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lost corn...I need suggestions

S

squigg

New member
Vesuvius escaped monday night. He escaped in the bedroom due to completely irresponsible decision on my part. I now have his viv on the floor, a fuzzie on his reptile hammock and have kept his heat lamp on the timer. I have blue painters tape sticky-side up around the walls, 6 traps with fuzzies and dirty mouse substrate throughout the apartment, and flour in between the doors. No sign of him I've systematically gone through each room, each closet, each drawer, each cabinet, top of each window, each door and although I refuse to give up, I am getting a bit discouraged. I tried the paper bag thing, but I'm not convinced it will work. Basically, I'm all out of tricks. I have a couple ideas I wanted to run by the forum because I'm so upset I can't decide if they are good or bad ideas.

1) after checking through linens/closet pack searched clothes in plastic garbage bag and tape up the opening

2) I just moved in with a roommate a month ago and my stuff is still in boxes. Go through the items in the boxes, check for snake, repack the box and duct tape all potential holes in the boxes shut.

3) Buying/replacing frozen mice is getting expensive and smelly. Would it be better for me to buy two live mice, house them in Vesuvius's old feeding tank, and place them in a dark closet. The smell and noise of fresh dinner might lore him out of hiding better then rotting dead mice. I would feed and water the mice of course and either give them back to the pet store or find them a home after I get Vesuvius back.

4) Dirty mouse substrate in traps. Will this alone attract my snake? I have some pet stores agree to give me the dirty substrate, but they house their mice on aspen. Will the aspen reduce the mice smell enough to make this method ineffective?

5) Will it be effective to move things to the upper shelves of closets? I know snakes can climb, but Vesuvius is close to two and a half feet and I don't know how he could get up of the ground to my five ft high closet shelf with only a wall for help.

6) Are there any tricks I can try with raising or lowering temperature? Should I set out random basking lamps for him?

7) Is all this searching just making too much noise and would it be better just to sit calmly and watch a quiet movie until he decides to come out of hiding?

Please help. I lost my other corn about a year ago and never found him. This all seems like some horrible deja vu nightmare. I just want Vesuvius back. He is a great companion and I do everything I can to make sure he's safe and happy. It is breaking my heart to think that he's in danger.
 
Be sure to look in high places in the room. They can reach certain spots. Check in all your boxes, through all the stuff, through any random piles of clothes.

Try leaving out some plastic bags at night and sometimes you might be able to hear them moving along the bag.

There was just a thread on this I think you should check it out. It was called 'Please Please Help'.
 
Hi
A poster just said that you should check out "Please, Please Help". Well, much as I wish it wasn't, that's me! I just lost my 2 foot amel girl "firefly" and have been search without sucess for the past 3 day since she went missing. I don't really have any wonderful advice (note the 'unseccessful' part above) but I wanted you to know that I know how you feel, because I feel it too. I was a mess the first day, couldn't even leave the house, eat, or get dressed, and every time I do anything to take my mind off it, I end up thinking of her. It's horrible, I feel like I lost a family member, knowing that she's out there alone and I can't just go get her in her viv keeps bringing me to tears. Sorry, this isn't supposed to sound so depressing, but I can say that I don't think we should give up. I've also tried everything, all the standard tricks, and I think you have the right idea. Today I started your theory, I checked each square inch of my bedroom, and blocked off anything and everything I could after it passed examination. I found a hole in my wall, and after smashing the wall with a hammer (I pray my parents never find that) to see where it went (dead end) and concluding that she wasn't there, I covered it VERY well with tape and cardboard (and painted over it to match the wall, yes, i kno, nice fix huh?). After checking the bottom of the couch i did the same thing to the holes with duct tape, and also to all the examined boxes in my closet. I'm moving on to the living room and kitchen tomorrow (I'm in an apartment too), and I also thought of the live mouse thing, and am bringing home a couple tomorrow (I work a pj's pets, so they can be borrowed easily, thank god, I really don't want pet mice!) I say go for that one, the movement and smell of live mice may lure them out, who knows, but why NOT try? At this point, I'm prepared to try anything, no matter if it seems the most logical or not, but I hear what your saying about giving up, and I decided awile ago that that isn't going to help Fly at all. When i have thoughly exhausted all possibility of ME finding HER, I'm just going to leave whatever traps that can be made permenent apartment decoration, and pray that eventually SHE finds ME. If she is still in here (my worst fear is that she is in the walls and long gone, but I try not to think about that) hopefully one day I'll just walk in a catch her crossing the floor, or tucking her head back under the fridge or something. If you do a search and read all the forums relating to this topic, there are ppl that have found their snakes day and months later, by chance and well after they stopped looking. I'm just going to hope for that, and hopefully you can too, that one day they'll just pop up. Be like the first day you got them all over again, huh? Sorry, getting teary again........ Well, best of luck, I hope you get your friend back.
 
still searching

Sassy. I can't tell you how much it helps to hear from you, so thanks. I'm still searching and have developed a system of checking the whole apartment in about 1 hour and a half. This would be a great time saver if I didn't repeat the process almost three times a day. I decided I'm only going to re-check folded clothes, box springs of my mattress, and laundry in laundry bags every three days. I went ahead and got a live mouse and put him in the linen closet last night. Vesuvius wasn't in the closet this morning, but he's probably still a bit scared and not hungry enough to come out of hiding. I just wish I knew the best way to search for him. I spend so much time looking in the same places and I really have looked everywhere. I'm guessing he must have found a cozy nook somewhere out of sight and will come back into view when he needs food and/or water.

All of my vents are on the cieling except for one by the water heater which was easily removed with a screwdriver. bending it was a great little hide for a snake. Mine wasn't there, but you might have better luck if you haven't already checked behind the vents. I think we've done all the same things, but if I find a place that would make a good hide, and maybe we'll come up with some fresh places to look.

I know if we keep looking we'll eventually find our snakes. My thoughts are with you and Firefly. Please keep me posted on your progress. I know we both could use the support right now and the inspiration to keep searching.

Good luck.
 
she might be in the walls, under the carpet or even in the back/front garden. dont overlook anything!
 
in the walls?

okay. if he's in the walls, how do I get him out? Keep in mind that I now have dead mice in the two liter traps (four), bottle traps with dirty mouse substrate (five) and one live smelly mouse in a well aerated cage in snake accessable dark closet. Will the mouse smell and water dishes be enough to draw him out of the wall, or is there another trick i could use? I'm asking because I thought i heard movement in one of the walls this morning.
 
in the walls?

okay. if he's in the walls, how do I get him out? Keep in mind that I now have dead mice in the two liter traps (four), bottle traps with dirty mouse substrate (five) and one live smelly mouse in a well aerated cage in snake accessable dark closet. Will the mouse smell and water dishes be enough to draw him out of the wall, or is there another trick i could use? I'm asking because I thought i heard movement in one of the walls this morning.
 
Hey Squigg
Well, I officially spent last night destroying my apartment. I moved EVERYTHING, flipped every piece of furniture upside down, searched every cupboard and drawer, and shook out every piece of clothing. Still no Fly. I am starting to get seriously descouraged, and the only thing I can think is what you suspect, that my snake is in the walls. I don't know if you can find the acually holes (assuming there are some?) that lead into the walls, but if you can, my suggestion would be to put a small box in front of the holes, with a hole in the box just big enough to lead from one to the other, and put a fuzzie inside. Remeber, if your snake is in the walls, he's (she's?) there for a reason, to hide, and all the noise that is being made in the well intended search may not make him exactly want to rush out. If you put a box over the opening, mabey you can keep him thinking that the dark box is just another part of his safe little wall hole, and if you leave it quite he may be tempted out by the smell of food (I no fly is going on 2 weeks with no meal now, poor little thing!) But, as I keep being reminded, they CAN go a long time without food, and in strage surrondings with lots noise and comotion going on, he may not want to come out, even that few inches in the open, no matter how good that dead mouse smells! If he doesn't think he's acually coming "out", then with any luck he'll be peeking at you out of the box in the morning. Best of luck, and keep your hopes up, one of us has to!
 
As I saud on another thread, my son found his snake four months later outside in my nextdoor nieghnours hedge, and it was freezing cold that night. So do not give up I am sure you both will find your snakes. :)
 
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