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On the lamb....

pgr8dnlvr

pgr8dnlvr

An obsolete oldie...
Well, last night when I went upstairs to put my daughter to bed, I found Shoelace <normal> crawling in the hallway, he had escaped. When I went to return him to his cage I saw why, I guess I had left the lid open :( Silly me. But I was surprised to see that he left the bedroom he was in fairly quickly, sliding out under the door.

Anyway, I went to see the snakes this morning and shoelace is gone again. I don't understand how this time. His lid was on, closed and looked like it had no escape holes. He has been with this lid for over 2 months and at the stores I have worked at we have kept hatchlings with this lid for many times with no problems...

I searched and searched, in all three bedrooms upstairs but he is gone. I have a feeling that my great dane although good with snakes when I am around will eat him if she finds him... Or should I say, if she found him.... Oh well. I guess that at least it was the least expensive snake I've got...

I have decided that just like it's a guarantee that you WILL have spills when you have an aquarium, you WILL have escapes when you have snakes... My first snake <adult ball python> was on the lamb for 3 months then just showed up out of nowhere. Unfortunately he developed a U R infection because of his adventure and even with vet care he passed away.

Poor shoelace, I hope he's having fun or that death came in one quick CHOMP.... :( :cry: :cry: :cry:

Rebecca
 
pgr8dnlvr said:
I have decided that just like it's a guarantee that you WILL have spills when you have an aquarium, you WILL have escapes when you have snakes...
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Sorry to hear that; I hope you find her again. But I can't say that I agree with your conclusion that escapes are inevitable. They are highly likely if you underestimate your snake, but are highly unlikely if proper preventive measures are taken. For glass tanks, sturdy, unbent screen tops that sit absolutely flush with the tank top, and with an appropriate number of wide tank clips will be tough to escape from. Snug rack shelving is just about escape-proof. Never rely on heavy objects alone to secure an enclosure top. Of course, any method is only good if it is executed correctly, consistently.

I'm not trying to be preachy, but I see escape as a bigger problem than even the "C-Word" (cohabitation). I'll bet that more pet corns die from escape than from cohabitation-related incidents (e.g. cannibalism, stress, disease transmission). :(
 
Yes, I agree with you whole heartedly! I think it's not only underestimation that foregoes escapes though... So far two out of the three escapes of snakes in my life were because of my own carelessness and human error! Leaving the frickin' door OPEN! :0!

DOH!

I really don't know how he got out this time, as I say the lid sure looked in tackt... oh well....

I feel horrible it was my fault he escaped, however I know it's an easy mistake to make due to the sheer number of customers with snakes that I have who have done EXACTLY what I have done...

By the way, I spent another 1 1/2 hours combing the house... no luck..

Rebecca
 
Roy Munson said:
Sorry to hear that; I hope you find her again. But I can't say that I agree with your conclusion that escapes are inevitable. They are highly likely if you underestimate your snake, but are highly unlikely if proper preventive measures are taken. For glass tanks, sturdy, unbent screen tops that sit absolutely flush with the tank top, and with an appropriate number of wide tank clips will be tough to escape from. Snug rack shelving is just about escape-proof. Never rely on heavy objects alone to secure an enclosure top. Of course, any method is only good if it is executed correctly, consistently.

I'm not trying to be preachy, but I see escape as a bigger problem than even the "C-Word" (cohabitation). I'll bet that more pet corns die from escape than from cohabitation-related incidents (e.g. cannibalism, stress, disease transmission). :(
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i agree i have been keeping snakes since i was 7 and i have never had an escape my brother on the other hand was lost 2 snakes to escape well 3 escaped but one came back
 
My corn escaped twice, turns out she was able to lift the lid of her viv in the back corner (she had just recently shed a few days prior so I guess that gave her the girth she needed :/). I looked up many methods for finding lost snakes, putting a line of cornstarch (odd coincidence namewise eh?) across doorways helps you see where the lost snake is going (if it's on the move) and as far as finding goes, I've read that snakes always stick close to walls so put a plastic bag along every wall, and at night turn off all the lights, be really quiet and listen for rustling. I've also seen info on make-shift traps such as putting mice in empty 2L popbottles (but that really depends on the size of the snake for working I expect). Don't give up! Oh, and make sure all drains/exits to the outside are sealed off (try to make sure the snake isn't in before sealing though) and if you think your dogs a threat maybe try moving it to a contained area you know for sure the snake isn't in?
 
well all hope isnt gone... ive had snakes escape countless times and always turn up... my first snake ever.. .a common WC garter.. was gone for THREE months... i had taken his tank down and all when i found him drinking out a cat bowl on my way to school one morning.. ive had corns gone for weeks.. only to come back to there open tank to get to the heat pad... and when my BIG salmon boa girl escaped... i found her trying to make a meal out of my cat ( :sidestep: ) woke up to the cat hissing and running fast.. found the boa striking at her :O Oops.. well good news was.. no cats were harmed :) :grin01:
 
Well, I had to laugh at the coincidence.. We were watching a "cops" type tv show and this lady had phoned about a snake in her house. She had the cops literally tear apart the wall in her closet, freaking out telling them how the snake was vicous, coiled up ready to strike. No mention of size on the program, though I would hope she told the cops what she saw...

Anyway after an hour or two of searching and probably $1000 worth of damage to her closet walls the cop walks out to his car with the camera guys saying how bad he felt they couldn't get the snake for her. All of the sudden she's catterwallin' just howlin' for them to come back! The snake was in the open of the closet!

They go in and there is one of the tiniest hatchling corns I have ever seen. It was so cute, trying with all his might to look like a vicious viper! Needless to say the cop gently picked it up and set it free in her back yard. I wish I could find my Shoelace... I can't believe how this woman freaked out! It's like with spiders in the house. Hey if they wanna help keep my house free of ANNOYING bugs like flys and such, I'll be the first one throwing the welcome matt out! I can only imagine if I was lucky enough to live where wild corns could come crawling in my house!!!

I know a senior citizen couple who lived in Arizona. I would meet them every year when my grandparents took me camping. They had mice in their basement but noticed a large kingsnake frequently basking on their cement slab patio. What did they do? They actually drilled him a snake door!!! You know what?? Apparantly he used it!!! He would come and go in their basement as he pleased! I didn't believe it but then the next year after they told me the story they had the pictures to prove it!

Now that would be COOL! ;)

Rebecca
 
Roy Munson said:
But I can't say that I agree with your conclusion that escapes are inevitable......................I'll bet that more pet corns die from escape than from cohabitation-related incidents (e.g. cannibalism, stress, disease transmission). :(
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I agree with this completely. You seem fairly causual about this whole business. I am rather curious about how you lost an adult ball python for 3 months though.
 
Well, as to the casual business.. I am definitely upset that Shoelace is gone, but I have been doing all I can as far as looking for him. Including getting up at two a.m. every night to go around the house with a flashlight looking for him. I have been and will continue to spend HOURS looking for him.. I am not about to really freak out and become a basket case though. It is a regular corn, that I have only had about 3 weeks. Keep in mind that I enjoy the snakes, but like fish, well, they are terrific pets but it's not as easy to get as attached to them as say, a dog... I will continue to worry and look for him though of course because a life is a life, and it's my responsibity to take care of him...

As for Monty, I have NO IDEA how that sucker evaded me for so long! I think he was outside under the house. He went missing early summer and it was a long long hot one. He had wild mice out there I'm sure, yet he was always on hunger strikes anyway, I usually had to force feed him... I doubt he ate anything. He was actually a rescue but that is another looooooooong story.

I initially lost him due to my mistake <what a surprise> and I had left his lid ascew on his tank. His terrarium was fairly close to the door and it was an extremely hot day so I had the patio door slid open a bit for some air, we didn't have a screen at the time :(

I searched and searched. We were VERY worried that he would show up in a neighbors house and they might think he was dangerous due to his size and girth... Very irresponsible stupid mistake on my part.. This was early in my snake keeping days, but I know that really isn't an excuse.

I think he just came back in the house when he was ready and the weather was getting cooler so due to the fact that my husband prefers to leave our back door open almost all the time in the summer, I think he just decided to come back to his warm terrarium...

I still feel that I am not alone in the "stupid mistake" area. Jese, even in Kathy's book it acknowledges that these things aren't that uncommon. I work in the pet trade and I literally have had countless customers over the years do the EXACT same thing I did. Just the other day a new customer told me that he lost his young corn for 3 months and he showed up in the washing machine. He was pretty badly injured but survived. Since that story the washer and dryer are now extensively involved in my searches at night...

The main thing I worry about is that there are a number of access holes to the outside in the laundry room. We have an old house where the ventilation hole in the floor is not flat so the cover won't properly stay on. The dryer vent house keeps falling off too, so there is a big hole about softball size sometimes left open... I will be looking into fixing these problems when time and money allow...

Rebecca
 
pgr8dnlvr said:
When I went to return him to his cage I saw why, I guess I had left the lid open Silly me.
Click to expand...


pgr8dnlvr said:
I initially lost him due to my mistake <what a surprise> and I had left his lid ascew on his tank.
Click to expand...

Seems like a reoccurring theme. No offence.
 
Yup :( No denying it, I can definitely say that all three times it was STUPID and it's not fair at all that the animals seem to have to pay the price for myself and others making the same dumb mistakes... But sometimes I guess things are the way they are...

I am glad that this has only happened 3 times in 15 years, and that I have never done it at work <ten years full time, working with the snakes and other reptiles almost daily> So yes, it HAS happened way too often <one time is too much> but you can see why I just can't spend ALL my time beatin' myself up for it...

Rebecca
 
These days multi-tasking is just something we all do, much of the time. But I think that mixing snake tasks (feeding, cleaning, and handling) with other tasks invites these kinds of escapes. If I'm spot cleaning with a snake in a tub, or dropping one into the feeding tub, and the phone rings, I let it ring. When I'm ready to put away the snake I've been handling, I secure the tub/tank completely before I walk away. Just as I would never forget to thaw an f/t prey item before offering it to a snake, I would never forget to secure an enclosure if a snake is in it. :shrugs:
 
I'm with Dean, I can only multi task at work, by the time I get home & play with the critters my brain can only do one thing at a time. I know there has been a bunch of times my husband has caught me going back to the cages & pressing down on the lids a few times because I was't sure if they were totally locked or not. (they always are, I'm paranoid!)
 
In post #3 on this thread it appears to me that you state that the lid appeared to be secured. Seems like an honest mistake to me. If that`s the case than I certainly wouldn`t beat myself up. Nor would I give up looking. I remember one time that I tore down a homemade cage preparing to take to the shack for storing. I lifted the cage from off the milk crates it was sitting on and saw my juvy boa sitting in one of the indentations. Still can`t believe that a 2 1/2 - 3 ft boa fit there and I hope that you have similar luck. Who knows, maybe Goofy pass on the snack and you`ll find that all the prancing going on in the other room is because Goofy found a new dance partner.
 
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