What happens to missing snakes ?

[Zincubus]

Just a random question but does anybody know what happens to snakes that escape ..... Do they eventually , sadly , starve to death or do they eventually get found by the owner in a dark corner or something ... Just interested .

I suppose that the large snakes are eventually found but smaller ones maybe corn hatchlings presumably starve.

What are your experiences ???

[infernalis]

I have had many varied experiences...

My favourite is the safe recovery stories.. The ones I hate are the dead animal ones.

Our Royal escaped once, the cat had him pegged under the refrigerator.

My Pueblan used to be the king of escapes until I locked him down tighter than a prison. He got out almost weekly, but he's about a yard long and strong enough to push a heavy lid off a cage.

I stepped on one (killing it) while walking down the hall...

I'm a lot more careful now. Security is one of the most important parts of husbandry.

You can be the best snake keeper on the planet, and it won't do a snake that is hiding inside your walls any good.

Keeping them secured in the habitat is paramount, Can't stress that enough.

[shaunyboy]

Just a random question but does anybody know what happens to snakes that escape ..... Do they eventually , sadly , starve to death or do they eventually get found by the owner in a dark corner or something ... Just interested .

I suppose that the large snakes are eventually found but smaller ones maybe corn hatchlings presumably starve.

What are your experiences ???


unless they find somewhere warm ALL YEAR round with a food supply they all die in the uk mate

our weathers too severe for them to live outside


i'm thinking if they found say a farmers barn with some kind of year long heat off machinery etc there would be plenty rats,mice,etc so they may stand a chance

cheers shaun

[NennaMeerkat]

Never had any of my caged animals escape. I love having aquarium/cage animals rather than animals that stay loose. Guess it is just more control on my part to make sure they stay safe and others stay safe at the same time.

Anyways as far as your question goes. If they escape outside I am sure most snakes would and could survive. Unlike most animals snakes and other reptiles are not domestic or dependent like say dogs or cats. That is why parts of the country are dealing with non native snakes on a scale that would be considered dangerous (though not to me). In general a snake is a animal with simple needs, even if we go out of our way to make sure their environment with us is always at a optimal state. Also since snakes can go a long time without eating they can just cruise around or bed down until conditions get better.

Now escape inside a home and it is unlikely they would survive for one reason or another if not found...as Infernalis pointed out with a few examples. Other animals, kids, and other accidental situations. Not to mention the likelyhood of them finding food in your home (if not big enough to eat the other animals) is slim to none.

[radstusky]

I agree with Wayne that security is a very important part of husbandry. To be honest, with past snakes I have a terrible track record. I've gotten lucky a few times and recovered lost snakes, but that's certainly not always the case. When I lived in Florida, my Florida kingsnake got out, never to be seen again. At least if he got outside, he'd be in his natural habitat!

I now have a critter cage with a padlock on it. Unfortunately, my daughter's cornsnake did escape back in April because she didn't manage to close the cage properly one night. We never found her. In any case, I'm super careful now, as I know the only way my current jcp could possibly escape is by human error!

[infernalis]

I think we all have underestimated snakes once or twice early on...

[NennaMeerkat]

I guess me working at a zoo taught me to keep tight lids on any snake cause you never know how strong they can really be...or clever.

[Lankyrob]

I lost one of my corns back last year through a hole in the viv that i had dismissed as nowhere near big enought to even worry about covering. It was like a screw hole and within about two hours of the corn being in the viv he was gone. Thankfully we found the little bugger and covered the hole over. Since then if a second hand viv comes in the house not only is it thoroughly cleaned but EVERY hole is covered or filled.

[Reptile_Reptile]

I think we all have underestimated snakes once or twice early on...
i sure did. thats how i lost my first snake. R.I.P

[infernalis]

Ever seen a baby snake go right up the glass like spider man??

I have photos of that somewhere...

[shaunyboy]

Ever seen a baby snake go right up the glass like spider man??

I have photos of that somewhere...


i've seen them try and slide out between the glass sliding doors on the viv

the gap can't be any more than 1 to 2 millimeters yet i've seen them get half their by now very flattened head out (corn snake hatchling)

i would agree at some point in our herping careers we have all underestimated a snakes escape capabilitys

cheers shaun