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escapee!

SMDminnesota

SMDminnesota

New member
Hey guys,

So my extremely active and curios tessera decided to take advantage of a partially open latch on her cage. She's been missing 3 days now. I've all but disassembled the entire downstairs looking for her. Pinkies in bottles didn't draw her out. I wouldn't be too worried except for the entire downstairs, except for my room, is very cold an half of it is cement. The last thing I want is to find a snakesickle, especially my prized tessera! Do escaped snakes tend to avoid the cold?
 
I don't have a lot of tips, but I found an escapee a couple of days ago and wanted to share. It was just dumb luck and the snake was quite far from where I would have expected it to be. He was missing for probably 2 weeks. A heat source might help, but it could be too hard for the little snake to find. Try all the tricks, but also be on the lookout at all times!
 
You can sprinkle flour on all hard floor surfaces that way if she moves across them you can get an idea where she might be. If you have cats or dogs pay attention to them. They usually are able to give you some clues. Like if they are starring in one area for a while, go check it out. You can provide warm areas with lamps or UTH. They will generally seek out heat if they are cold. Don't get to discouraged yet as already stated sometimes people find them weeks to months later. And don't forget to look up either. I have found one in a box two shelves up from when she was. I don't know what made me check that box but their she was.
 
I put out water, also, when my son's snake escaped. It could be pure coincidence but we found him near the water three weeks later. Provide some warm spots, food, water, and he'll probably show up. Good luck.
 
Oh how I know the feeling!!! What everyone is say is good a start. When your looking you have to look everywhere and I mean everywhere even places you would think possible. I had one escape once at my old place. There was a wall that was brick and the grout between was set in about an half an inch. I tore the whole place apart thought I looked everywhere then I was discouraged. The I got on my hands and knees and flashlight and scanned every crevice. The snake was in the grout crevice. The bigger the snake the easier to find. If its cold then snakes tend to go up and find warmth. I found a ball python hatchling that escaped made her way down 7 foot rack across the room into a closet and up on the top of a 6 foot rat rack. You would be surprised how far a snake could go. Look under the refrigerator, hot water heater, anywhere heat comes. I have found several under the refrigerator. Luckily I have found every snake that has escaped.
 
thanks for the help! i'll keep you guys posted. that snake would have some serious balls if it hid under the fridge. our cat's water and food dishes are next to the fridge.
 
Provide heat sources as well as hides found mine by cutting up pinkies n putting them in different rooms.found my snake in 15 minutes
 
You may also try masking tape. Coil it along the bottom edging of every wall. It's a risky situation for the snake to get caught but it is better finding them that way then never finding them.

I've lost 2 corns, haven't found them at all. Hope you have better luck!
-Skully-
 
Tessera found!! After turning the house inside out and baiting every single room with half pinkies she ended up being under a 10 gallon tank about five feet from her cage. How she squeezed under there I'll never know. She had about a half inch of her tail sticking out from the bottom. I lifted it up and she just finished shedding.

Thanks for all the help guys!
 
That's great! When one of my hatchlings escaped, I found her not far from her tank. She was in a desk drawer that the tank sat on.
 
I lost my first corn, a reverse Okeetee hatchling. It's been almost a week and no luck yet :( I've torn our house apart, baited and put out water and heat. No luck....Our house is huge, but pretty immaculate, I was confident I would find her. No sign....
 
WestCoast_Redneck said:
I lost my first corn, a reverse Okeetee hatchling. It's been almost a week and no luck yet :( I've torn our house apart, baited and put out water and heat. No luck....Our house is huge, but pretty immaculate, I was confident I would find her. No sign....
Click to expand...

create your own thread for this. More people will find it and offer helpful solutions that way. I've got one chronic escapee; I just put out water and watch the warm areas (near appliances, near other snake cages, etc.). Last time we found him. This time, well, it's been a week or so... we'll see. Good luck. Just as importantly, is to find out how he escaped and solve that issue so it doesn't happen again. Lastly, do you have any resin log hides in your cage? some of them have small crevices that we can't even see, that the snakes can crawl into and "disappear."

This one's notorious: http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind...ats+&+Accessories&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

It has a small crevice leading out into the hollow branch. Many of us here have thought we had an escapee thanks to this product.
 
Thank you! I have tried everything anyone has recommended to catch her. She is SMALL, just a yearling and I guess could have gone anywhere. Our house is big, but very clutter-free, so I literally tore the house apart, even the basement, furnace room, laundry room, etc. To be honest, my guess is she went in a heat vent. And they are on the floor, so when you go in, you don't come out :(. I have spent hours EVERYDAY starting from scratch and re-tearing the house apart looking for her. I keep my house clean, but it has never been so immaculate as I have been cleaning and cleaning and cleaning looking for her! I was positive I would find her because I looked in every nook n cranny, and was so determined....It's heartbreaking when everyday ends empty handed! She was a beauty reverse okeetee :( It's been 5 days now and not even the slightest sign. She ate two days before going MIA, so I was hoping to find a poop...but if she's still around, she has found a GREAT hiding place...
 
In a clutter free home, whatever that means, it may be useful to have a little clutter here n there, snug places close to wherever a snakey might escape from. They seldom go far from where they have learned to live. All that homing device thing going on there, or however you think of that. As you noticed, 5 ft from home. Doesn't mean she will for sure wind up back under the same aquarium over and over. But wouldn't hurt to leave that space available for her just in case... Babies and juvies seem to enjoy a snug fit, just like being back in the egg all over again. Much surface contact between their skin and the "hide of the moment" seems to give them a feeling of security. flattened non-fragranced-toilet paper rolls, the babies love them, and if they get messy, there;s another one readily available. Direct recycling, a 1990's aspiration. I leave plenty of places near the vivs to hide in, just in case. Still working on de-cluttering, which I'm sure is a learned behavior. Tape traps which Skully mentions, have helped too in some instances. If the tape is super sticky, then aiding the tape removal with olive oil is sometimes a useful trick. Don't want to break/tear the skin of a little one. Glad you found your pet.
 
We havent found her! 3 story house, it's so hard to imagine where she could be. I set up traps everyday for the first week, with toilet paper rolls, water dishes, thawed pinkies and heating pads hidden in closets and places I thought maybe she would hide. My house is fairly open concept with stone tiled flooring, so it's pretty cool during our Canadian winters. I figured I would have found her easily because warm dark spots are so limited in our house. It's been just over a week now, and I'm thinking she ended up going down the heat vent. Im sure I would have found her otherwise as I tore the house apart daily for a week straight. I even got up at 2am to search with a flashlight because I know corns are nocturnal. I spent 3hrs searching in the dark going from room to room turning it upside down and inside out, checking traps and hides that I set up. I put her tank on the ground sideways, hoping she would smell it.( I do NOT like the idea of a snake MIA in my house, nor do I like the idea she may be suffering). Not the slightest sign of her, but we did get a new corn that is doing incredibly well, and I put 6 clamps on her viv even though its over 2 ft tall and HOPEFULLY escape proof!
 
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