Zaya escaped, thankfully got her back

Long story short, we played with and fed Zaya late Sunday afternoon before dropping my son off at computer camp; that was our last definitive sighting of her.

Yesterday, Tuesday, at around 9 p.m., I realized that I hadn't seen her since; usually in the evening she comes out to climb one of her vines or to explore her home. We ripped apart her terrarium, no Zaya, anywhere. We had lost our son's snake. I'm sure that you can guess how upset we were because she has become part of our family.

We spent the next couple of hours searching our unfortunately cluttered house in what felt like a really futile attempt to get her little 17" self back while my daughter read us snake finding tips off of the internet.

Our 3 cats could tell that something was up and 2 of them kept on top of us which honestly worried me. We gave up the search after a couple of hours since we get up very early for work, but we did put out a couple of pinkie baited traps and a water dish surrounded by cornstarch in our son's room in the hopes that she had stayed in there.

Then I saw (our hero!) Smudge sniffing and scratching at our daughter's closet door where I thought we had already searched, so I opened it again and unbelievably saw a little Oketee tail disappearing under a heap of old backpacks! OMG, with a bit of digging , we had her back! So relieved!! What a great cat, just like an old episode of Lassie.

It turns out that the screen on top of her home (Zoo Med Reptihabitat snake kit 20G) had come loose in 1 spot from the frame, so she must have pushed her way out from the new vine that I had so conveniently placed there just this past weekend.

My husband duck taped the screen on securely all around, both on top of, and under, the top, so hopefully she won't be able to work the screen loose again.

My question, are these "habitats" not known for being secure? There are only 2 pins holding the screen in place. I'm really concerned that somehow she'll be able to work her way out again. Where do you buy better enclosures for snakes? Or, how can I make it even more secure? We are going away for a week's vacation Saturday morning.

Also, I would just like to say to other new corn onwers, don't loose hope if your snake gets out. Even if it seems totally hopeless, they can be found! Check the closets!

So glad you have her back but duck tape inside is a disaster waiting to happen. Get that duck tape out of there! Hot glue any weak spots in the screen while you pursue getting a replacement top from ZooMed.

If you are able you could aslo buy a Zilla Critter Cage and just replace the whole thing.

(search here for "snake stuck to tape" and you will find out why I'm so worried for your little one)

Thank you, I have read that tape and snakes don't mix. I just got home from work and the tape is already coming loose, so I guess duct tape doesn't work on everything. Luckily I saw her head inside her favorite hide, so she neither got out nor got stuck. I'm off to P_smart, P-co, and/or ---mart to look for a replacement cover or a Zilla.

I will report back.

Zaya is safely tucked away in a new glass terrarium with a more secure top. I hope that this one lasts a little longer than three and a half months!

I'm so glad she is safe. I also hope it lasts longer that 3.5 months.

I don't remember, did you buy the ZooMed new? I might contact the company. If you have a receipt or credit card record of your purchase they may replace the lid for you. I'm sure there had to be some defect for it to develop a gap that quickly. Then you would have a spare. It never hurts to have a spare.

edited: P.S. here is there contact page https://zoomed.com/contact-us/ I think it is worth the effort to at least tell them what happened and ask for a replacement lid.

Originally Posted by DollysMom

I'm so glad she is safe. I also hope it lasts longer that 3.5 months.

I don't remember, did you buy the ZooMed new? I might contact the company. If you have a receipt or credit card record of your purchase they may replace the lid for you. I'm sure there had to be some defect for it to develop a gap that quickly. Then you would have a spare. It never hurts to have a spare.

edited: P.S. here is there contact page https://zoomed.com/contact-us/ I think it is worth the effort to at least tell them what happened and ask for a replacement lid.

Yes, I did buy it new. Thanks very much; I doubt that I still have the receipt, but I will contact them anyway. I had thought that their products are supposed to be of decent quality.

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I've heard a lot of people say their corns can escape from the ZooMed vivs. Not good. I have an Exo Terra and loooooove it. I also have a backup 20 gallon that was given to me secondhand, but you can tell it's well-built with a top-locking lid that isn't going anywhere! I'd actually love to know the brand of it...you can always tell the high-quality ones by the build, seal, and locking mechanisms.