I think he's gone: need emotional support

Sylorna · 05-30-10, 06:56 AM

Hey
I know you guys don't know me...but I could really use a bit of comfort today. I've had my Kenyan Sand Boa for about 8 months now and a couple of weeks ago I found he was missing. We tore the house apart, and I've tried baiting where it made sense that he'd be hiding....nothing.
Dig Dug hasn't eaten in about a month...because he had started refusing food shortly before he went missing. Yesterday I started combing through the house a little more thoroughly, starting where his tank is and found a hole in the floor leading down for the pipe for our water heating that he would totally fit in. It was right where he would have fallen when he got out and seems like the path of least resistance. I don't know the people below us, but I can tell you we all have cinderblock ceilings, so his only access points are through these little pipe holes. The people who live on my floor know he's missing, and are scared (despite my attempts to explain that they shouldn't be). We have cats (3) so I can't do any of the babypower/flour/cornstarch traps and am, of course scared that he'll come home and get eaten.
I'm going to continue looking for him today, starting with looking in the ceiling tiles in the hallway that I noticed yesterday.....

I had a dream last night that I was looking for him and he was still in his tank and I was so happy....then I woke up and knew it was just a dream, checked anyway and started to cry. I don't think I'll ever find him.

shaunyboy · 05-30-10, 07:55 AM

hang in there pal.its fair to say your looking at the negative side,i'd probaly do that too.theres 2 sides to most storys,so theres a chance he may still be ok.a month without foods no big deal for a snake.it wil slow its metabilism down to cope with the lack of food.so he might come back yet.

my main worry is your cats,can you not keep them at friends for a while or put them in a room you've tore upside down to make sure hes not in there before the cats go in.

lack of water is my 2nd worry.i dont know much about sand boas so i dont know how long they can go without water.i dont even know their food preference.

is there any way you could leave a bowl of water near the hole you think he may in.also brain your food item severly and he'll smell it a lot better.i usually brain the item then put it in a hessien sack with around 4 inches of the bag left open.i even heard of people putting a heat mat WITH A THERMOSTAT under part of the sack.this would give him a heat and food source all at the same time.

ive also seen people make a bottle trap and put the food item in it.that way he can go in for the food but cant get back out.i think i can pm you a link that will show you step by step how to make one.just pm me if you want to try it.

remember always put a fresh food item out each nite you try.

i wish you the very best of luck in finding your wee guy.
cheers shaun

Lankyrob · 05-30-10, 12:55 PM

I have read many stories of snakes going "walkabout" for a month or more and returning a little skinny but with no other ill effects - am hoping for you that yours returns soon.

Sylorna · 05-30-10, 05:57 PM

I went downstairs right after typing this and checked the floating ceilings in the basement I wish I was taller, because then I could see better, but it looks like there's a lot of cinderblock walls...which is a good thing I think, because it means that the space he's trapped in could be smaller and more localized to our apartment.
I'm going to try the heating pad/towel trick (I read towel somewhere else, and it's what I've got...also will help him with his burrowing habits). we have some old jumbo sized mice in the freezer from when our ball was smaller, and I was thinking of baiting with one of those since I can't imagine the fuzzies are letting off much of a smell.
Also I was thinking of putting a strip of bamboo in the hole so he'd have something to help him get out.
I hope you guys are right. I didn't realize how attached I was to the little guy...and I promise him a new tank lid with the biggest locks I can find if he comes home before I go to sleep every night.
Thanks for the words of encouragement.

dragunov.762 · 05-30-10, 06:00 PM

i know how you feel. i lost my first snake do to an escape and it sucks. i still miss her sometimes but it will get better i promise. i like to believe that she got outside and is living happily in the wild. i now have 2 more snakes and they have helped. i'm sorry to hear about your snake getting out but as every one else said it also could still be alright and come home when it is hungry. i hope you find him, never give up looking for him and things will be alright no matter how they turn out

shaunyboy · 05-31-10, 06:31 AM

thats a good idea putting something down the hole so he can climb out better.

hows about braining or bursting open one spare the fuzzies you have and scenting the bamboo stick with it.personally id heat the fuzzie up to roughly the same temp as a living one or hotter.that way when you rub the blood and guts onto the stick it will be hot and will give off a nice strong smell (even when it cools down) to atract him.im figuring he might have a smell of the stick and think theres a wounded food item at the other end of.that may be enough to motovate him to investigate further and climb right out the hole.

ive had fuzzies and rat pups heated up slightly too much and they burst when i picked them up with my feeding tongs.trust me pal they do give off some stink.im sure your wee guy will have no problem smelling it.

let us know if you find the wee man.
cheers shaun

Bree · 05-31-10, 08:50 AM

I hope this all ends out with the Escape Artist home safely and being lectured by you on the cons of leaving his happy home! If it helps at all, I've had snakes disappear for 4 months at one sitting and show up in the oddest of places:

Top of one of my rat enclosures....trying to pick dinner.

Strolling up the hall as if it was time to show up.

"Hiding" right behind the rack between a bookshelf and the wall

On a chandelier (no lie)

One of the techniques I used for one that I knew its probable wear abouts (we'd seen it in the kitchen but it slipped into the under cupboard space..and my landlord would have KILLED us if we'd pulled the entire house apart):

I set up a nice hide complete with moist moss/sphagnum to the side complete with a night light heat lamp and a live rat pup (crawler but can't climb or escape). I also locked my 2 cats in a bedroom and barricaded the kitchen so it would keep the dogs out. This worked nicely after the second night. We just stayed up late and checked often...and like ninja's.

Best of luck with it all!
Bree

Sylorna · 05-31-10, 05:17 PM

still nothing....I guess I'll have to consider being more bloody about it....you'd think that he would show up under the lamps on the beardie tank...grrr. I miss him.
How long do you figure a kenyan sand boa which is about 1'6" long and half an inch to an inch wide can live without food? I did what you said about the water, and put it next to the container that I had his mice/sand in in hopes he'd see one and go to the other.
Still loooking

shaunyboy · 06-02-10, 08:58 AM

ive never kept sand boas but when you read most posts on snakes not eating the general concensis is they can go up to a year in the wild without a meal.if hes found a water source or if sand boas are not in need of water as regular as say my carpets then theres still hope for the wee guy.please let us know if he turns up.
all the best
shaun

im sure any members on here thats worked with sand boas will post and let you know their opinion.

Sylorna · 06-02-10, 08:04 PM

thanks Shaun
Still no snake....continuing to scan the house, and I've left a water bowl/heat mat/bin with sand in it right next to the hole he went missing in. Had the house smelling so much like mice the other day that the ball in the next room was out sniffing around, despite a very large meal just days before.
I'll continue with the scenting and searching. It's all I can do.
Jess

dragunov.762 · 06-03-10, 12:41 PM

don't give up mine just came home after a little over 3 months. he will be home eventually.

Sylorna · 06-12-10, 02:34 PM

We have gone away for this weekend...about 5 hours from home. I hired a guy to take care of my cats and before I left I told him about Dig Doug and asked him to put him into his feeding tank (one of the plastic ones with the snap on lids) which I had put some sand into. He just called and said he found him on the kitchen floor this afternoon!!! I have my little guy back

I just emailed him asking to put some water in the tank, I figure he should be ok for food till Monday.
Thanks for your support guys. I really didn't think he was still alive.
So happy!

emseeKAY · 06-12-10, 04:54 PM

glad to hear he's back!

dragunov.762 · 06-12-10, 05:29 PM

i am glad that you got him back

Malachite · 06-12-10, 07:41 PM

aaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!! I feel for you! I will keep him in my prayers

I am sure he is fine prob catching his own mice. hope you find him