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Q:
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Finding Lost Snakes
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In Relation To:
Danu
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Ok... background info. As posted in my blog a few days back, Danu figured out how to de-rail the sliding glass door to her cage. I found the problem and it is pretty easily fixed, as soon as I find my roommate's drill. The only problem is, Danu got out again late Saturday night. This time, she got out before I had gone to bed (I was watching a movie with the lights off so I didn't notice her cruising around) and she left my room. I have searched the house all over, everywhere I can think of.. and no snake.
She's a bit over 6 feet long. You wouldn't think that finding a 6 ft snake would be that difficult... But its been almost 4 days and no sign of her. I even thawed out a nice juicy guinea pig and left it in the middle of the kitchen over night. Guinea pig is still there, and it started snowing last night.
I'm really hoping she is still in the house and didn't somehow get out.side..
Behind the washer and the dryer are two smallish holes in the wall, but its possible she could have gotten in to them. The only other places I can think of is maybe she got in the attic, there's a small opening in the top of my closet ceiling that doesn't shut all the way... or she scaled the chimney. She's too big to fit in the air/heat vents.
So, I'm looking for tips and suggestions on how to find a lost snake. Anything I've read on the internet usually has to do with small snakes.. which she is not! So putting food inside a bottle isn't going to work. I'm not sure if it'd be better to crank the heat on the house, or turn it down lower. Since we're poor college students, we keep out thermostat set at 62'... my room has a space heater in it to keep that at 70 for the snakes.
The house is pretty much all carpet, so putting flower/corn starch everywhere isn't going to work. And I have a large dog who likes to get in to things... we'd end up with white pawprints everywhere, and a white dog (he's black). Not to mention, this is a rental property so I can't exactly start tearing everything up....
I think I'll be getting a flashlight and starting to explore the attic next. @_@
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Assisted Answer
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12/3/2008 4:47:29 PM
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Kaiyudsai
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they like to crawl inside furniture..... like couches boxsprings etc ...check there
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Assisted Answer
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12/3/2008 5:04:51 PM
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JohnJohn
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I would start closer to the enclosure and work your way outward. Sometimes they don't go all that far and just hang out somewhere quiet. They can hide in so many places. I found one in my desk drawer once!
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Assisted Answer
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12/3/2008 5:32:49 PM
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Jeffriey
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You would be surprised where a 6 ft snake can squeeze into. You have to look over every inch and where you would least expect them to go like Kai mentioned inside furniture. It is a good idea to work your way out from the enclosure. That pic of her sitting way up on top of the the window, did she get up there on her own? If so that gives you an idea of how well she can move around.
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Assisted Answer
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12/3/2008 5:36:38 PM
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Sonja K. Reptiles
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If you have any recliners, carefully look in them. I've also have always found mine fairly near the cage they came from. They seem to like to follow along walls. How 'bout behind/under the fridge? Do you have a storage shelf or bookcase? Look for boxes/books pushed out.
Good luck.
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Accepted Answer
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12/3/2008 6:07:00 PM
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magsj387
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Ive heard a really helpful story for a friend of mine, who lost his 6ft boa. He took a chinsey wire cage for small mammals and put a live rat in it and left it in the center of the room. He left it there for a few days...and then one night he heard the clinking of the boa striking at the cage. Ive personally found that they can get into and under unbelievable places. My two foot boa at the time was curled up under the vacuum cleaner....my advice would be check every where and under everything. Think out of the box (or in it) and don't just pass over anything. Good luck and let us know, when you find her. In the mean time, I'd say you might wana fix the cage while you have the time, so you don't have a repeat.
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Assisted Answer
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12/3/2008 6:16:56 PM
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Katie M
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Make sure to look under the refrigerator - very warm place for a snake to hang out. Also, number one thing is to calm down. Hardest thing to do, but necessary. When I recently moved, Aurora (my BRB) got out. Checked everywhere - finally calmed down and decided that she would eventually make a reappearance. Sure enough, that night, I found her in the toilet. She had been in there for a few days (I hadn't been home). Took some serious skills to get her out, as she took off into the plumbing when she saw me. I set out a tub with aspen, covered part of it with a pillow case, and put an UTH underneath the tub. Sure thing, she was in it when I woke up in the morning. Just be patient- you'll be amazed where she'll show up
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Assisted Answer
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12/3/2008 6:24:36 PM
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ChrisMontgomery
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i once had an amazon tree boa escape. i couldn't find him for more than a week. he was around 5 feet. one day the cats were behaving very strangely around the fish tank, i didn't think much of it... they are odd cats :) that nite, i came home from shopping to find him sneaking out from behind the tank, ON THE FLOOR! this guy had never been on the floor of his cage! i was looking around all over the house, but not much on the floor. i was expecting to find him perched, but he was on the floor and looked very comfortable. the cats were asleep on the couch.
look everywhere. he won't be where you expect. i have never found a snake in a warm part of my house. but, it was always a dark part of the house.
i know you are worried, you love that snake! he'll show up!!!
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Assisted Answer
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12/3/2008 6:30:04 PM
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dalvers63
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I saw someone mentioned above about starting close and working out. This is the key to finding any snake.
Start at the enclosure and look EVERYWHERE. Even if you think it's too small for the snake to fit into, look there. Take all books, clothes and items out of drawers, boxes and shelves. look inside speakers, desks, computers, etc. Slowly work your way outward until you've searched everywhere.
You will find her, I'm sure. If you can, put some flour on the floor (works best with hardwood floors) so you can see where she might be crawling at night.
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Assisted Answer
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12/3/2008 6:32:33 PM
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magsj387
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True...I forgot to mention, my ball python went into my subwoofer one time, its warm, and I wound up taking the whole thing apart to get her out. It was right next to her cage though, they do not tend to go very far, even if your door was open, I wouldn't be surprised if it was still in your room.
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Assisted Answer
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12/3/2008 6:54:10 PM
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Krestie Kate
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Yeah i'll add to the small hole thing. My 5ft long red tailed sqeezed herself into a 3inch hole in the wall had to break the wall open to get her out. The second time she got out i set up a heat pad in a serlight tub she crawled inside the tub to warm up and i ended up catching her.. It helps to lay power around doorways to see if there creeping around at night you can fallow the directionality too figure out what room your little buddy has gone to.
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Member Comment
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12/3/2008 7:02:41 PM
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magsj387
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I'm gonna assume kate meant powder? ant thats a great idea! never thought of that one....
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Member Comment
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12/3/2008 8:00:32 PM
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Sonja K. Reptiles
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Oh, forgot to mention... try leaving a blanket on the floor... something for it to hide under. I've heard this has worked for people before.
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Member Comment
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12/4/2008 12:48:40 AM
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TVR
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I've lost a few snakes. It always worked for me to turn the lights out and be very still. When you hear a noise turn the lights on and look in that area.
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Assisted Answer
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12/4/2008 2:15:07 PM
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xanaxez
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ive lost a few and found them in places i normally couldnt see in lol. i bought a rigid see snake micro camera so that i could look under my tub and in holes,cracks in walls and anywheres else i wouldnt be able to normally check. by far the best investment i ever made and thanks to it i have been able to find and recover all of my animals thats been lost. took me a month to find one of them and he was under my bath tub and another was under my hot water heater. i would suggest trying an open place you think she could be around and putting a heat light in the area and a bowl of water, if shes around there she will come for the heat if shes not already around something producing heat. so make sure you check around the tub,hot water heater,refrigerator, under couches and chairs,if you have central heat and air check around the air return in the house which most likely will be in a closet like area lol. also remember a boa is arborel so check in high areas of your closets and and other places because she could be hanging out in some clothes or something.
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Member Comment
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12/4/2008 2:17:32 PM
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xanaxez
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python not boa lmao sorry got side tracked also lol you would think with me owning nothing but pythons i wouldnt type such a word as boa lmao
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Member Comment
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12/5/2008 11:48:56 AM
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TigerLilly
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I dont have any suggestions in the way of finding your snake, but only a recommendation: KEEP THE TOILET LIDS DOWN until you find it!
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Member Comment
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12/5/2008 12:02:16 PM
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Jeffriey
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That's always a good thing to do. If I ever throw my snakes in the bathtub or let them roam that's the first thing I go to close. Last thing I need to be doing is trying to pull a retic or burm out of a toilet lol. Plus it stops the dog from drinking out of there. Why do dogs do that?... :S
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Assisted Answer
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12/5/2008 11:56:10 PM
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amarilrose
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How is the search going Lauren?
I think the advice you've gotten is pretty sound. Sonja mentioned leaving a blanket on the floor for Danu to hide under. I like that idea. The only thing I would add to that is maybe crinkle up a bunch of newspaper and leave that strewn about so it makes some noise if Danu moves across it or under it... that is if your dog DOESN'T do what my dog would do and make confetti!!
I've had to deal with several escapees, but they were all young colubrids, under one year, and I don't think that compares too well. We always left out small water "bowls" (upturned jar lids) along the walls, in an effort to prevent death by dehydration. Apparently something we were doing when we had escapees worked well enough -- we found every one of them alive, with the shocker being a hatchling Chinese Ratsnake that was lost in the middle of the winter in our unheated & unfinished concrete basement (this was my parents' house)... he turned up 6 months later in a rodent feed bag. He had actually grown quite a bit too, so either he had a taste for spiders & centipedes, or we had some mice on the loose too! (ick)
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Author Comment
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12/6/2008 9:46:05 AM
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tmth
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Search is still unsuccessful. I had left a blanket out, and then of course.. dog peed on it. Since we have carpet, and the dog, I can't leave out any sort of white powder as we would have pawprints everywhere...
I need to put out water, thats a good idea! I've got two dog bowls of water, but more can't hurt. I wish I had several hundred dollars to spend on a rigid see snake.. of course, there's only one place we've got a hole in the wall. Knowing Danu, she wouldn't ever go in a toilet. She hates when I try to give her baths, and never soaks.
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Member Comment
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12/6/2008 1:36:47 PM
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xanaxez
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lauren, i cant figure out how to pm or email you on here so could you email me at iocalnews@aol.com
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Assisted Answer
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12/6/2008 8:20:19 PM
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Andwhy6
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put a f/t rat or mouse on a string and secure the string to something. then wait. the snake will come for the food, eat it, and will be stuck to whatever you secured the string to. you just cut the string then and the snake will pass it no prob. ive used this a few times to get snakes back =)
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Author Comment
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12/6/2008 10:08:05 PM
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tmth
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I did put a guinea pig on a string and it sat on my kitchen floor for 6 days... started getting very smelly and my roommate stepped on it, so we threw it away. XD
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Member Comment
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12/7/2008 3:08:29 PM
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DrwacKy
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same thing happend to me but i found my bp under the refrigerator
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Member Comment
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12/7/2008 11:17:02 PM
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Repti_Gal
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try in the refters in the basement if it isn't finished ... check close to warm pipes and air ducts .
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Assisted Answer
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12/8/2008 12:37:37 PM
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Skelegirl
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Check the most random, unusual spots you can think of....every single day. When my baby BP got out, I found her in the worst spot she could have gotten herself into: in the far corner of the cold, unfinished basement, wedged between the wall and a stack of 2x4s. She had to climb down the shelf her cage is on, head out the door, across the hall and down the stairs, around the corner under the stairs, through the plastic covering the empty wall space, across the room and into the corner. Highly unusual, yes, but just goes to show that you really should check EVERYWHERE.
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Member Comment
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12/9/2008 6:34:41 PM
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jesse.murphy
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My boyfriends snake went missing for a month in a school building and he found him safe and sound. Keep at it!
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Member Comment
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12/12/2008 9:35:58 PM
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amarilrose
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I saw your blog, BIG congratulations!! :D
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