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Escaped Snake

M

MissMarie

New member
So, it's official. My male corn snake is missing. This is horrible for me, I'm extremely worried for him. If he left my room, he's pretty much dead. We have two cats and my room is the only place in the house that the cat's don't go because I don't allow them to come in. He escaped two nights ago. At least, that's when I think so. Two days ago, he was in his cage. Saturday night, I heard an odd noise coming from his side of the room, it sounded to me like a sneeze but I assumed it was just the TV, or the cats outside my room. I'm assuming that's when he escaped. Sunday I was extremely busy and didn't get a chance to check on him. On his cage, the top broke and so we needed to fix it but we didn't have time because we were so busy. Therefore, we placed him in a breeder box. the Exo Terra breeder box - large. When I went to check on them today and give them water, he was missing. The front little tab on his cage was slightly open which I know wasn't me since I ALWAYS make sure to seal that thing. Any ideas on where to look? I'm working my way through the room but there's so many hiding places and I'm terrified he's dead. I really loved that bugger. Any tips on finding him alive? Any and all help would be great.
 
I've sealed off my room so I can continue the search. I believe firmly he's still in my room, otherwise the cats would have gotten him and we'd have seen signs of that. I've put out a water bowl and shoved a shirt under the door to lock him in there. At least if he's still in there, he's safe from cats. I'm quite annoyed my room is full of little hiding spots sadly, way too many spots! So far I've searched about half of them, but it's a slow process
 
I've had a few escapees found by my cats. Strange but if you watch the cat they will focus on the spot the snake is. They also found a missing rat for me once, they just kept sniffing the box it had gotten in all cozy and warm. The rat had been got for around 24 hours. We had 5-6 cats then.
 
The main place they're currently sniffing around is my room so that may be a good sign. I'm considering setting out some packing tape over night now that I know how to get him off it without panicking. Would this be bad to do? I have yet to been able to find him still
 
The first time I lost a snake, was with my mother and she has a bunch of cats (>_>). I found him in the bathroom, perfectly fine. I would only use painter's tape and def. seal your room. Then, put flour in the corners and check once a day or twice, to see if he moved. They don't move very far for the first few days.

Heck, that same snake loves to play hide and seek. Once, I opened his lid to give him something and got dressed from a shower, came back and couldn't find him. (I was an idiot and forgot to put the lid back on from putting a paper towel roll in) Looked under the dresser and he popped his head out from the bottom drawer. No fear. Just look everywhere carefully, in your room. You will find him! :)
 
Only use blue painter's tape. Anything else will injure the snake. You still have to be careful with that. Yes, it will hold.
 
If you only have masking tape you could stick it to your bed sheet, or some other flat tight weave fabric, first to take some of the sticky away. Snakes have really great pushing power if it's right in front of them but not so much slither power. It doesn't take much sticky to stop them from moving. Packing tape has lots of sticky, it's not easily removed from them either and can do some real damage to their scales.

Make sure you have some type of cooking oil handy in case you do catch your snake with tape.
No matter what kind of tape you use, DO NOT just pull the tape off!
 
I agree with watching the cats-my one escaped frog was found because Shy was very, very intent on a closet door. Opened the closet, and there was a very scared, but otherwise healthy, frog.
 
I'm using my cat to search for him basically right now. I left out tape over night but got nothing. Now I'm sitting in my room with one of our cats - the one who is so indoor that if you bring him outside he gets terrified by a lizard - and watching him sniff around to see if he catches the scent of anything. Figure it's worth a try, right? I know I can remove him from the situation before he eats the snake. Today is feeding day, so I'm going to end trying the bottle trick i think. I just really need to find this guy before my cat does. My cat is a hunter and will kill it the moment he finds it. Hopefully mom's cat can sniff him out for me. I left out a tape trap over night on the floor in front of my closet door, no luck there
 
MissMarie said:
Don't have any painters - would masking tape actually hold him?
Click to expand...
Yes, and possibly permanently. Be VERY happy you didn't catch him!
Nanci said:
Only use blue painter's tape. Anything else will injure the snake. .
Click to expand...

Go to your local Sherwin Williams or hardware store and buy an $8+ roll of 1.5 inch blue painter's tape, accept no substitutions!
 
He got himself stuck on packing tape before so I know how that can go. I know I can get him off with a bit of vegetable oil and an hour or two (depending on how he got himself stuck).
I just really need to find this bugger, and my moms cat alerted at the dresser so I'm continuing the search there - tearing it APART today. If I don't find him soon, my cat will kill him. My deal with my family when I got him was that I could so long as none of the rest of the family ever had to see him or hear about him so if they know he's gone, the minute he's found I have to find him a new home so that adds to my desperate need to find the boy... Going to get a mouse and try and the soda bottle trap today
 
MissMarie said:
He got himself stuck on packing tape before so I know how that can go. I know I can get him off with a bit of vegetable oil and an hour or two (depending on how he got himself stuck).
Click to expand...

Please don't take such a cavalier attitude towards getting him unstuck! I promise every experience with this is not equal! Not that two hours wouldn't be traumatic, but I have had a snake die from a tape trap. Blue painter's tape is worth the trip to the store and few extra bucks.
 
He is still missing, but I can happily say I have proof that he is not only alive, but healthy. I came into my room last night and on the floor was a perfect shed. Not a single thing wrong with it so that's got to be good. It means he's not dead, wounded, and he's relatively healthy!
 
You should do searches for him at night, when it's dark. Snakes get active right after dark.
 
I have been searching for him every night and the result is a very sleep deprived human and as of two hours ago, still MIA snake. I have blackout blinds so my room is almost always black as night - the neighbors tend to leave on their outside light which lights up my whole room. So, like suggested, I went and got blue painter's tape the next day and replaced all my traps with that. Apparently, I did miss one. I forgot I had laid a strip in front of my nightstand. So, I spent two hours searching for him tonight, and I know the trap was clear because although I couldn't see the trap, I couldn't see him. So, I was in bed an hour before I heard a bit of crinkling which got me up immediately. He got the last inch or two of his tail stuck on the packing tape and so I quickly covered him with a shirt, and carried him to the bathroom where I cleaned/freed him. He's none the worse for the wear from what I can tell. I'm glad to see his temperament is as great as always - still a record of 0 attempted bites while my girl gets in 2 attempted bites everytime I open her cage. So, glad to say he is home and okay!! Tomorrow I intend to put a tiny bit of water in the bottom of the bath and let him soak to help get some more oil off of him, and give him a better chance to rehydrate although yes, he does have plenty of fresh water in his cage
 
So a week after the advise, you still used packing tape...
Sorry, this bothers me.
But I'm glad you found him at least.
 
Oh okay I just re-read that. Disregard my last message.
Congrats on finding him! I'd be having a heart attack.
 
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