I feel like the worst mom ever... (baby corn snake escape)

Hi...so my daughter turns 9 today. She has been asking for a sorn snake for months. Husband finally agreed and we got it on Wednesday (4/5). He got a 20 gallon Zilla viv. All seemed right with the world...until yesterday. Husband came in to check temp and such and couldn't locate the snake. Panic. I've torn my daughter's room apart. The tank is on top of her dresser. We both searched and searched the substrate and removed all the things, looked under the tank, etc. I took all of the drawers out of the dresser at once and literally unfolded and looked through each piece of clothing. I've pulled books out of bookshelves and looked behind/under them. I had a big pile of clothes of hers to donate and I did the same with those items. I've gone through the closet except for a cubby that has bins in it. I have water down by the wall next to her enclosure, a hide on top of a heating pad near the floor vent (ugh floor vents!) and have turned the a/c on to 65 hoping if it is still in her room it will seek out a heat source. If it did get out of her room, it probably left. Our front door has a gap underneath it. and we live on a busy road plus there's a gigantic nature preserve directly across the street. We DO have a log of horror but I've tried tapping on the outside, shaking it gently etc. My hubby is a mechanic so he's bringing home a borescope tonight. My daughter is devastated. We have two lids on this tank because we have cats and the one that came with the viv the screen was kind of flimsy so we bought one that is metal mesh...so if they happened to sit on top of it, I didn't want them to fall in.

I just took the top lid off and with the Zilla lid latched in place, lo and behold, there is a gap of about 5-7mm...most likely big enough for it to escape.

Anyway...our next step would be to do the painters tape and maybe bottle traps? I mean if we put a f/t pinkie in them, how long is it going to be okay to leave out? We will be gone for probably 3 hours tonight. It is sooo small. Is there any hope?

Pics:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1moM...w?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mg7...w?usp=drivesdk

Your photo links say you need access to view them. If you have that twisty stump hide, it's quite likely she's in there. Tapping or shaking likely won't cause her to come out. Keep it in the tank for now and keep the tank closed. In the evening, with lights kept off, look in the tank to see if she's out yet. You could also heat up a pinkie super hot and leave it nearby to see if it tempts her out. If you have a baby monitor or any type of night vision camera, I would point it at the tank to watch for movement.

Try not to be too hard on yourself. I think every person who has ever kept snakes has had at least one escape! And that hide is absolutely terrible for baby corns.

I understand how you feel, my snake escaped last thanksgiving and I was devastated. Worst three days I've had in a long time. On the second night I baited her with a thawed mouse in a vented container on the kitchen floor, and the next morning as I was doing some dishes she popped her head out from under the refrigerator and looked up at me like, "I smell dinner." The refrigerator coils are warm, and although I'd looked there multiple times, I hadn't seen her. Your snake will just be looking for warmth and food and safety. I wish you the best!

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Came back to say the bait mouse was in a vented container my snake couldn't get into, but she could smell the bait. That way she'd just hang out trying to get it and wouldn't eat it and go hide. Also that way it didn't matter if it went bad. It sat out for about 15 hours. I couldn't smell it but she could!

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