Escapees!

I am proud to say that for possibly the first year since I've been breeding, it's brumation time and I have NO MIA corns! I'm not proud to say that I still have three asian rats and a gray band AWOL as I type this...

Wondering, you breeders out there, is it a nearly annual occurance that something, at least one hatchling, manages to get loose? Much like the aquarium-keepers secret that water gets on the floor that never gets mentioned? I have had escapees from homemade racks and professional quality, even deli cups, and critter carriers I feed in. Murphy's law comes into full effect, as well. The abberant hatchling male NEVER gets loose, the finicky feeders, the "pissy" tempered ones, nope. It's the crown jewel of your clutches, the one your kid named, or the one you bought, that manage the jailbreak.

Last sunday (so yesterday), I was cleaning out te vivariums and I was puttin my 2 adults in to brumtion. When I got back into room, I realised that the small container holding my creamsicle and aztec normal (only while I was cleaning outs their vivs) was on its side and OPEN. So I quicky took everything out my room (and i mean EVRYTHING, it took just under 2 hours) and I found my creamsicle inside a board game, lol and my aztec normal in one of my draws, lol. Im SO lucky I found the so quickly. Im soooo happy

Cheers

Alex

I've had a few escapees over the years, but only one that I never found (I do not count the two breeding age females my then three year old son let go -- AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!)

The others were escapees from substandard housing that I was trying, as I found my best fit for my operation. One time, I found my biggest male before I even knew he was missing. My oldest daughter (who was about 13 at the time) screamed at the top of her lungs and came running out of the bathroom with a towel around her. Seems she didn't want to share her shower ... the big baby!

Escapes are never good, and it IS always the second most expensive snake in your collection it seems (the MOST expensive hatchling always rolls over and dies for no apparent reason after having eaten non-stop for three months!), but they happen to us all. I can't imagine what wonderful genes must be slithering around the dark corners of Rich's place!

This has been an especially bad year for me, I lost one of my favorite male breeders after I took out his water bowl and did not put the locking pins back in his screen lid because I was going to be right back....got distracted forgot to return his water until the next morning. He was gone and it took me two days to find him. Luckily he was too big to get out of the house. Then I had a yearling that insisted on getting out almost daily, I had his rubbermaid lid completely lined with binder clips and he would still bust out. I guess once he got a taste of freedom, the extra binder clips didn't keep him from pushing harder. Luckily he was in a rack that had doors on the front so he was still confined to his rack shelf. I ended up having to put him in a different enclosure all together. The little bugger still has a bruise/scar down his back that looks like he has only one dorsal stripe from sqeezing out. On top of that I had 3 MIA hatchlings this year, one was found flattened in the driveway, one was found with his whole body stuck to some loose strapping tape from a shipping box...poor guy! (this one made it after a warm bath), and number three probably ended up as cat food, we never found it. I think missing snakes goes hand in hand with testing new enclosures/racks. Two of the mia hatchings were just so darn tiny, they were able to squeeze through the space between the top of the rubber maid and the rack shelf.

Man I got so lucky today. I came home from work and went over to the cages and I was like, hmm Orlando (my snow corn) isn't out and about yet, he's usually the first one out. Then I look down and right on the table in front of the cage, ON THE OUTSIDE, is Orlando. I nearly had a heart attack. I scooped him up and got him back inside the tank, I am pretty sure I got the place where he got out closed off (the hole where the cord for the thermometer probe is, stupid me didn't think he could get out through there). I am really lucky though cause if he had gotten further than that I am sure I would never find him, he's so small.

Funny Story~

I actually decided to do this post after the dumbest thing I've managed to do in a while (and that's saying a lot!). I was checking cages and noticed I'd left the glass door open 4" on a vision cage with one of my black milks inside. Luckly, he was in his hide digesting yesterdays mouse and hadn't ventured out! I've only once lost one snake that way (by sheer negligence/stupidity) and thought it would be bad deli cup seals or poor craftmanship from here on out contributing to my losses!

C'mon, Rich, give it up! We've gotta hear your tales!

Re:

I agree with Darin, it's always my second best that escapes, the best ones roll over and die. =P

Although I'm still amazed at my adult motley female that I found this spring, outside in March no less.

She escaped on me last July, two weeks after I got her. I was heartbroken I searched the house for days, had live mice in homemade traps for a month and no luck. I'd actually given up hope.

Then on a nice, sunny and warm day in March, I was out cleaning off the dead growth in my flowerbed and I spied a orange thing in my irises. I went over for a closer inspection and it was Hecate, I bout fainted. Thankfully she was still cold from brumation (I expect) and didn't move much or struggle. I slowly wiggled her back half out the rest of the way from the vent in the crawlspace and brought her in and warmed her up and let her drink a gallon of water. =P

After getting her weight back quickly and regaining full health she gave me 13 beautiful babies. =D

Pic of her minutes after re-capturing:

wow Misty - I can see why you were upset about losing that one - great that you found each other again.

so - this year hasn't been my best year, having never had escapes before.

Spring - entered the upstairs reptile room to find my sweet aztec just heading off into the bathroom, having worked her way past the lid clips. No problems - returned to cage.

Summer - came down to a dark basement - no windows and very little light as I hadn't reached for the switch yet. You know when you think you're seeing a ghost - pale vague outline and you know that in all reality it shouldn't be there?? Well this was the case - I thought - that looks like a ghost of a snake on top of the fridge - it can't be - oh well , silly me. On finding the light switch, I found it surely was - my big male ghost - who had not only managed to open the door to his vision cage and find his way out, but he had also come along to this room, and worked his way to the top of the fridge and there was a whole plate of mice thawing for everyone's dinner that evening. Well, he ate his, and Classy's and Anna's and Louise's and a few more on top. He was HUGE!!!! Needless to say, he didn't get fed for a few weeks after I had heaved him back into his cage, and the others all had to wait a bit longer for their dinners on that occasion. The really funny thing was that he was just curled around the plate as if waiting to make more room for the other mice still there. It's not like I don't feed him every week. I just hope he didn't get there until they had at least thawed a little.

Autumn: built a new rack - measured it real well, with the tubs we would be using - most of the tubs were such a tight fit it was hard to pull them out. I guess a couple had a spare millimeter though as I suffered 4 escapees. One we found 40 days later - and he had grown more than some of the ones that hadn't escaped. Makes me wonder if he didn't eat some of his fellow houdinis. One sadly found his way into a juvenile leopard gecko tank - he must have fancied the heat pad. Anyway, we found him dead of bites to the head and spine. The leopard gecko looked unharmed. Two are still missing, and either eaten or brumating in our cold basement where they first went AWOL.

I'll do better next year.
Skye

Here's a little story about a lone escapee here this spring.

First let me tell you all, since I am new to this forum, I have just one corn snake...she's a beautiful little snow '02 baby. I used to have quite a few reptiles from corns to kings and beardies to chams but I was in a bad car wreck a few years back and was forced to give up everything as I was not fit to take care of anything, much less myself! Broke my heart honestly but it was the best thing for everyone involved.

Anyhow, it's springtime and a buddy of mine is in town visiting. Now, he doesn't like snakes one bit! Even through the cage, he just don't like 'em! So we're in the living room having a beer, the corn in is a 10 gallon aquarium in my office with a "tight fitting" screen top! Now keep in mind my little baby is just a small yearling!

My fiance (who doesn't particulary cares for snakes either but is slowly coming to enjoy them!) gets up to get another round of drinks or to make some munchies and all I heard was "PAT, GET IN HERE NOW, THE CAT HAS GOT A SNAKE!"

My buddy immediately jumps up on the couch, like a little girl panicing! I jumped up to see what was going on! Jen didn't make it clear that it was my young captive. We live in a slightly woodsy area and we have three big dogs and a cat. Never know what someone will drag inside from time to time!

So, as I round the corner and through the kitchen I see the cat crouched down in the corner of the back hall in a "stalking" like position. I get a little closer and notice that it's my young snow corn. The cats tail is flickering like mad and snake is at full strike postion! I scruffed the cat and tossed her away and reach down to grab the snake. She struck at me several times, like I was the bad guy. Well, I finally grabbed the little one, took me a minute as I think both of us were a bit taken back by the whole situation. Brought her into the office and put her away...still to this day, I don't know how she got out but now she has two resident bricks on top of her cage!

My buddy was very uneasy even after capturing the escapee. He left shortly afterwards. The cat was a bit disappointed I think as she lost a chance at an exotic meal! As for Jen and I, we just laughed after knowing everyone was alright and safely put away.

This was my first escapee ever, hopefully the last. I'm wanting to get back into the herping scene and doing so slowly! But extra caution from here on out is to be taken!

Actually as I look back on it now, good thing the cat was so attentive! We live in an old house and I'm sure there are plenty of places that a yearling snake could escape out into the great wide open, afterall she got out of her "tight fitting" screen top!

Sorry for the long post, sometimes I get a tad bit long winded!

Glad to be here with you all on this forum. I look forward to listening to your questions and opinions and will gladly offer mine when I deem necessary.

Rich, you have a great thing going here and oh BTW, beautiful animals! I would love to take advantage of some of those adults you have avialible now, just gotta convince the lil woman of it!

Quigs