Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently made a new snake rack and apparently I didn't make it perfect, because 2 got out. They were both about 250 grams, '05s.

They disappeared. I looked around and they were very gone. I checked at odd hours of the night with no luck.

After about a week, I tried the trick from Kevin's NERD book. I layed out strips of duct tape across all of the closet entrances and other likely places.

Next morning, both were caught! Now the bad part. Duct tape is hard to get off. One had tape completely over its head and eyes and the other had tape over one eye. They were thoroughly wrapped up. My son helped me get them loose by coating them with olive oil and gently working the tape off. It still took about an hour and a half. It was very stressful to the snakes, but they never tried to bite.

For anyone else who loses a snake, I suggest searching everywhere first, but duct tape works! I would rather have a sticky snake than a dehydrated or freezing one.

Yes, duct tape works. So does a rat trap but I wouldn't recommend either one. Masking tape works fine too and isn't as tacky as the duct tape, much easier to get them unstuck after you've caught them.

>>I recently made a new snake rack and apparently I didn't make it perfect, because 2 got out. They were both about 250 grams, '05s.
>>
>>They disappeared. I looked around and they were very gone. I checked at odd hours of the night with no luck.
>>
>>After about a week, I tried the trick from Kevin's NERD book. I layed out strips of duct tape across all of the closet entrances and other likely places.
>>
>>Next morning, both were caught! Now the bad part. Duct tape is hard to get off. One had tape completely over its head and eyes and the other had tape over one eye. They were thoroughly wrapped up. My son helped me get them loose by coating them with olive oil and gently working the tape off. It still took about an hour and a half. It was very stressful to the snakes, but they never tried to bite.
>>
>>For anyone else who loses a snake, I suggest searching everywhere first, but duct tape works! I would rather have a sticky snake than a dehydrated or freezing one.

By caging made for snakes...then you wouldn't need a rat trap or duct tape or masking tape.
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when life hands you lemons, make super lemons, bumblebees, etc...

lol! that was a good one...but even those cages arent escape proof if they arent latched right... i had one of my unproven creepy looking balls get out and i was freaking out then i remembered its a small room and theres only one escape route which was hard to get to lol...so i looked from the ground up... i found her in a dark bucket of aquarium supplies about 6 feet up ...no idea how she got there but she was easy to see once i got up that high lol
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we're here because a hobby became an obsession... if only every one had this much fun

some days your the dog, some days your the hydrant...don't know who started this saying but it's the truth

in theory that would be great but here's the question, Is there any rack system that is completely made for snakes? What I mean is granted the rack itself is made for snakes but the tubs we use in them are not, they are for storing christmas decorations, lol. I'd say as long as the proper tubs are used and the deminsions are correct any self made rack is escape proof as long as you remember to close the tube all the way. Even the most expensive bought snake rack is escapable under the right conditions, so why should the average hobbyist/breeder spend thousands of dollars on a rack they can build for alot less? I'm completely happy with my $80, 10 level homemade rack (I buy my materials at wholesale cost and have a friend of mine that owns a cabinet shop cut and assemble my racks for next to nothing).
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Josh Hutto
JKReptiles

2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
0.1 High Contrast Albino (Gulf Coast)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(Gulf Coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (Gulf Coast line)
0.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

You don't spend $150,000 on a Ford GT and then take it to Joe-Bob's quicky Lube and ask them to change the oil.

Why would you put your $1000-$30,000 balls in a rack that could overheat, burn your snakes, allow them to escape, start a fire in your home, not properly hold moisture, not last very long, or generally just suck? If you are looking for cheap and reliable housing, it is out there. Check animal plastics for example.
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when life hands you lemons, make super lemons, bumblebees, etc...

Keep in mind if a snake gets caught on duct tape it's very possible it will tear its own skin in the process of trying to get free before you even find them. This happened to me when a baby escaped and found the ONE piece of exposed tape in my whole snake room (I was not trying to catch the snake on the tape).

When I found the animal it had a substantial tear in its neck skin exposing the muscle. I had an awful time getting the tape off because any pulling at all (even using oil) tended to enlarge the wound. The situation was bad enough that I considered freezing her, but in the end I was able to get it off. The wound took about six weeks to heal over and caused a scar. She didn't eat for a while but eventually came round and is now doing fine.

After this experience I would not resort to duct tape to catch a snake. Glad it worked out for you though!

Christy

Ditto what Christy said.

Plus, can you imagine if someone tried this snake-catching method with smaller snakes, like hatchling colubrids? Bad, bad idea.

Any time I see the words "duct tape" and "snake" in the same post, I just wince.