Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Colubrid guys, you know that no matter the cage that eventually you will have an escape. Even "snakeproofing" rooms prior to use isnt enough to guarantee finding them again. Well, I started using glue traps a few months ago after losing a couple escape artists(YES, my last name is Schofield!). Well, a baby loose for at least 6 months shows up on a glue trap today, freshly shed, and nippy. So I want to encourage their use, not to recapture but more as a reassurance to our nosey neighbors that we value catching loose snakes. I can attest that they continue to work without having to be replaced for months and months. But once they are down you still have to check them daily....Kinda like flipping tin in your own house,lol.

I tried using them when Lizzie first got out. They ended up covered in my loose hairs, lots of carpet lint, and dust. After about a week, they weren't even sticky anymore. :/ I'm not sure why my loose hairs kept getting on them, I had the traps in inconspicuous places, behind doors, along the edges of walls, behind dressers, etc.
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
0.0.2 Cornsnakes (Lyle & Erik Menendez)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Yes,....I'd certainly recommend that anybody using them for an escapee, check them pretty frequently, as they could easily be forgotten about for a while as time went by,......meantime, the poor snake could be trapped in it for some time, leading to a long suffering, and even death.

I can just picture someone forgetting about the trap(s) for a long period of time, and one day finding a little snake carcase, or just some skeletal remains of a once "lost" snake.......that would REALLY be dis-heartening to see...

But yes,....they definitely work well!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I've caught 2 escapes using them over the past years. You just need to have some vegetable oil or mineral oil on hand to get them loose. I mention this so that first timers don't try to rip them off. I coat the pad that has the escapee on it with vegetable oil first, this is important to keep parts of him from becoming re-stuck as he struggles. I then soak a q-tip in the veg oil and slowly work it around the edges of the body and gradually working my under neath the body slowly removing him a little at a time.

I caught a speckled once that had been missing for about 6 months. The funny thing is that I caught him in a house that I moved into only 3 months prior!! He must have been hidden into whatever we packed with everything else and made the move with us!!

That's excellent advice for the best method of removal,......frankly, I don't see there being a better way.

Ralph,...that is just too funny(and lucky) that you moved the snake to your new house with you!..haha! I bet you were REALLY happy when you first saw it again!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I rescued a blackneck garter snake yesterday that a guy caught in one of those glue traps inside his garage.

The only thing I do different is after making sure there's plenty of oil around the entire surface of the snake, I let the snake work the oil underneath it's scales, and pull itself off... especially with those little ones!

//Todd

Yes,....letting the snake, especially very small delicate ones work themselves off after oiling is another great method!

I can easily picture folks hurting snakes when attempting this if not done correctly,.......those things are INSANELY sticky!...

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Got him off the trap and put him first in a deli cup of water to rehydrate. I then went and doused him with veggie oil to remove all remaining glue. He went on to eat 3 small fuzzies the same nite!

Good deal Jeff!,....glad to hear the little guy's doing well.

As you well know, eating is such a GREAT indicator of a snake's general well-being.

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Finding a nice orange king is a good reason!

Haven't had an escape since my 6 foot cribo lived behind the sink for 3 months.

But just in case:

Where do you get these traps??
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

haha, Lloyd, you're gonna need a bunch of them or one reeeeeally big one! Are the pine cones hatching yet? You can get them at Walley World or at a feed store.
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Todd Hughes

Thanks.

Luckily, my house cribo eventually came out on her own!

The Blacks were laid on 5/9,IIRC, and took about 80 days the last two years.....
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

We need to invent water soluble glue traps so you guys dont have to oil your snakes I have lost more then a few snakes.
They seem to show up around the skink or mouse cages or in the basement sink where i have a drip.
Anyone ever try 4 inch masking tape ?

I use homemade lids now and i wedge them to the shelf support above

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..Doug
~ aka dougsnake

I retrieved an escapee through a glue trap many years ago, though that was not the intent. I had a baby Northern Pine escape the previous September; that winter proved bitter cold, much worse than usual, forcing mice into many of the local homes (that had never happened before, and not since). One night I was awakened by my mother at 2 AM to say there was a snake in a glue trap in the basement. There entangled was a fairly large(much larger than hatchling size) N. Pine wrapped around a mouse. After checking the herp room and finding no escape activity I realized it was the "little guy" that had hatched months before. He had been reaping the harvest of the bitter winter until one day getting caught in the glue trap (something of a modern day LaBrea Tar Pit scene,LOL). I smeared him in peanut butter and he went on to a happy existance.

Bart