Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So this afternoon when I got home I went to go get my Cali to handle him. I lifted up both his hides and he wasn't there, so I felt around in the aspen. I still didn't find him, so I took all of his hides/waterbowl/decorations out and put them in a vacant cage while I thoroughly checked the aspen. I still didn't find him, so I checked all around my room for 3 hours. By now, my family and brother's friends had formed a search party, tearing up every inch of the room. I had pretty much given up hope, and decided to leave him out some water and check back every few minutes and hope to see him in the open. If I still hadn't found him, I would have just called it quits, and if he showed up again, good, and if he didn't, then oh well. My dad came home and helped look and he found a small hole in the bottom of his "gnarled wood" decoration thing. We shined the flash light in there, and we could see his head way back inside it. He had somehow managed to get under the bottom of the wood which was against the bottom of the cage, and got himself all the way inside.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

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0.0.1 California King Snake
0.1.0 Ball Python

First image didn't work. You can see the wood he got under.

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0.0.1 California King Snake
0.1.0 Ball Python

Yeah, I don't like aquarium fish ornaments for that reason, you can sometimes have them get up in there and you can't get them out.
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-J.Hill

My son had a Cali once. Just before he left for Boy Scout camp we checked on the snake - couldn't find him anywhere. We figured he was gone, and since we had to leave soon we figured that was it. Well, for some reason I put the lid back on the cage. A week later we came back from camp, and wouldn't you know, there was his snake in the cage! We figured he was hiding in a one of the decorative wood pieces that had a small hole in it.

I had a snake that hid under the rim of the lid, and I searched for like 15 minutes before I found him.
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-J.Hill

Yeah it's amazing what kings/milks can get into or out of, got to be the Houdini's of the snakes.

Just today I opened my herping backpack and there was a kranky old banana cali that had excaped from hibernation.
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Christian von Rosen
Curve Reptiles
Christian@Curvereptiles.com

I don't like to use aquarium decoration simply for that reason. You could try taping the decoration with duck tape, but if the snake pokes around enough, it can still get inside the decoration. Good luck.

Duct tape will result in a snake stuck on it. I bet it has happened to alot of people (me too) at one time or another who have kept snakes since they were young and used duct tape as the fix-all for every situation.

Better to fill holes with epoxy putty or silicon sealant. You can cover larger holes with screen glued on with silicon.
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Mark

You could melt candle wax(non fragrent) in the holes to fill em up!
Todd Hughes

or you could let the clever king enjoy his newly discovered hide.
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3.3.3 L. getula californiae
1.1 L. getula nigrita
1.0 Boa constrictor constrictor (suriname, fostering/rescue)
2.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

Until he gets just a little too big and hurts himself on the edge of the plastic tryin to get in or out...