Sick Escapee

[greymaiden]

Well, my sick motley butter guy has now escaped. I tell you, this little juvie is just bent on being a pain in my posterior.

I've placed a few bottle traps around the area where he escaped and I'm hoping I'll see him in the morning. Obviously, any other advice on finding him would be appreciated, but generally I am uplifted by the number of sucess stories I found when I searched for "lost snake" and the like.

In any case, this snake was SICK. He's been regurging his pinkies for the past three weeks, and I only recently took him off of food altogether to get his stomach chemistry back in line, and took him to the vet for some anti-biotics and some stuff that will also help balance his stomach out.

Because I've been withholding food, and he had been throwing up, he's starting to get a little skinny and I was just starting to see a spinal ridge. This is bad, I know, but I was going to wait the requisite 10 days before trying to feed him again so he doesn't regurge.

Since he has escaped, not only is he missing his medicine, but he will be eating the pinkies in the traps three days earlier than I wanted to feed him. Obviously recapturing him is a top priority, but I really don't want this little guy to die. If he regurges again then it is likely he doesn't have long to live :(

So what I want to know is whether all this excitement of escaping could cause him to regurge by default, and whether he is likely to survive and eventually return if he is already sick and in a weakened condition. I'm really worried about him and just want to know that he is okay and see him getting healthy and well.

Any advice you have would be appreciated. Has anyone ever had a sick snake escape before?

Worried,
Jamie Lynn

[Mary-Beth]

I'm sorry your snake escaped. Good luck in finding him.

Just wanted to suggest you use bait for the traps that is very small, like he would have gotten after the ten days. Like if he was eating pinkies normally, leave a pinky head in the trap.

:cheers:

[greymaiden]

Just wanted to suggest you use bait for the traps that is very small, like he would have gotten after the ten days. Like if he was eating pinkies normally, leave a pinky head in the trap.

:cheers:

That's exactly what I did. I cut up tiny pieces of pinky and left two pieces in each trap.

9am, no snake in trap yet :(

[Susan]

Since he's sick, finding him is a top priority. Search the entire room where his tank is. Look under and in, look high and low, and explore EVERY square inch of that room. When you're done, do it all again. I've found escapees in places that I searched only 10 minutes earlier, but not thoroughly enough. For example...I stack Rubbermaid/Sterlite containers which house my snakes. I lost a hatchling last year and looked everywhere, even picking up each container to see if it was under one. No hatchling. I searched again, looking a bit more carefully and found it tucked up under the overhang of the lid of one of the adult-sized containers 4th up from the bottom of the stack. I have no idea how it could get there, but it did. Good luck finding your little one!

[greymaiden]

Just and update for people who have been watching this thread: My snake took the bait in one of the traps and I found her curled up under a pillow nearby. The bait was two tiny pieces of pinky, so I'm waiting to see if she regurges them again.

But anyway, the snake has been found and all is at least as well as it was before!

Jamie out.

[divergentdamsel]

Congrats on finding your snake. Hope it gets well.

[peep_827]

I'm so glad you found her - let us know how she does.