Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have never heard of this but here it is. I have a 21 inch corn that has escaped from her sweater box twice. Each time I found her before she got away. I have since put her in a sliding top 10 gallon tank. I had another sweater box (empty) with a 10 pound tank on top of the empty box. I just could not believe that the snake got out (twice!).

Have any of you folks had that happen to you? I know that snakes are escape artists but I am just not ready for this. I have four other snakes in these boxes and one is 4 feet. Should I be worried?

Dave
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One man with faith equals the majority.
Thomas Jefferson

I have a ratsnake that has escaped twice, despite my best efforts. I have her housed in a sterelite container with clips on edge of the lid and weights on top. I've had her for almost a year now and she's spent a total of 4 of those months as a fugitive. Still not sure how she's doing it. So you're not alone.
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1.0.0 Great Plains Ratsnake
1.0.0 Corn, Lavender Aztec het for Amel
0.1.0 Black Ratsnake
0.0.1 Texas Rat (tame)
1.0.0 Broad Banded Water Snake, Hypo
1.0.0 Black Bassador Retriever
2.1.0 Godchildren, 1 Evil, 2 possible hets

I came home for lunch one day and saw her trying to escape. She had worked her head and about 5 inches of her body out by the latch on the end of the box. She did not look like she was making any progress and I may have saved her life by coming home when I did. I don't know if your snake is doing the same thing. I would have thought that the end where the latch is would be the most secure. Now I know better.

Dave
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One man with faith equals the majority.
Thomas Jefferson

Well, I can certainly tell you from lots of experience,...NEVER!, and I mean NEVER! underestimate any snake's ability to escape.

If you even have to wonder for a SECOND if it's secure enough, then it probably isn't..LOL! This said from many past lessons learned..hahaha!

With the exception of ONE snake(ghost Honduran hatchling) last year that I forgot about while feeding in a loose fitting deli cup, it's been a very long time since I've had a snake escape.

I am very disappointed with the "sloppy" fitting lids of most shoe/sweater boxes, but there are a couple storage type boxes that work well that have positive, latches, and rigid sides that don't give any. However, just about anything will wok without a lid if a rack system is used, and the height of the box is very minimal so it will just slide into the shelf with very minimal space at the top.

When I do use most other free standing boxes with lids, I also usually use heavy-duty stationery spring-type clips from an office supply store to make absolutely sure.

~Doug

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

Couldn't cords like those "Bungi" cord type small ropes with clips on end be used to simply wrap around the plastic bins,etc?

>>I have a ratsnake that has escaped twice, despite my best efforts. I have her housed in a sterelite container with clips on edge of the lid and weights on top. I've had her for almost a year now and she's spent a total of 4 of those months as a fugitive. Still not sure how she's doing it. So you're not alone.
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I use clips on the sterilite sweater boxes that I don't have in racks.
I have noticed clips work much better without a weight on the lid.
The weight on the lids seems to sink them in towards the middle and the sides roll up. This is ever-so-slight but it seems to be enough to allow a little better leverage when they probe with their noses, looking for a way out
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
(Draybar)
Draybars Snakes

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i'm kinda "ghetto" when it comes to escapees... i buy a container of bungee cords... all different sizes... when i have hatchlings escape i use the smallest bungees on their shoe boxes.. and the larger the longer the bungee cords.... if they are too long i tie them in knots until small enough. they seem to do the trick...
~kin
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~Sober Serpents~
www.freewebs.com/soberserpents
Corns, Creamsicles, A Black Rat, A pair of Leucistic Black Rat X Leucistic Texas Rat Intergrades, Thayeri, Cal Kings, A Jungle Corn, Ball Pythons, Leopard Geckos, Green Anoles, 2 Snapping Turtles, a White Cheeked Mud Turtle, an Eastern Box Turtle, a Bearded Dragon, an Adult Rescue Iguana, and A Baby Iguana

Ahh should have read this before asking if this would work.

As it seemed to me the small "Bungi" cord/ropes would work great.

Thanks

only problem is... sometimes the bungees ware out and you have to double or sometimes triple layer the bungees....
~kin
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~Sober Serpents~
www.freewebs.com/soberserpents
Corns, Creamsicles, A Black Rat, A pair of Leucistic Black Rat X Leucistic Texas Rat Intergrades, Thayeri, Cal Kings, A Jungle Corn, Ball Pythons, Leopard Geckos, Green Anoles, 2 Snapping Turtles, a White Cheeked Mud Turtle, an Eastern Box Turtle, a Bearded Dragon, an Adult Rescue Iguana, and A Baby Iguana