Hypancistrus
New member
Last night, Tara and I were doing the snake feeding and weighing (which, with 13 of them, can take quite some time). We got to the last snake, the '08 female Nelson's milksnake I purchased in early January and I discovered the lid to her cage was loose. A thorough inspection of her litter and hides revealed that she had fled the premises.
The last time I had looked in on her was Thursday night when I was checking water bowls. I lifted her bowl and she raised her head to look at me as she lay coiled underneath it. I put the bowl back down and closed the lid, but I was rushing because I had to get to my night job, and I must not have checked to secure it. I always, always check to secure it... but I didn't this time and I lost her because of it.
In three years of keeping snakes, I've never before lost one to a lose or inappropriately secured lid, but this goes to show you that if you're NOT giving things 100% of your effort because other things are on your mind or your hurried, you've no business working with your animals at that time.
An extensive search of the basement snake room began and within 15 minutes we had located her, stuck head to tail to the sticky side of a "paste on" wall border. We used mineral oil to remove her from the material (somewhat akin to a sticky mouse trap) and placed her in a temporary hospital tank with a hide, paper towels and water, which she guzzled. Given her size and the awful way she was trapped I was not expecting her to make it, and this morning my fears were confirmed when we found her dead. It was a beautiful day today, and we buried her in my flower garden under a bright blue sky and hot sun. But please, please, take this as a reminder...
When you're working with your animals, always make sure you are 100% there, mind in addition to body. It's so easy for things to become routine, and routine leads to laziness and laziness leads to accidents, which cost lives.
Please don't be casual about losing snakes-- too many times I hear people advise "Oh, they'll turn up," when a snake goes missing, and it's just not that simple. There's so many incredibly dangerous things that they can get into if they aren't in their safe, secure cages... it's imperative that everytime we enter their cage we make certain that after, they cannot escape. Check for holes, loose lids and broken rungs/squares in the mesh frame lids.
Always give 100% of yourself to your animals when you work with them-- don't repeat my mistake and lose a beloved little one.
Many thanks to Robbie, Lori, Tim & Tim and others who helped us last night as we struggled to save our little girls life. Even thought our efforts were in vain, I draw some comfort from the fact that she died a free snake, unencumbered by the trap she had worked herself into, in a warm cage with water in her belly.
The last time I had looked in on her was Thursday night when I was checking water bowls. I lifted her bowl and she raised her head to look at me as she lay coiled underneath it. I put the bowl back down and closed the lid, but I was rushing because I had to get to my night job, and I must not have checked to secure it. I always, always check to secure it... but I didn't this time and I lost her because of it.
In three years of keeping snakes, I've never before lost one to a lose or inappropriately secured lid, but this goes to show you that if you're NOT giving things 100% of your effort because other things are on your mind or your hurried, you've no business working with your animals at that time.
An extensive search of the basement snake room began and within 15 minutes we had located her, stuck head to tail to the sticky side of a "paste on" wall border. We used mineral oil to remove her from the material (somewhat akin to a sticky mouse trap) and placed her in a temporary hospital tank with a hide, paper towels and water, which she guzzled. Given her size and the awful way she was trapped I was not expecting her to make it, and this morning my fears were confirmed when we found her dead. It was a beautiful day today, and we buried her in my flower garden under a bright blue sky and hot sun. But please, please, take this as a reminder...
When you're working with your animals, always make sure you are 100% there, mind in addition to body. It's so easy for things to become routine, and routine leads to laziness and laziness leads to accidents, which cost lives.
Please don't be casual about losing snakes-- too many times I hear people advise "Oh, they'll turn up," when a snake goes missing, and it's just not that simple. There's so many incredibly dangerous things that they can get into if they aren't in their safe, secure cages... it's imperative that everytime we enter their cage we make certain that after, they cannot escape. Check for holes, loose lids and broken rungs/squares in the mesh frame lids.
Always give 100% of yourself to your animals when you work with them-- don't repeat my mistake and lose a beloved little one.
Many thanks to Robbie, Lori, Tim & Tim and others who helped us last night as we struggled to save our little girls life. Even thought our efforts were in vain, I draw some comfort from the fact that she died a free snake, unencumbered by the trap she had worked herself into, in a warm cage with water in her belly.
