Reptile & Amphibian Forums

even though i put rocks, phonebook, etc. on top of my BP's tank, he has escaped!!! he's only about 2ft long (he's still very young).

the problem is i live in a very large and old house. we have a lot of nooks and crannies! we also have 5 cats and 2 dogs.

do i have any hope of finding him?

Well you have learned a valueable lesson.Snakes are among the greatest escape artists in the world. If there is a way out they will find it.

Weights on top of a tank are not good enough. Pythons are very strong and he may have been able to push a corner up just enough to wiggle out. You should get locking clips or some other more efficient method of security.

But take heart, most lost snakes are found. He is going to find a warm, snug, safe place to hide. My escapees tend to wind up in the boiler room in the basement. Its humid, its very warm, it has lots of places to hide, paradise. Hes going to want to go down, so look down. Its unlikely he will climb. Check under/behind the frig or other appliances that produce heat. In closets under old sweaters or what not. Under beds maybe curled up in an old suitcase you have under there. Places like that.

If you think you may know what room hes in but cant find him you could try to coax him out with food. Maybe placing a dead rat or mouse in a plastic bin. This worked for me once...just once though...lol. I had a loose ratsnake who was a voracious eater. I used a bucket since he was a climber. Put some dead mice in there with a hide box and a branch on the side for him to climb in. Left it alone for a few hours and sure enough there was. Fat as a pig and asleep in the hide. Snakes arent too bright. He ate, saw a cool place to hide and just stayed put. I got lucky, this wont happen often. You have a better chance of just searching for him

I second what ctct said.

I kept 3 BPs for several years, and had my share of escapes.
They aways showed up, and fairly quickly.

Places found included:

On top of the Gerbil cage looking for a way in.

Behind the wayter heater (more than once).

Under the bookshelf the cage was on top of (more than once).

Interestingly, once they found the way out, they would get back out the same way quickly. So fix that escape hatch immediately. Once out, they would go to the same place where they showed up the first time! I had an Eastern King that wuold invariably ine the closet cruled up with the shoes.

Good Luck!

John D
-----
I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"
0.1 Black Rat (WV Rescue) "Roberta"

thanks for the tips, guys.

he's been gone 3 days and still no sign of him

there is a decent sized hole in the wall in my room, and i fear he has gone in there (in which case, there is NO way i can get him out.) also, our basement (where my room is located) is fairly... cluttered... and i'm just gonna try and play the waiting game.

my father is going to help me build a custom cage w/ a locking glass door, so hopefully that will help in the future