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Snakes & Birds

texastailfeathers

texastailfeathers

New member
In my home I have a flight cage full of society finch fledglings and an '06 RO that likes to escape. Would anyone like to guess the next part of this story?
 

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We got a new rack a few weeks ago and have had 3 escapes since then. I *JUST* figured out last night after almost ripping the rack apart that there's a teeeeeeny gap between the shelves and the backing (b/c of the flexwatt and cords on the back. We'd been shoving the tubs all the way to the back of the rack, which left a very small space...small enough for a 25-30g snake, obviously.

I'm not terribly upset about it. Just annoyed (and somewhat amused, though I probably shouldn't admit it :cool:).
 
Well, you can't say you thought the rack was escape proof! Is that the one that escaped the first time? Well, they will always have more babies...

Nanci

Maybe we should recommend that people with escaped snakes bait them with a cage of finches.
 
Nanci said:
Well, you can't say you thought the rack was escape proof! Is that the one that escaped the first time? Well, they will always have more babies...
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. This isn't really any different than feeding him a mouse I'd raised myself. My birds get a great diet, so that baby finch made a very nutritious meal. At least it wasn't one of my $200 parrotlets... :rolleyes:

The incident really got me to try to figure out why snakes kept escaping from the rack. :shrugs: I've stopped shoving the bins all the way to the back and placed a sheet of cardboard under he small snakes' tubs just to be on the safe side.

The finch bait thing might work...this is the second time that snake has ended up in my finch flight.
(See http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50477)

The other escapee ended up on the couch, attached to my dog's lip. :grin01:
(See http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50755)
 
I think we should start a pool on if you have another escape! :grin01:

I was reading in I think Kathy's Loves book how once the snake finds a way out, it only takes a tenth of the time to do it again. I wonder if, once the snake finds the bird supply, it takes him a tenth of the time to find them again!

Nanci
 
Nanci said:
I think we should start a pool on if you have another escape! :grin01:
Click to expand...

We better not have another escape. If we do, then I'm going to have to take all the snakes out of the rack that weigh less than 75g and keep them in Tupperware or something. Little punks.
 
Society finches breed like rats. It wouldn't be a bad idea to keep a small colony of them around for species that prefer birds.

So far so good...no regurge as of this morning. The finch looks huge in the snake, but that's because of all the feathers. The bird actually only weighed 3-4 grams. A lot of the bulk is indigestible junk like beak, feathers, etc. We'll see how it goes. I'm definitely not looking forward to cleaning up the poo that comes from this meal. :puke01:
 
How do you think that the snake managed to capture the fledgling? Couldn't fly yet?
My mom is amazed that the snake managed to capture it.

The only finch we currently have is one Strawberry, she was an adoption from work and is missing the bottom half of one of her legs, because the breeder put her band on too tight.
 
Corny Noob said:
How do you think that the snake managed to capture the fledgling? Couldn't fly yet?
My mom is amazed that the snake managed to capture it.
Click to expand...

These finches *just* fledged this past weekend, so they spend a lot of time sitting on the floor of the cage and can't fly as well as adults or older juveniles. Either the snake climbed up the bars of the cage (see http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50477) and robbed the nest or it just grabbed one of the babies that was sitting on the cage floor. At this age the chicks don't have very good reflexes and they don't really have well-developed natural fears. They just sit there and don't know to fly away.
 
texastailfeathers said:
We got a new rack a few weeks ago and have had 3 escapes since then. I *JUST* figured out last night after almost ripping the rack apart that there's a teeeeeeny gap between the shelves and the backing (b/c of the flexwatt and cords on the back. We'd been shoving the tubs all the way to the back of the rack, which left a very small space...small enough for a 25-30g snake, obviously.

I'm not terribly upset about it. Just annoyed (and somewhat amused, though I probably shouldn't admit it :cool:).
Click to expand...

Jennifer, I'm sorry you've been having issues with the rack. I had never even thought of that being a problem before. I always just pushed the bins back so that they were even with the front of the shelf - shoulda picked up on that possibility though! Again, sorry about all of your rack woes.
 
Well, Birdman isn't going to be escaping for a while- he won't fit through the hole! You'll have to let us know if there are any feet left- I've heard that, but don't know if it's true. In the poo, I mean.

I can't believe I find this sort of funny- I'm a huge bird lover- I'd DIE if one of my snakes ate a baby bird. I guess because everyone that has a pair of finches ends up with a million finches.

Nanci
 
blueapplepaste said:
Jennifer, I'm sorry you've been having issues with the rack. I had never even thought of that being a problem before. I always just pushed the bins back so that they were even with the front of the shelf - shoulda picked up on that possibility though! Again, sorry about all of your rack woes.
Click to expand...

It's not your fault at all, Matthew. It just never occurred to me that there was a gap or that I shouldn't push the tubs all the way to the back of the rack. And you had no idea what sized snakes I would try to keep in it. ;) The two escapees were 25g and 35g. The big ones don't even try.

If it wasn't escaped snakes, it'd be something else. My house is a crazy zoo. :)
 
Nanci said:
I can't believe I find this sort of funny- I'm a huge bird lover- I'd DIE if one of my snakes ate a baby bird. I guess because everyone that has a pair of finches ends up with a million finches.
Click to expand...

I'm a bird lover too. I'm a bird BREEDER, for crying out loud. I'd croak if a snake ate one of my expensive, pet quality exotics...but society finches are like feathered mice...and apparently they make good snake food. ;) It's hard to be too upset about that, especially since it was technically my fault.
 
I must be a bit weird. The first thing that came into my mind was the nursery rhyme about the old woman who swallowed the fly. Next was the spider, the bird, and now the snake. You don't have a cat, do you?
 
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