Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last year I bought a stunning orange MSP thayeri from Tony Mangini. He was eating like a pig and growing nicely. This February, he escaped. I searched for him for two months before I gave up and stopped leaving pinkies, water, and a hide out for him. There was snow on the ground and I live with 4 cats. I figured he was gone for good.
Last Wednesday, I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth before leaving for work, and I saw a snake in my bathtub. I slapped my hand over the drain to block it's escape, caught the snake, and realized it was my long lost houdini. I was so excited, I was just about dancing. After 5 months of freedom, he wasn't exactly thrilled to be captured, but he was happy to break his fast later that night. He ate his second meal last night and is back in my collection.
I love happy endings.
Vicky

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2.4 Thayeri (and a gorgeous '07 female on the way)
0.3 California kings
1.0 Sinaloan
1.1 Honduran
0.1 Black Milk
0.1 Rosy Boa
1.0 Rhino Rat
1.0 Kunashir Island Rat (and a lovely '06 female on the way)
0.1 Bairdi
0.1 Ruthvens? mix....just a beautiful pet
4.0 cats
1.0 dweeb dog

That is a cool story, with a happy ending. I'm glad you got him back.
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Vichris
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane"- Marcus Aurelius

Vichris Variables

Wow, that is great! I bet very few escaped snakes ever get found. He must really be a Houdini to be able to survive for 5 months with 4 cats in the house!
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Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

Vicky,

You are going to call him Houdini from now on, arent you? He has earned the name after all.
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5.5 Nuevo Leon Kings
1.3 Kunasir Island Rats
1.1 Albino Japanese Rats
1.1 San Luis Potosi Kings
0.1 Everglades Rats
0.1 White Oak Gray Rat
0.1 Speckled King
0.1 Tarahumara Mtn King
0.1 Amelanistic Corn

too funny. Count yourself lucky. I tore apart my entire snake room looking for a yearling thayeri I had out feeding. Turns out the dang thayeri was right were I put her in the feeding tub..she just coiled up in the back and my level of view made it look as though the tub was empty. Imagine my surprise when I looked back in the tub and found her after moving 7 racks and five 4' long Vision cages...not to mention digging through a closet of supplies.

Russ

Oh, that must have made you grumble! It's funny to read about, since it was me having to move all of those racks. Sure glad you didn't actually lose that one.
Vicky
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2.4 Thayeri (and a gorgeous '07 female on the way)
0.3 California kings
1.0 Sinaloan
1.1 Honduran
0.1 Black Milk
0.1 Rosy Boa
1.0 Rhino Rat
1.0 Kunashir Island Rat (and a lovely '06 female on the way)
0.1 Bairdi
0.1 Ruthvens? mix....just a beautiful pet
4.0 cats
1.0 dweeb dog

Glad you found him, he is really nice looking.
thanks for sharing the story.
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Michelle
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

What a great story -- we all love happy endings. From the picture I can see why you were elated at having him back in your collection. Congratulations on the return of the prodigal(?)snake!

I have two stories to share. About 10 years ago I lost an adult male sinaloan milksnake who was exceptionally clean and RED. He was in an upstairs room and I had forgotten to check the see if the lid clips were on tight. I was VERY upset at my stupidity. About six weeks later, we were returning from vacation at dusk and I pulled slowly into my driveway only to see a somethng crawling across where I was going to park -- you guessed it, it was the sinaloan! About 8 years ago we moved. I bought an L.p. pyromelana hatchling at a snake show in August. He ate like a pig until late October, when he managed to escape from a feeding container that had too loose a lid. I pulled the place apart, but he was gone. Winter came and went, and the following July I was weeding a flower bed by the doorway while chatting with my wife who was sitting on the doorstep. At the same time we both noticed red-black-white-black-red-black moving through the grass toward the house. I snatched him up, got musked, but saw he was in obvously great condition. I still have him, and he's a beauty.

Of course, many escapees never turn up, but in my experience, they occasionally do. Enjoy the good karma!

Wow, two of your escapees were recovered. That's great. You are very lucky. Thanks for the stories.
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2.4 Thayeri (and a gorgeous '07 female on the way)
0.3 California kings
1.0 Sinaloan
1.1 Honduran
0.1 Black Milk
0.1 Rosy Boa
1.0 Rhino Rat
1.0 Kunashir Island Rat (and a lovely '06 female on the way)
0.1 Bairdi
0.1 Ruthvens? mix....just a beautiful pet
4.0 cats
1.0 dweeb dog

You have now given me hope to find some of my escappees. I have a male on the loose that i would love to find, he has been out for about 8 mos now.
Great stories, thanks for sharing.
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Michelle
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

Hang in there, maybe you will find that male escapee. I was so astonished to see my little buggar again, I hope you get lucky, too.
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2.4 Thayeri (and a gorgeous '07 female on the way)
0.3 California kings
1.0 Sinaloan
1.1 Honduran
0.1 Black Milk
0.1 Rosy Boa
1.0 Rhino Rat
1.0 Kunashir Island Rat (and a lovely '06 female on the way)
0.1 Bairdi
0.1 Ruthvens? mix....just a beautiful pet
4.0 cats
1.0 dweeb dog

I alway like to hear happy endings. I am on travel, and my 9 year old daughter is taking care of all of our snakes pretty much by herself with a little help from my 6 year old son and my wife. I get a very frantic call one night and it's my daughter screaming "I'm so sorry daddy". I'm freaking out! I say what the heck is going on? What's wrong? What happened? She said she was watering the snakes, and she saw a shed in the yearling Hondo's bin. She went to pull it out. She grabbed the snake, and it bit her, so she dropped it. It slithered in behind a rack in my unfinished snake room in the basement. I figured it was gone. I have junk everywhere in the basement. There is unfinished walls, and there are boxes all over the place. I also have 4 cats that have gotten snakes and lizards outside before. I was a little upset, but I totally understand. That is a lot to put on my family, especially my daughter.
Well about 3 weeks later, my wife goes down to the basement to do laundry, and she was scared out of her wits. She sees a snake sitting on top of my Work table in the middle of the snake room. My wife is not much of a snake person (I wish she was), so she calls my son to get it. He couldn't quite get to it because it is in a tight spot in the table leg area. My wife calls my daughter, who spent the night at my mom's house, while my son kept an eye on it. She comes rushing over in her pajamas. She grabs it, and it bites her again, but she didn't drop it this time. All is well at the Lee house again. I owe them BIG TIME!! Derek

Your daughter is a brave little girl. I'm glad your story had a happy ending, too. It's such a relief to find your snake before the cats do.
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2.4 Thayeri (and a gorgeous '07 female on the way)
0.3 California kings
1.0 Sinaloan
1.1 Honduran
0.1 Black Milk
0.1 Rosy Boa
1.0 Rhino Rat
1.0 Kunashir Island Rat (and a lovely '06 female on the way)
0.1 Bairdi
0.1 Ruthvens? mix....just a beautiful pet
4.0 cats
1.0 dweeb dog