Lost snake

[CathyBogart]

My snake has gotten loose three times. Twice she turned up in the bathroom, once in one of my shoes. Unfortunately, I don't have any suggestions for finding yours, except maybe leaving out several appropriately sized prey items and hoing she's too tired to go far after she eats.

[buttercup132]

I also remember someone telling me they found their snake in their oven so check there before cooking anything!

[Sophist]

Does she have a favorite hiding spot inside her cage? If so, leave some food under a heat source and move that hiding spot to be nearby. 9 times out of ten, if she comes out to get warm and have a snack, she'll want to hide herself under the familiar 'safe spot' to warm back up. She won't want to go far. Or you could place the food inside something, like a liter soda bottle, milk jug, a cardboard box with a small hole cut in it, or small carry-cage, anything that you think would make her feel secure after feeding.


Your snakes main priorities are going to be warmth and security. Look any and everywhere that provides a warm or snug hiding spot.


Snakes usually don't like to travel very far. Normally, I'd bet on them spending AT LEAST a day or two in the room they escaped in. Most snakes aren't big travellers. If she has escaped pretty recently, put a small strip of flour or corn starch or something across the bottom of your doorway. Not enough that she can't get through without having to inhale a face full of flour, but enough that if she does leave the room that way, you'll at least have a pointer in the right direction.


Leave her cage open in case she decides to cruise on home on her own. There's always a chance.


A lot of keeper I know suggest laying out glue traps, and then using oils to release the snakes. I would advise against it, however. Your snake could hurt herself struggling to get free, or could suffocate in the glue... it could just be bad. So, don't be surprised if your search for solutions turn up this suggestion, but please be very wary of using it.


Last but not least, don't beat yourself up. Most snakes are incredible escape artists. It can happen to the best keepers. Just keep looking, and also try to figure out how she escaped and what you can do to prevent future escapes.

[Sophist]

I always forget something!


Please be very aware of issue you may have with other pets. Are there cats or dogs you might need to think about confining somehow while your gone to cut down the chances of them bothering her? Do you have small pet rodents or birds that you need to make extra-secure from a hungry, wandering snake?


Just another thing to consider.

[Kalei]

Oh no I hope you find the poor snake. I can't give any more advice after all that has already been given, its great advice to continue to try it. Good luck.

[freckledimple]

I read on another site about a catching trick and wanted to run it by ya'll to see what you think. Someone said to tie a pinky to a string, drag a trail, and then tie the other end of the string to something larger than the snake. They said the snake will smell the trail, follow it and eat the tied mouse. Then the snake would not be able to go anywhere, and you could cut the string and it would pass on through. Is this a viable idea or is it dangerous to the snake? If it is ok, I would use kitchen cooking twine. It is all cotton and untreated. If it is not, I'll continue to try all of your wonderful suggestions. Will this work? Thank you for all of you help and shared experiences

[CathyBogart]

I don't know how dangerous that would be, I'd ask a vet.

[Sophist]

I read on another site about a catching trick and wanted to run it by ya'll to see what you think. Someone said to tie a pinky to a string, drag a trail, and then tie the other end of the string to something larger than the snake. They said the snake will smell the trail, follow it and eat the tied mouse. Then the snake would not be able to go anywhere, and you could cut the string and it would pass on through. Is this a viable idea or is it dangerous to the snake? If it is ok, I would use kitchen cooking twine. It is all cotton and untreated. If it is not, I'll continue to try all of your wonderful suggestions. Will this work? Thank you for all of you help and shared experiences

I would say no to this one.

First off, I can only imagine the snake would start struggling. Even if it didn't damage itself doing so, the next natural response would be regurgitating the food item that caused the annoyance. Regurgitating is NOT GOOD (yes, all capitals, it can be very serious). If a snake feels trapped, threatened, exposed, or just decides that eating something was not a good idea, it is their instinct to simply bring it back up. There are a lot of ways this is unhealthy for them, not the least of which is usually the risk of dehydration.

And last but not least, I would never intentionally get any animal to swallow string and just hope it would pass through without difficulties. I tend to prefer keeping foreign, non-digestible bodies out of my animals intestines whenever possible.