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Any hope for missing juvenile?

gekkos

New member
Yesterday i went to check on my 5 month old corn to find out he had pulled a houdini out of his enclosure. I sifted through his bedding, made sure to check over his tank mutiple times but he was gone.

The last time.i had handled him was 2 days before yesterday so he could have escaped 3 days ago. He had a wire top lid on the tank with clips to secure the lid and i always just rest a dome light ontop of the lid just for extra weight. I inspected the tank and have no idea how he managed to escape. There are no gaps or spaces i can see him.firrting through and i never leave the lid off and withought the lock clips.

So his tank was on a dresser about 4ft off the ground. Nothing near the dresser he could reach so he must've fell off when he escaped? Yesterday i had spent 12 hours doing a full search of every nook and space. I searched everything in the room first..had opened my dresser unfolded all clothes, infevestigated tight spaces and everywhere i could think of. Because my bedroom door has a gap underneath large enough for him to fit under i expanded my search to the other bedrooms and bathrooms. No luck so i invetigates the downstairs..keeping in mind they like dark small spaces and warm spaces such as power bars, heaters etc.

I had left his enclosure on my bedroom floor with the under tank heater running hoping he would return to a familiar habitat that has many hides. But no luck with that. Last night i had sat in my room in the dark and quiet too see if he would show up but no sightings.

Im very worried i may never find him. I was reading tips such as laying flour on the floor to see if he moves but the entire upstairs is carpet so i cant do that.

Idk if leaving out some bait traps would work because he had eaten a fuzzie 5 days prior to his escape.
Im wondering if anyone has any help tips? would a corn snake go down a flight of stairs that are wide out in the open? And what would his survival be like? He has eaten, he weighed 28 grams and was about 2 feet long and as wide as my pinky finger. Should i wait to put a fuzzie in a bait box? Because he ate? And how long before the fuzzie would smell unappealing to a snake?

And one more thing to note. The outside temps have dropped after a heatwave and the air conditioner is off. The house drops to about 70 at night. During the day depending on the part of the house its around 76. Im worried this is cold for him and could make him sluggish that he wont move around from wherever hes hiding.

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Yes, there is hope. I have a friend whose adult recently got out, was gone for a week, and then was found meandering across the hallway in the open, and twice, before I learnt the importance of secure viv door fastenings, my boy got out and was found within ours not ten feet from his viv. On the other hand, it's not guaranteed that they'll show up; that same friend who recently refound her adult has previously had two youngsters show up, one of which was never seen again and one of which was found weeks later, dead (my friend seems unable to stop her pets escaping; it drives me round the bend).

Anyway, do make bottle traps, lots of them, and place them in dark, secluded corners. You can use both his usual food and water as bait; people often don't think about this, but indoors there isn't massive amounts of free water available to an escaped corn, and they get thirsty. I would leave the food in the trap for about 24h before replacing. Other than that, just remain vigilant; check your shoes before you put them on, check inside the cupboard every time you go in to get some food... Generally use every chance you get to keep your eyes open.

Also, I recommend you have a very good think about how he might have gotten out, as I assume as and when you find him he'll be going back in the same enclosure and you don't want it to happen again. Look for any holes, no matter how minute; there must be some somewhere, unless you accidentally left the clips unsecured on the lid and he pushed it off himself.

Don't worry about the conditions - those temps in your home aren't anything like too cold for a corn to move around in.

Best of luck.
 
Thank you very much. Im not going to give up on him. I'll definitely start placing bottle traps in all areas and keep checking everywhere i can

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Do you have any fake tree/log hides?

Have you looked under his viv?

And they usually turn up, usually at night. I have a friend who had a cornsnake stay out over the winter in Boston. Found UNDER her house!!
 
I found my little corn when he got out using bottle traps. I didn't want to put feeders in them because they go bad so quickly, so I put used mouse bedding in them. It worked like a charm. I hope you find your little guy. I was panicked when I lost my boy. I don't wish that feeling on anyone.
 
I set up about 5 bottle traps early yesterday. Left them along the walls behind furniture etc. No luck yet. I will probably go to my local pet store and ask for some used rodent bedding. One bottle almost looked like i had been entered. The mouse was untouched

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Don't give up hope. One of my hatchlings also spent a winter outside. She turned up in my back yard 6 months later.


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My fingers are crossed for you and your little guy. I hope you find him soon. The bottle traps have worked well for quite a few people, so with any luck you'll have a snake in a bottle in no time.
 
I'm so sorry to hear your little worm is missing. Sending best wishes your way that you find him. Nanci brings up a very good point that you should double check all of the vivarium "furniture." There was a thread on here a couple of years ago about several people who "lost" their cornsnakes inside some fake logs that weren't sealed all of the way.

Sounds like you are doing everything right, best luck!
 
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