It had to happen sooner or later...

Starbuck · 04-07-13, 02:25 PM

Snake Escape! :/

My mexican Pine escaped sometime between noon on saturday 4/6 and sunday at 2. I know he was in his tank yesterday, and today i went to feed him and discovered that the latch was open and he was missing. He is almost 30 inches long and as big around as a magic marker. I have torn apart every part of my room, refolded everything in the drawers, picked up the mattress, moved every bit of furniture, even took the radiator panels off the wall and looked there.
Does anyone have any tips to try and find him? Im going to lay a little bit of flour along the closet doors etc to see if he crawls over them.... but from what i understand its just a waiting game?

If anyone has some hints or tips to try and find him, please let me know

I am going through old threads about escapees to try and glean some info as well.

Mark Taylor · 04-07-13, 02:38 PM

Good luck with finding him mate. Any pics of the room he escaped from? There is a few missing snake posts on here with some good tips the flour is my favourite.

smy_749 · 04-07-13, 03:32 PM

Get a 2 liter bottom of some sort. Cut the top 1/4 off and make a nossle. Turn the nossle inside out and place it back on with tape or something. Leave a pinky inside, you may find him sitting in the bottle in the morning. (its worked for people in the past, I'll try to find a picture. Supposed to be like a lobster trap type thing)

smy_749 · 04-07-13, 03:33 PM

lost your snake !!!!! this is how to make a trap - CornSnakes.com Forums

Heres the link, the tissue or fabric that I forgot to mention is the key part, not allowing him to find the exit. Best of luck, and make a few of these around your house, near warmer areas.

Starbuck · 04-07-13, 05:38 PM

Thank you smy!! that is a really great link, i will definitely have to put a few around the house in a few days.... He ate recently and probably isnt very hungry right now

What i am more concerned with is we have 3 cats, and my room-mates room is a total mess; so hopefully he didnt make it over there to get lost :/ ive dusted flour along all the accessory doors, and where i think he might be.... I have a big open bag of 5.5 cubic feet of pine shavings in my room, and if he burrowed in there i may not see him for a while!!!! Hopefully he turns up soon in one of those traps :/ thanks for the help everyone.

milk man · 04-09-13, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starbuck

Thank you smy!! that is a really great link, i will definitely have to put a few around the house in a few days.... He ate recently and probably isnt very hungry right now

What i am more concerned with is we have 3 cats, and my room-mates room is a total mess; so hopefully he didnt make it over there to get lost :/ ive dusted flour along all the accessory doors, and where i think he might be.... I have a big open bag of 5.5 cubic feet of pine shavings in my room, and if he burrowed in there i may not see him for a while!!!! Hopefully he turns up soon in one of those traps :/ thanks for the help everyone.

Years ago I had a king snake who would escape for days or weeks at a time, and my 4 cats only found him once. Luckily my mom saw them looking at something and went over to see what it was. He was hiding in a coke box striking at the cats. Most of the time when I found him he was in a drawer. If he has places to hide he will more than likely be safe till he is caught. I wish I knew about the bottle trap back then. Good luck.

Starbuck · 04-09-13, 06:26 PM

Thanks :/ im going to try the bottle trap in various rooms once weekly for a while. There has been no sign of movement across any of the flour tracks i put down.

Im worried i may not find him until i/my room mates move out in august, but hopefully he shows up soon

My room mates room is chock FULL of snakey hiding places, so i hope he doesnt make it in there... clothes on the floor, boxes everywhere, very messy

And he is smaller than a baseball when curled up so he could very easily get stepped on or tossed in with the laundry ;_;

smy_749 · 04-09-13, 06:29 PM

As long as he doesn't get outside, get squished or cooked from appliances / moving stuff , and hes just hiding out. He will be able to hold out for quiet some time.

Starbuck · 04-09-13, 08:14 PM

smy, you forgot death by cat

(i am actually very distressed about it, but am trying to make light of his escape

)

MDT · 04-09-13, 08:18 PM

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/giant...need-help.html

Mine is still MIA....

smy_749 · 04-09-13, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starbuck

smy, you forgot death by cat

(i am actually very distressed about it, but am trying to make light of his escape

)

I bought a cornsnake when I was like 8, the only one I ever bought. Brought him home, 10 gallon with a metal lid -> gone in the morning. I didn't know how to go about it, neither did my dad...so that was that. Never bought one again lol.

It always helps in the future, to make sure the room your reptiles in, is escape proof. It will REALLY narrow down the search and stress levels.

Starbuck · 04-09-13, 08:33 PM

thats the eventual plan, unfortunately right now they are all in my bedroom, along with all my bed-room furniture... and books, and clothes, and dressers... ;_; I can't wait until i can have a 'reptile room', then i can sleep at a human temperature again, and not have red lights 24/7 lol

Nothing yet, he didnt go for the mouse, but i can't imagine hes all that hungry yet. I have his tank w. aspen tipped on it side by the radiator so he could go back in, i think maybe the familiar smells and aspen to hide in might help... also have a bunch of small macaroni boxes etc set up along the walls in case he moves and decides to curl up. I have yet to do an exhaustive search of the downstairs kitchen/living area, but that is on the docket for this weekend

smy_749 · 04-09-13, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starbuck

thats the eventual plan, unfortunately right now they are all in my bedroom, along with all my bed-room furniture... and books, and clothes, and dressers... ;_; I can't wait until i can have a 'reptile room', then i can sleep at a human temperature again, and not have red lights 24/7 lol

Nothing yet, he didnt go for the mouse, but i can't imagine hes all that hungry yet. I have his tank w. aspen tipped on it side by the radiator so he could go back in, i think maybe the familiar smells and aspen to hide in might help... also have a bunch of small macaroni boxes etc set up along the walls in case he moves and decides to curl up. I have yet to do an exhaustive search of the downstairs kitchen/living area, but that is on the docket for this weekend

One time, also when I was very young, I fell asleep with my first leopard gecko on my chest. Woke up and thought it was a bad dream, but he was gone. Atleast 6 months later, we got a new stove, and found him alive under the old one. In bad shape, but alive. (I assumed it was insects going after kitchen crumbs that he was feeding on, and stove heat).

Moral of my stupid story, expect the unexpected and don't lose hope so soon lol