Need a baby mbk asap

IDvsEGO · 01-20-18, 07:33 PM

My 8 year old daughter bought a baby Mexican black kingsnake a few weeks ago with her own money and it escaped last night while we were in the hospital. She will be getting out in 4-7 days and I really don't want her to come home to her baby missing. If you have any mbk or know where I could get one in the next few days, please let me know. Thank you.

REM955 · 01-20-18, 08:29 PM

Fairly certain I won't be the first person to say look for it in the unlikely places and not try to replace the animal so quickly when it can still be found.

jjhill001 · 01-21-18, 01:37 AM

Yeah, I would just be honest. Gonna be really difficult to explain when it turns up and there is a 2nd one just in the cage still. 8 year olds aren't stupid, you don't want to sacrifice the trust of your kid at that age. Wait till they are adults.

craigafrechette · 01-21-18, 06:11 AM

I have to agree with the others. You may still be able to find the escapee. Why give up so quickly? That animal could be somewhere very close by, why give up on a living animal so quickly?
If you aren't fortunate enough to find the animal it could be a valuable lesson to learn together about snake keeping, and pet keeping in general. Sometimes in life we make mistakes, and learn from them. Having your animals in properly secured enclosures is one of them. It could be a valuable lesson about honesty as well.

IDvsEGO · 01-21-18, 08:17 AM

Hey, thanks for the parenting tips. Not the topic of the thread. You don't know me, my situation or my daughter.

I am still looking but this is a special circumstance.

IDvsEGO · 01-21-18, 08:25 AM

For anyone that wants to think they can see into a strangers situation... My daughter is on a 5-10 day suicide watch hold mandated by the state. She is having problems dealing with loss of a family ember, a friend, and her mother (who has custody) being generally neglectful. I am building a custody case and overseeing her mental health care as a non custodial parent... Which means with limited legal rights. And now her snake... Who she talks about missing when she is with her mom and is so happy she saved her money to get... Is gone. I won't lie to her because it will come out and I don't lie to her anyway. But I damn sure ant to buffer the loss with an immediate pet. If and when we find the first one we will just have a matching pair. On top of all of this, we are moving in 3 weeks. So I don't have tons of time for the hunt.

So. Everyone with the advice on how I handle my kid... Show me your psych degree or volunteer free legal help for my custody fight or buzz off, honestly.

If you know where I can find a baby mbk or have some great finding tips, please share.

StevenL · 01-21-18, 09:28 AM

Some advice that is totally free on how to handle yourself. While building your custody case for your daughter, leave the I sought guidance on a snake forum out of your testimoy to the judge. A judge may have concerns about you having custody of your daughter when it is obvious, properly caring for a snake appears to be a difficult task for you. Then to cap it off, the rapid decision you made to "give up" on a snake that right now is in need of your help. You may want to reserve the use of the word neglectful in the future unless you are peering into a mirror.

Jim Smith · 01-21-18, 09:36 AM

I think it's time to back off from this woman. She reached out for help minimize the disappointment her young daughter would feel is she comes home, and her new pet is missing. While many may not agree with her solution, there is nobody I know of on this site that is qualified to offer her advise on how to handle this situation because we don't know all of the fact. If I had a baby MBK, I would send it to this woman and wish her the very best in a difficult situation. If no one here has a baby MBK that they can offer this woman, perhaps the moderator should lock down this thread. Just my opinion...

IDvsEGO · 01-21-18, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StevenL

Some advice that is totally free on how to handle yourself. While building your custody case for your daughter, leave the I sought guidance on a snake forum out of your testimoy to the judge. A judge may have concerns about you having custody of your daughter when it is obvious, properly caring for a snake appears to be a difficult task for you. Then to cap it off, the rapid decision you made to "give up" on a snake that right now is in need of your help. You may want to reserve the use of the word neglectful in the future unless you are peering into a mirror.

Nobody said I was giving up. I have warm spots around the house, pinkies out and a bottle trap. I am also emptying every room systematically, including furniture. Again, if you guys want the full plan that fine. But it wasn't what I asked for help with. The stickies here and on other forums about lost snakes have been very helpful so I didn't feel the need to ask those questions.

I didn't seek advice, that was sarcasm. Look it up.

IDvsEGO · 01-21-18, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Smith

I think it's time to back off from this woman. She reached out for help minimize the disappointment her young daughter would feel is she comes home, and her new pet is missing. While many may not agree with her solution, there is nobody I know of on this site that is qualified to offer her advise on how to handle this situation because we don't know all of the fact. If I had a baby MBK, I would send it to this woman and wish her the very best in a difficult situation. If no one here has a baby MBK that they can offer this woman, perhaps the moderator should lock down this thread. Just my opinion...

Other than me being a man... Totally appreciate this post, thanks. Mod can lock if wanted.

Jim Smith · 01-21-18, 11:41 AM

Sorry about the gender confusion. With the IDvsEGO it's pretty much impossible to determine gender and I made an assumption which I should not have. I wish you and your daughter the very best and good luck finding the baby MBK. Have you searched Craig's list in your area? Sometimes you can get lucky and find exactly what you're looking for in the Pets section. Whether you find your daughter's snake and/or buy a new one, keep in mind that king snakes and milk snakes are masters at finding ways to get out of their enclosures. Most of the time, people find them within 10 feet of the enclosure and quite often in VERY small spaces. Look inside of shoes, drawers, etc. and best of luck.

IDvsEGO · 01-21-18, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Smith

Sorry about the gender confusion. With the IDvsEGO it's pretty much impossible to determine gender and I made an assumption which I should not have. I wish you and your daughter the very best and good luck finding the baby MBK. Have you searched Craig's list in your area? Sometimes you can get lucky and find exactly what you're looking for in the Pets section. Whether you find your daughter's snake and/or buy a new one, keep in mind that king snakes and milk snakes are masters at finding ways to get out of their enclosures. Most of the time, people find them within 10 feet of the enclosure and quite often in VERY small spaces. Look inside of shoes, drawers, etc. and best of luck.

OH, no problem on the gender. What happened on this one is my wife was checking the snakes while I was at the hospital with my daughter. She opened one end and didn't double check the other end so it was loose. The snake wiggled out. So some human error. Still, I am swapping tub types to one with a water tight seal so that closure is a little more obvious and snaps in place.

We have a high pile carpet so I am hoping it wiggled under the book shelf right next to the enclosure. Problem is our ball and rainbow are in tanks on those shelves so I have some work ahead of me to get them moved to check. I pulled all the contents and got behind it but can't get under it yet.

Bandit · 01-21-18, 03:12 PM

While MBKs are fairly common, they are in pretty high demand so they can be tough to find. Check Craigslist if you haven't already, including neighboring cities. Some people are willing to meet you in the middle which could make things easier. Also you may want to look up some local mom & pop pet shops in your area or surrounding cities/towns to see if they have one or know someone who does. Otherwise, maybe check if any online sellers are willing to express ship one before your daughter gets home. Maybe check local reptile Facebook groups to see if anyone has one. As a last resort, would it be an option to buy another species of king snake?

Good luck with everything, and I hope everything works out for you. As for the snake, just frequently check everywhere. It probably didn't go too far.

HMS Terrapin · 01-21-18, 08:39 PM

I have a few sellers that get them in often. It looks like there aren’t any now but they are constantly getting more stuff in so I’ll see what can be done in the next few days. Since you got this one at a show presumably from a breeder with many snakes can you remember their name or what their company was called- it’s very likely they will have more.

IDvsEGO · 01-22-18, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HMS Terrapin

I have a few sellers that get them in often. It looks like there aren’t any now but they are constantly getting more stuff in so I’ll see what can be done in the next few days. Since you got this one at a show presumably from a breeder with many snakes can you remember their name or what their company was called- it’s very likely they will have more.

It was a booth for a shop that is actually in my area. They don't have nay either. I have a couple of leads though.