Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So my little western hog got out the other night. He's only 13-14in. so I'm sure he can fit in almost anywhere.

I've checked all the nooks and crannies, and blocked off door ways and sinks.

We believe he may be under the fridge, or in a hole in the wall behind the oven. My father is coming over tomorrow evening to help me move stuff.

What I was wondering, is, does anyone have any suggestions as to luring him out in the meantime? I tried thawing pinkies, and leaving them out, as well as making the apartment cold and using a heating pad, but neither seemed to works...

If you cool the room he will stop moving around,you will have a better chance of finding him if you turn up the heat.

JMO

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Brent Bumgardner
bwbumgardner@aol.com
703.431.1776
Superconda Website

Great, thanks! I'll try that. I'm desperate to find the little bugger....

Brent, that snake is absolutely a screamer!!

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Greg Jackson

blue painters tape up side down all across the floor. before sleep or before work you will find him in a wound up mess. mineral oil and a q tip and he will be good as new just had to do that to a whole litter of rainbow boas

I will try that, if I can find some tape. I don't believe he is coming out from where he is though...

I continually search the rest of the apartment (everything but the kitchen) and I can't find him. I'm about 80% sure he's holed up under the fridge...and 20% worried. ^^

Glue traps ment to catch mice work well...

I have caught a few baby monitors and a hondo on glue traps in the herp room...

Olive oil or mineral oil gets them off the trap easily without damaging the skin or scales...

It is very important to keep your animals from escaping in the first place but as we all know, crap happens...

Good luck!!!

I hadn't thought of glue traps. Might have to try that if we dont see him when we look under the fridge. Thanks!

Yeah, lol, I figure he'll be lucky if I don't glue him to my arm when I find him. Never letting him get loose again, not that I intentionally let him out in the first place....

I had him in a 1 gal tarantula aquarium, but since he's getting bigger (when I find him) I plan to move him to a 20gal. A friend showed me a really good way to build a nice secure top, for a glass aquarium, so I think I'll give that a shot.

Hopefully he'll show up sooner as opposed to later...

I meant to ask, isn't there any risk of him getting hurt if he struggles? I seem to remember using glue traps on rats once, and there were a few that tore their skin off trying to get away...

I`m sure You will find him...When my snake escape i search all the room, under closet,bad and after a while i pick up my backpack from the floor and he was there waitnig for me while i search entire room Get luck !

Best regards
Grzegorz

www.hognosebreeders.ning.com
Link

Thanks! I sure hope he turns up soon. I miss him. ^^ Didn't quite realize how attached I'd gotten to the little bugger till I couldn't find him...

I have used glue traps to catch hogs (and other species). It works great. Also, another trick is to put some baking power down (in corners, across hallways, etc...) to see if it is moving. I would check the glue traps 2-3 times a day.

I had a friend of mine lose a hognose about 4 months back. She first put down some baking power and was surprised by how much it moved around during the day (while she was at work). We put down glue traps and had it within 48 hours...

Best of luck and keep us posted.

-Chris
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Christopher E. Smith
Contact
Captive Bred Herps
Wildlife Research & Consulting Services, LLC

Found him this morning! Thanks to everyone for their suggestions!!!

I'm so happy for you. I know the feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when one of your hoggies gets loose. I lost one because there was a little too much gap between the shoebox and shelf of my rack system. I've since learned to shim the bottom of the shoeboxes when the hoggies are small. I had to call my son and admit I lost an expensive hoggie. He told me that most times a loose snake seeks the lowest part of the room or house. He suggested that I search my basement. I told him it was highly unlikely, as there are 3 rooms with great hiding places that the hoggie would have to pass before finding a way down there. But I looked anyway, and sure enough, it was crawling around on the basement floor.

Yeah. One of the first things I did was search all the low areas I could get to. Repeatedly...all night long. >.< That was a really hard night. But a friend was convinced he was under the fridge. We never did find out, cause I turned the heat up like an earier person suggested, and just sorta found him making his way into my bathroom as I was leaving for classes.

I was so happy to see him I thought at first I was halucinating.

He's just a normal (though in his case price doesnt matter ^^) but I dont think I'd want to imagine losing an expensive one. That must have been a real nightmare.

Tough I've noticed that they do seem to always show up. I figured I'd have to wait like 3 months, but that I -would- see him...eventually. So glad it was like 3-4 days instead of months though.

Nice ending to this. They sure feel precious when you find them. I had a small carpet python get out when I was in college and my roomate knocked on my door at 7:30 AM the next morning to say "your python's in the bathtub and I need to get in the shower." ... Glad you found yours. --Adam

HAhaha, that's funny.

Yeah, I've got some friends that would have totally freaked to hear a snake was loose. Infact, most of them seemed to think I was upset because he was a snake, loose in my house, not that I couldn't find him. ^^ People are so silly sometime.

It's always nice when things like this have a happy ending, I agree.
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1.0 Western Hognose