Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My young hondo escaped and I can't find her! How temperature resistant are they? How hardy? The building is pretty secure so I feel she's around somewhere but I am concerned she may go dormant until the weather warms up. Temps were in upper 30's and lower 40's last week but are 40's to 50's this week. can anyone give me some insight regarding these temps. Indoor temps are about 65 degrees. She is inside but may have gained access to the space between the outside wall and indoors. I'm still looking but if anyone has any pointers....thanks.

First, check all around his cage. Lift it and any surrounding cages up and see if the snake is hiding under the cage. Take everything out of the cage and sift through it, to see if he is hiding in the substrate, under the water bowl, tucked on the underside of the hides, etc.

Then, start searching EVERYWHERE! Look high (on top of pix frames, window blinds, etc), look low (under sofas, fridges, stoves (but don't squish him). Look inside laundry baskets, inside the clothes, etc. Look inside shoes. Look behind books. Look right next to and underneath his tank. Search very thoroughly boxes and baskets and bags. Look inside any cabinets and drawers. Don't forget the bathroom.

Some people will put flour on the floor right next to the walls (snakes can hugs the borders of rooms to travel) to see where their snake has been. Some people will sit up at night with a flashlight and turn it on every once in a while to check for the snake. If you have any animals, watch their behavior. If the cat is watching an area very carefully, go check to see if your snake is there.

Seal off rooms after you search them, as snakes have been known to return to a room that you have already searched. Make sure that no gaps occur in the towels that you stuff under doors, etc.

Then I would suggest making a snake trap:
It is pretty simple. Use an appropriate size plastic soda bottle, for a small snake use a 16-20 oz bottle, for a larger snake use a 2 litre bottle. Cut the top off the bottle right where it is the largest. Then insert the top of the bottle backwards into the bottom of the bottle. What you are doing is making a fancy funnel type trap. Put the trap that you have baited with a frozen/thawed mouse of the appropriate size in the house where you think they may be on the floor. You can put one of those heat pads under it. Leave it overnight. In the morning, hopefully you will come out to a sleeping snake in the bottle.

You might want to make a few of these to use in several rooms. Don't forget the hallway and bathrooms.

You can also post this question in the escaped forum on kingsnake.com for more help.
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sue

I wouldn't open or close any reclining chairs. He could be up there and get cut in half by the mechanism. Carefully examine those chairs, especially from the underside. I'd even remove any thin cloth on the bottom to expose the mechanism before I opened it slowly by hand (NOT the lever)...

Walt

I agree with Munchkins. Search EVERYTHING!! And then search it again. It took me a week to locate one of my Sinaloan Milks, and I finally found her crawling across the back of my computer monitor. I would also focus on any area that is warmer that the rest of the room. Anything that puts out any kind of heat, including: TV's, Computers, Video/DVD players, even A/C adaptors and the coils behind a refridgerator produce enough heat to attract a snake. The snake trap is a good idea. I don't like the whole flour on the floor thing unless you are willing to put flour around the entire border of each room, all might see is a few snake tracks, but then they could go somewhere else without touching the flour and leave you searching a room that they are not in. A very respected breeder told me that one of the best ways to catch a snake is to leave small strips of duct tape sticky side up around the border of the room. The length of the tape is based on the lenght of the snake. You want a piece that they will get stuck to, but not so much that they will get tied up in knots and in a ball of tape and can't breath. A 6" strip is food for a 24"-30" snake a 2"-3" strip is good for a hatchling. Also remember that snakes are good at survival. They will do their best to stay alive by avoiding cold temps and drafts. If the snake was eating well before the escape, then food is not their primary concern. I would also check sources of water, or possibaly set up a soaking dish with a heating pad under it set on low. Take an appropriately sized Zip-Lock dish and cut a hole in the top about three times larger than the snake. Snap the lid on and put 1/4" of water in the dish and leave it by the wall so that the snake can find it. All of my snakes love to soak, even when it's cold, so there is a good chance that you may find the snake soaking in the water dish when you check it in the morning. Whatever you decide to do, don't give up. I have heard of lost snakes being found four months later, a bit thin, but in good health.

Dave
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1.1.0 Sinaloan Milk Snakes
1.1.0 California King Snakes
1.0.0 Hypo Honduran Milksnakes
1.1.0 Double Het Ghost Honduran Milk Snakes
1.0.0 Albino Honduran Milksnakes
0.1.0 Het Albino Honduran Milksnakes
0.0.2 Rescued Green Iguanas (Achilles and Zim)
0.1.0 Adopted Ball Python
1.0.1 Bearded Dragons (Helios and Smaug)
0.1.0 SHCT Leopard Gecko

That'd be like putting out a glue trap ... DON'T

you could harm your snake...

Walt

The tape idea was given to me by one of the best known breeders in the business. It does seem like a cruel way to catch the snake, but so is finding it dead because it ate something toxic in your house and died because you couldn't find it. I'm not saying that it's the most humane way to catch a snake, but if you check the tape often, and remove the tape carefully, then it can be an effective method of catching a snake and keeping it from going too many other places.

Dave
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1.1.0 Sinaloan Milk Snakes
1.1.0 California King Snakes
1.0.0 Hypo Honduran Milksnakes
1.1.0 Double Het Ghost Honduran Milk Snakes
1.0.0 Albino Honduran Milksnakes
0.1.0 Het Albino Honduran Milksnakes
0.0.2 Rescued Green Iguanas (Achilles and Zim)
0.1.0 Adopted Ball Python
1.0.1 Bearded Dragons (Helios and Smaug)
0.1.0 SHCT Leopard Gecko

One additional thought..a variation on an idea above...I have read that some resourceful herpers have taken to routinely placing lenghts of PCV pipe, loosely capped at one end, along all sides of the walls of the reptile room to catch escapees before they get too far. I have yet to impliment this routine, but you might want to try the traps at stratigic sites along floor boards. Its hard, but I also emphatically agree with above: don't give up! Chances are good that the snake will turn up. Good luck!