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ESCAPEE or HIDE LOG HORRORS?

OkeeteeMom

OkeeteeMom

Lovin' My Snakes!
Having found myself in this horrid position today, I wanted to make it super easy for anyone to find threads with information regarding Escaped Snakes.

Here are all of the CS.com threads I've found, so far:

11-21-2003: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9064
11-27-2003: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9127
09-27-2007: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57023
10-20-2007: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58041
12-28-2007: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61031
12-29-2007: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61050&highlight=lost+found+jasper
02-01-2009: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78638
10-19-2010: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105784
01-19-2011: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108307&highlight=trap
EDIT ADD: Melissa Kaplan's Site: http://www.anapsid.org/escapedsnake.html

Also, I will never again question an owner who kept their corn in a Zilla SlideLock Lided Viv, WITH and additional lock in the designated space. From here on out...my snakes get duct taped lids.

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Oh no!! What exactly happened? I have never had an escapee from a Zilla tank before. I get so sad when I hear that some people have experienced this!

How big was the escapee? Was it an adult who was able to somehow unlock the snap in place lid, or a baby who somehow found some kind of crack to escape from.

Did you find your escapee? I'm really fretting for you, especially knowing how much you cherish each and every one of your babies.

I'd like to hear the whole story if it's not too painful for you! *hugs*
 
OH DEAR GOD!!! PLEASE TELL ME IT WASN'T "BIG CAT!!"

But seriously....hope you find the 'lil one. I've had this horrific experience myself..and believe me..it ain't fun. Again, hope you find the 'lil one. more likely..the snake will find you. :)
 
My Cleopatra was an escapee for going on 3 months, and recently she found a place, relatively in the open for me to find her in... I couldn't sleep so I went to play with my turtle, and I lifted his tub, and there she was, underneath it... I would place her tank on the floor, with something under one side, so that she can sense the warmth and go hide in there...
 
(((Jessicat))), Rich and Aaron, thank you all so much.

Here's what I posted yesterday, in another thread...
"omg...I'm shaking...I don't understand...I can't believe this...CASSANDRA is GONE! She's nowhere in her Viv. I've taken it all apart very carefully. I checked Big Cat's Viv too, to see if she's in there. WTF?! Her lid was locked and there's a hook in the latch hole...no tears in the screen. She and Big Cat both ate two pinks each on 2-21...I'm SO upset. OMG...how the H did she get out and what if my dog found her..."

Cassandra is a 2010. :( In addition, both Cassandra and Big Cat haven't shed since the end of December, so I'm kind of anticipating the possibility of her laying low for a while in blue somewhere.

I/we set up heat spots (those emergency heat packs I got have come in handy) with hides, water and an additional cardboard box with openings over each 'base camp' and surrounded the camps with painters tape/masking tape. Today we'll make and set up the bottle traps. I've been searching high and low, literally. My main concern (besides the other 10,000 concerns I have about Cassandra) right now is to find her before my dog does.

I absolutely, positively just don't get it! Even though I know in my mind that snakes are 'escape artists'...I am totally heartbroken. I do cherish all 3 of my snakes...I love them! I must, must, must find her :cry:
 
I'm sorry your baby decided to go on holiday. Fingers crossed for her return.

The age of your Zilla 20L with sliding lock lid would determine whether it was suitable for a hatchling. The original version was not recommended for hatchlings because the lid tolerances were such that they allowed for escape. The newer ones are better but if they are not closed tight to the back of the tank a hatchling can get out. Plus the screens are notorious for tearing out of the seam especially when the family cat chooses to sleep on top. lol baby corns are tough to keep contained. Given that they only need an opening big enough to get their head through to escape, we are constantly struggling to eliminate those exits.
Good Luck!

Terri
 
Thanks Terri. It's a new cage. I've just taken photos which I'll post in a few. There is a place on all my Zilla (front, top right) with a crack of 2.5/3 mm. Could she have made it through that, after eating two pinks...with no regurge or other signs? She weighed approximately 20 grams.
 
My snow escaped a zilla too...the top was not Quite lined up in the track and she wiggled out that way. I found her a year later. Never give up hope!
 
I hope she's doing alright now! Poor little baby. I've had two escapes and I know how heartbreaking it is. They do seem to turn up/get found more often than not though. Both of my little jailbreakers were found pretty quickly.

Also, thank you for compiling the threads here. When Charlie, my IJ went missing, I scoured the whole internet for information. The more information we have as a community, the better it is for all of us when these problems come up.
 
Thank you Haley. :)

To those of you (in this and other threads, too) who said check hides and decorations, you know that my reply was "I did"...and boy did I! However, you were right, and here's what happened...

There was a log/hide on Cassandra's cool side which we checked with flashlights and water. Yesterday I thought, what if there's some kind of invisible crack or hole that I'm just unable to see or feel, and what if she's in there? I took the hide to the kitchen, filled the sink with water and then submersed the log hide. No air bubbles came out. I repeated this 3 or 4 times thinking that if somehow, someway there was an invisible opening maybe the water would flush Cassandra out, but nothing. So I went on searching for the rest of the day. Last night I took the hide log out of the water and put it in the dish drainer where it stayed all night (yes it was in the water filled sink, for hours!).

This morning the search and rescue continued and when the Mister went to the store to buy some plastic liter bottles for making traps I started to question that hide again. I got a hacksaw and carefully cut the top off...as advertised it was in fact silicone-filled. I decided to saw down further and started thinking how horrid would it be if she was in there and I had drowned her yesterday. I cut down another couple of inches and when the hide cracked, out poured a very wet and resin shavings covered Cassandra. I checked her out thoroughly and gave her a shower before putting her back in her Viv.

I want to thank you all for being here for me. I thank God (literally) for you all. I hope no one ever has to go through this, BUT...

NEVER, EVER, NEVER FREAKIN' EVER TRUST A SILICONE FILLED HIDE LOG...NEVER!

Attached are some photos. Some are Macro (the openings look bigger). I want to point out that without backlight you could not see any opening. And by touch, you could not feel any opening...yet it was there, BUYER BEWARE!

In the first image you can see the second section (in red) that Cassandra was in.
In the 2nd image you can see the silicone filled tip (part one) sawed off, and above it is the chamber where I found Cassandra.
The third image is a Macro of the curved slit Cassandra got in through, which could not be felt manually or seen with a flashlight.
 

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What a story! It's amazing what snakes can do and live through unscathed. When Charlie got out she spent two days curled around an electrical box inside of my living room wall surrounded by dust and debris. Other than being a bit dusty upon emerging, she was perfectly fine.

Hides are tricky. I've had problems with flower pots and things in the past that had openings snakes could get stuck in. Sometimes a good old-fashioned paper towel roll or margarine container is the best thing.

Keep us updated on how Cassandra is doing after her adventure.
 
(I knew_ I posted that once!) Any time I see a new person with that hide in their viv I warn them. There are two others, too, that just have a 1/4 in hole in the bottom.
 
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