So, needless to say I ripped the television apart from the back, and low and behold, guess who was sitting ontop of the lenses all nice and warm? To this day, I have never figured out though where the extra screws went that came from the television when I put it back together:D
Give the dusting the floor with flour trick and try your luck. You could also set a trap, like a live mouse trap with crickets in it. You can get a live trap at any feed store for horses co op or buckerfields, and there is a compartment to place crix or pinkies to entice him into it. Dust the area around the trap to see if he at least goes near it, and if he does then maybe you'll have to do the all nighter thing sitting in the dark.
Hope this helps, and my fingers are crossed for you to find him safely.
Beth

[DragnDrop]

She won't freeze in the basement, so that's one good thing. I'm assuming it's not 80°F+ in there, so she'll be good and ready to find a warm spot by now. Check any warm areas, under water heaters, near the dryer if you've used it, or even in a patch of sunlight coming in through a window. Take advantage of her heat seeking ways to lure her out of where she is - set up either a light or UTH in an obvious place (or 2 or 3) and maybe a dish of water and mealies or superworms - some food item she recognizes but which can be kept in a container. If you can, turn the lights off or darken the area so she'll be more anxious to explore, but if she's desparate enough, she'll even go looking for heat in daylight. Assume she's still in the herp room, so I'd set up 2 warm spots there, and one or two in each other basement room/area.
Some people suggest sprinkling flour or other non-toxic powder on the floor in front of places she can crawl into/under. If you see her footprints, you might be able to track her by the direction they're leading to.

[Blazin]

I have lost a couple to escapes and have also been fortunate to find them. I also tried the powder thing and had some success. I recommend securing that lid. Leopards are smart. They can actually remember how they got out and do it over and over. I have some het rainwaters that all learned and used to get out and kick back inside the rack behind the rubbermaids. The best solution I have always found for lost herps is to search. And I mean move everything!!. It takes some work but it pays off usually. Hope you find her!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Clownfishie]

Just wanted to give you guys a quick update..

I still haven't found her. I took the entire herp room apart -- moved furniture, took everything out from underneath the bed -- peered behind the dresser into an incredibly disgusting mess of cobwebs (oops, guess it's time for a late spring cleaning? ;)). Moved some things out in the hallway too, and checked the whole basement with the flashlight again -- still no luck.

I set up a couple of "traps" for her tonight though... small tanks/critter keepers turned on their side, with a hide and a dish of mealies inside -- and a heat lamp on each of them. One is in the herp room, one is in the hall outside, and one is in the laundry/computer room... I'm praying that she'll be in one of them in the morning.
If the traps don't work, I guess I'll try the flour -- the only problem being that the herp room has shag carpet, so that should be a lovely mess...

As for the cats, I'm keeping myself sane by believing that I'd have found something (even if it was just remains) if they'd gotten to her. And it makes me feel moderately better that when they catch a mouse, they don't eat it -- although they do kill it (good with a mouse, bad with a gecko). *sigh*. This is not a happy way to spend the long weekend... when I find her, I'm never taking her out of that cage again! ;)

Thanks for all your support guys... it means a lot. This is really messing me up, it definitely helps that you guys are all optimistic that I'll find her...

Jen

[Geck-co]

why not try putting some flour in the traps u set up/? that way u can tell at least if she had visited one.... perhaps she went and hung out but didnt go for the mealies? i duno at least that way u could tell if there where foot prints or not.. and it still wouldnt mess up the rug.

good luck on finding her.. hopefully this ends with a happy ending.