Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Got me thinking and I love to laugh. Jerry Kruse and Doug (snakebit) have told me some very interesting snake escape and find stories. I would LOVE to hear what other people have had happen. I KNOW we all have had one or two!!LOL.

Let me start with a very "not what to do" story. I was 18 and living at home. A friend of mine brings me a CORAL snake from florida. Prettiest snake I have ever had. My brother is away (drug rehab). ARGGG. He has a ten gallon with a red leg turantula in it. Spider dies but shed is still in the tank and I left it there.(looked just like the spider) I put the coral in the tank. Brother comes home one day and I am not there. He goes looking for his spider and leaves the top off of the tank. (coral was burried in the pea gravel). Well, the snake is now loose in the house. Mother calls the zoo and they tell her to get out of the house until the snake is found. I turned off all the heat vents in the house but left one open in the bathroom near where the snake was.(Winter time) Three days later I found him next to the tub, under the shower curtain. Needless to say, I had to give him away and have not kept any hots since. Lesson learned.

not a king either, but when I was 14, (many, MANY moons ago) I had a w.c. bullsnake I smuggled home from summer camp one year. It lived on the carport outside in a 55 gallon fish tank my Dad wasn't using anymore. We moved to a new house 2 years later, and I was allowed to keep it in my room, as long as it didn't escape. My grandmother and aunts came to town for the summer visit and, wouldn't you know it, the snake is out, unbeknown st to anyone. We are all sitting around in the living room having snacks and they are having social drinks before dinner, conversation is flowing, out from under the couch holding all my female relatives glides the big 6 footer, calm as a cucumber. Drinks are flying, women are screaming and I'm getting the look from my Dad, as I'm feverishly trying to reassure the folks and gather the snake. Didn't help that the snake, always calm with me, gets upset at all the commotion and puts on the show of their lives in the middle of the living room floor! I was NOT the good son that day and my grandmother and aunts never took their eyes off me the rest of the trip. I thought it amusing but knew better than to do anything but apologize repeatedly. Alas, to no avail. While my Dad didn't make me get rid of the snake, he promised it would be gone if a repeat episode ensued. And I had to have it out of the house when the relatives visited, and they always asked, "Where's the beast?" before they would settle in for a visit! LOL! I couldn't see it from their perspective, but could only look in wonder at adults being afraid and not appreciating a full on display from a huge bullsnake. Grownups are weird!
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Todd Hughes

Todd,

I love that story!! ha ha!! I can't stop laughing!! Sounds like something out of a comedy!

Awesome!! Thanks for sharing!!
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Genesis 1:1

That's FUNNY Todd.....I pictured it in my head while I was reading it.......You looked funny back then.......HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

then? LOL! It wasn't funny to everyone then but now that all the old girls have gone to that great snake hunting field in tha sky, my Mom and I share a laugh over it now and again!
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Todd Hughes

This is what I was hoping for. Todd, that is some good stuff!!

Oh bro you and your family are so lucky no one took a bite from that Coral. I know the Eastern Coral is bigger than the Arizona Coral. I've found AZ Corals here, all they do is make a popping sound with their cloacal lining. They are awesome looking snakes though!

Scott

It is probably the one hot that I would keep if I could. They are sooooooooo pretty. I have never seen an AZ coral in person but hope to some day.

That's pretty funny, but it would be a little unnerving to have a coral snake hiding somewhere in your house.

I was young and VERY, very, dumb at the time. I did not even worry one little bit about the snake being loose. I was more worried about the fact that my mother would not come home until I found it!! The other problem was that the zoo started asking her lots of questions (she hung up) and I knew I could get into trouble. I was worried about the snake getting outside and some kid finding it and thinking it was a toy. Not cool. But it was winter and I knew the snake would be seeking heat. I don't want to be one of those guys who gives our hobby a bad name so I have never kept a hot since. (24 years ago!)

it most definitely is...unnerving! My wife caught the one I had under a plastic clothes basket and a towel....no more hots for Todd, lol....well, laughs silently to himself...
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Todd Hughes

Its not mine, but it did happen here in Mass. a few years ago. Now its bad enough keeping HOTS here in Mass, not legal, not a chance at a permit etc. Well this numb nut who just happened to live right next to a SCHOOL, ya him, he lost his COBRA. A few days later the COBRA was found IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY IN THE MIDDLE OF A CLASSROOM FULL OF KIDS! Sorry for the !!! but I can tell you if you kept a garter snake that was a difficult time to be a snake keeper. Makes losing a snake a little less dramatic, eh?

YIKES!!! Not cool. I think I would have been upset too if my kid were at that school!! Nice one.

....your children well......CSNY
(couldn't resist)

What? No kid could i.d and subdue the creature?
They should ALL stay after school!

Seriouusly, those are the types of things that will doom our hobby in the end,Jeff.

:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

Mark, as I stated, it wasnt me. I dont keep HOTS. Its a story I wont ever forget for obvious reason. I repeat it for emphasis, I dont understand why people keep HOTS. This was in the newspaper here in Mass......

Yes, I know Jeff.
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

STORY I
Back in the late 2001 I was living next to the in-laws (mental note: don't ever do that again...lol)....Anyway.....I had a river road alterna get loose....She was a mere 9 inches long and I thought I would never find her......Well about 3 weeks later I was sitting in the kitchen messing with the computer and heard my mother in law scream while she was walking to her car....I knew why instantly.....I ran next door and found my lost alterna.....

STORY II
I lost a hatchling calking around 1999 right before winter....In the spring of 2000 my father in law was cleaning out his garage and found him alive and well.....He had to call my wife to catch it for him.....LOL

Since I have been at the new house....I have yet to have an escapee.......Knock on wood.......
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Good stuff. It is amazing how some of the snakes make it. Awesome John.

I do have one other escape story (at least). A male Andean milk (Inca) was in this huge tub that I use for breeding. He's a sub adult I'd say. So one day I just left the lid off and went to do something else. A bit later I'm sitting on the couch and I see the snake on top of the door frame! He had climbed on top of a rack that was near the door and somehow perched himself on the narrow door frame. I got him before he fell. One nice thing about Andeans is they're really calm. One of my favorite snakes.

First one was when I was 10 years old, went out with my parents for a picnic up in the Santa Monica Mountains. While they were chowing down food, I was out looking for snakes, well I found a Cal king, didn't have a pillow case to put him in so I just carried him back to where my parents were. There were paper bags from the picnic, so put the king into the bag. We loaded up the car and I sat in the back with the snake on the floor, a few minutes later I hear my mom scream, looking down at the empty bag I knew why she screamed, the king had got out and made it's way under the front seat and around my moms leg. Good thing I had understanding parents.

Second time was in the early 80's, I had three copperheads that were in my room. I made a special cage to keep them in, one thing I didn't think of was the vent holes, I drilled them to big for this one copperhead, he was the smallest. A few days later I had some clothes piled on my bed that I was folding, I reached down to grap another one and there under a shirt was the copperhead coiled up looking at me. Grabed my tongs and very fast put him in an empty cage. Those copperheads were the last of my hot days.

"I had three Copperheads that were in my room". LMAO!

Yeah really and at my parents house too. But I kept all my snakes in my room back then, hots or not. Ahhh to be young and dumb again.....LOL!

Scott

I imagine handling could get a little tricky with 2 of them in 1 cage. And yeah, you definitely had "understanding parents".

Thank you! I always used tongs. The crazy thing about them when feeding them was sometimes they would bite one or the other, the part of the body and even the head where they got bit would swell up. A few days later the swelling was gone and they were fine. Seems they are immune to their own venom. Yes very understanding and supportive parents!

Scott

Nice Scott. So you got lucky with the hots too!!! Lesson learned.

Very much Joe, got real lucky with that copperhead and the Cal king was nice too, though I don't think my mom thought so then..LOL! Lesson learned by all means.

Scott

First one was when I was 10 years old, went out with my parents for a picnic up in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Man you are a very lucky dude. VERY lucky

My parents used to take my to the Santa Monicas for picnics as well.. But with me it was in the late 60's and early 70's.

My folks used to take me up to the Santa Monicas (malibu cyn)quite often for day picnics. I spent all of my time looking for snakes instead of being social and playing with other kids. I used to go nuts looking for snakes and would dissapear for hours at a time.. Lifting every rock and climbing down every valley and checking along every possible creek bed. Mostly just found gopher and garter snakes. Never found a kingsnake back then. So i have to wonder what picnic area did you go to cuase i never had any luck. And i put a LOT of miles loooking. sheesh~

Couple places my parents took me a lot was Tapia Park in Malibu mtns and Will Rogers state park in the Santa Monicas. Never saw a dang kingsnake. Just always heard of other folks (usually hikers) as i would ask anyone that was hiking if they saw any snakes. Sometimes they said there was a black and white ringed one they saw a few feet down the trail earlier in the day... or even worse- a few times they said the saw a beautiful coral kingsnake (Black-White and RED)...AIKS! ..that was a MOUNTAIN KINGSNAKE. I always slept good those nights from tearing up and down the hills frantically searching when one was sighted. but never found one until i was 13 or 14.
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www.Bluerosy.com

"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8".

"They that can give up essential liberty, to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety." -Benjamin Franklin

Good stuff though. I spent many, many hours snake hunting as a kid. Looking back at it now I see that in doing so I stayed out of trouble! SNAKES ARE GOOD FOR US. LOL. Bottom line is, nature rocks!!! I get my daughter involved with the outdoors every chance I get. Rainer, I hope I don't have your bad "kid" luck when I go out to CA.

I think so too Joe, snake hunting kept me from getting into trouble, though I did have a few times with the law from skateboarding...LOL! Even if you get skunked that day looking for snakes it's still awesome to be out in nature. I've seen cougars, black bear, jaguars, bobcats, deer, wild hogs. It's great to be a part of nature and away from the city. Here I am hunting for pyros in a hot spot I know. Scott

I agree Scott. Nature just rocks!!

That it is bro, it does rock all the way!

Scott

Hey Rainer! It was Will Rogers park that I caught that king, just got lucky, but it did take me about an hour and a half till I found it. Got lucky too by not getting bit by my copperhead that escaped. Later when I could drive I'd hit all of the Santa Monica Mountain range, the dirt Mulholland road by that old nike site, up to stunt road, that's were I caught my first mountain king. Valley circle drive use to be a great place to hunt till they built homes there. Up at the end of Reseda going to the Santa Monica Mountains was a good spot and down by the Encino reservoir. All this talk makes me want to come back home to the Valley. After school I will.

Scott

Hey Rainer! It was Will Rogers park that I caught that king, just got lucky, but it did take me about an hour and a half till I found it.

An hour and a half..LOL! That is amazing since I spent hundreds of hours there. I used to ride my bike there from Brentwood. Did you find it down by the entrance where the creekbed and homes are? That is where i always heard of them and never found one. This was like 1969-72 and you can tell I am still jealous..

Later when I could drive I'd hit all of the Santa Monica Mountain range, the dirt Mulholland road by that old nike site, up to stunt road, that's were I caught my first mountain king. Valley circle drive use to be a great place to hunt till they built homes there. Up at the end of Reseda going to the Santa Monica Mountains was a good spot and down by the Encino reservoir. All this talk makes me want to come back home to the Valley. After school I will.

Now you got me dreaming. I wish I could go back but houses are just to expensive. Cheaper to visit Cali.

Tap[ia Park, Malibu Cyn, Calif

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www.Bluerosy.com

"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8".

"They that can give up essential liberty, to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety." -Benjamin Franklin

Just got lucky, I did catch it by the creek bed. I can't tell you how many countless days and hours I spent looking for Cal kings up there, most of the time I would just find Gopher snakes and helleri. Of all the rattlers I've come across helleri is the worst tempered rattler. Browns canyon up in Chatsworth was good hot spot for finding kings too. I know homes are expensive in Ca, but I do miss all there is to do and places to hunt snakes. I still have a pair of Cal kings that I caught up in the Santa Monica Mountains, I hope they breed this year and give me a nice clutch of eggs.

Scott

Awesome king Scott. My heart belongs to eastern kings because that is what I grew up catching, but I still think cal kings are just incredible snakes. I don't care how common they are in the hobby, I never get tired of looking at them.

Thanks Joe! That is a wild caught female, I have a male too from the same local. I grew up catching Cal kings, I love all kings and milks, I do love the variety and coloration Cal kings come in. Coastal phase, desert, aberrant, striped, etc.

Scott

...I still herp Browns Cyn. Haven't found a King there yet, like you said, mostly Gophers and helleri. There are a few other spots in Chatsworth where I find them Kings, racers, an Nightsnakes.

reako45

That's way cool! Chatsworth seems to be a hot spot for kings. At Browns canyon there is a waterfall, if you follw that down it comes to a flat area. Use to be lots of junk there like old wood, etc that's were I had luck finding Ca kings at.

Scott

When I was about 7 years old I started to find interest in the pet shop herps. There was this tree frog that I'd had my eyes on for some time, and I finally broke my mother down enough to get it for me with complete set-up, etc., at a nominal price circa 1980.

So I had this tree frog for a couple weeks. It was good. I was content. UNTIL...........

See, I'd failed to mention that I had also brought home a garter snake from the woods and placed it into the small tank WITH this tree frog. I thought only garters ate fish at the time, thus these two would be perfect company for each other. RRRRRIGHTTTTTT.....

The garter must've scared the bejesus outta the frog, and somehow (oh yeah, I also didnt have clips on the screen lid either...) that tree frog got out. Being the half-smart 7 year old I was, I SAID NOTHING. But inconspicuously looked via the corner of my eyes when my mother wasn't watching. For several straight days, NO FROG anywhere.

I then awake to a blood-curdling scream early one summer morning calling me by name. "JJJJJJJEEERRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!".

I remember jumping out of bed as if I were a second-day private in a Marine boot camp, hair sticking up and running down the hall to find my mother towel-clad, face FULL of Noxzema, towel turban atop head, and standing ON the toilet seat with plunger at the ready. *sigh*

With my half-crusted-shut eyes, I look across to the bathtub and see my treefrog sitting atop my mother's Dove soap bar which rested in her soapdish on the edge of the tub.

To add insult to injury, I then had to delicately approach the damn frog so as to prevent it from jumping straight into a tub full of hot soapy water. My mother probably wouldve preferred it as such at that point.

I was able to successfully rescue this tree frog from a liquid magma hell, only to replace it into the tank WITH THE GARTER. I placed a couple books (LOL) atop the corners of the cage. I thought I had it all figured out......UNTIL.......

.....the garter had an unusually large lump in it's mid-section......

....and the rest is history.
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www.jerrykruse.webs.com

Jerry Kruse

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

HAHAHAHAAAAA.....HAHAHAHAAAA!!

You silly boy!..LOL!

Man, that was a funny-a$$ story. You should right short story books bro!..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

HAHAHAHAHA!! (Holding stomach laughing). Very nice Jerry. I remebered one not long ago about a Mt. King and a curtain or something too. I wonder if your snake had soap bubbles coming out of is mouth after eating the frog? LOL.

That's too cool! Aren't our moms great about herps espcially when they escape. You could always find your lost herp by hearing your mom scream.......LOL!

Scott

That's hysterical Jerry. I had some serious errors in judgement in my early snake days as well. I guess it's all a matter of trial and error. Although in retrospect, you could argue that you were doing a good job w/ the garter.

Back in the day, our homemeade cages were not that good and I had a yellow rat that escaped with regularity it seemed...but I would always find him around my porch somewhere...
Well, my sister and her husband needed a place to stay for a while until they settled their relocation to TX. He was very afraid of snakes....
One afternoon I hear a girl scream loudly only to find HIM with "Willy" around his arm! The snake had fallen from a soffit he was repairing and landed right on him.
From then on, I just let "Willy" live out his days around the house.
Another escape story (and kingsnake related)
A fellow Forum user wanted to rid himself of a very large and (he said) MEAN eastern, so we made arrangements to meet up for a trade. All day drive there and back, I decided to crash for a bit then get him squared away in one of my holding areas.....
Wanting to snap a quick pic, I thought I'd get a fast one as I lifted the lid on the box and not get tagged. He was an agitated snake for sure, and had nearly escaped the rubbermaid while in transport, so I had 2 10 lb weights on the box.
Well, I got my camera ready,removed the weights, lifted the lid, and snapped a photo......of an empty box! He was gone! WTF??? 20 lbs.!
I never found him......until one day while cleaning cages...4 months later....my son yells to me, "Dad, kingsnake!"
That's like saying "water!" to a sailor,right? No big deal.
But it turned out it was this guy

reared back and about to tag Russ in the face!
I grabbed him and finally got my pic! (4 mos. later)
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

hmm. I was maybe 15 when this happened? It's been long enough I'm not 100% sure.
I had purchased a sav monitor when I was like 13; at this point he was full grown or close to it. I was still learning husbandry so he was in an aquaria with a screen lid, some mulch and heat lamps...
One morning I wake up to something crawling on me. I sort of startle awake and there's George, starting to crawl on my face. I guess I was the warmest thing he could get to?

There was also the time a raccoon got into my room and ate some snakes but that's more depressing than funny.

Several things funny about that story--1)"when I was 13 I purchased a sav monitor" 2)he was full grown 3)I was still learning husbandry. Somehow all these things do not add up to a good ending. HAHAHA. LOL. At least he did not bite your face. I know some guy who had all his arm tendons sliced in two by one of those bad boys.

Well, he died in 2009. So he lived a good while, like 13 years or so??, just with some bumps along the way. ALthough, in my defense, the state of monitor husbandry in the mid 90s was pretty horrible anyway.

the strength and flexibility of snakes never cease to amaze me! Glad you got that one back, Mark!
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Todd Hughes

Nice Mark. Nice king too!! That is too funny "willy" wrapped around is arm. Oh my god, some of my family members would have stroked out right there!!! Good stuff my man.

That king looks like he means business. A beauty as well.

First quarter and the pats are down by 24, need a break,lol. I was about 9 when I found a hotbed of water snakes in the pond behind the school. I wanted to keep one so I put it in Mommer's car to take it home....YUP, you guessed it. Big,mean watersnake got loose in the car. Do I tell Mom? Nope. She goes to hop in the drivers seat a couple days later....JEFFREY!! Wally the water snake spent the summer in a tank in my backyard without further issue but Mommer sure let any company know the hell she went through to get him there.

Argggg. The water snake!! Good thing your mom did not get tagged. She would really have gone after ya!! I don't even bother trying to touch those guys nowadays. They just bite too much for me.

I had a northern water snake as a kid. Kept it in a glass aquarium w/ an extra light fixture designed for a fish set-up. I'd go an catch frogs for it and it thrived. One day it's gone. For some reason I gave the tank and light fixture to a friend. Maybe 2-3 months later I get a call and the water snake is crawling around in the tank. His dad was convinced I planned it. The snake had crawled in a crevice in the light fixture and decided to wait it out for awhile. A little thinner, and very thirsty, but otherwise in good shape. Makes me wonder how long they can go w/o water.

Ha. That is great!! That could have been much worse if you gave the tank to the wrong person. Good one.

I often have a snake loose in the house. My most expensive snake is right now unaccounted for. It seems that the best cages are no match for absent-mindedness or kids. Anyway, years ago my parents sold their house and were looking for a place to stay temporarily. My basement would have been my mom's first choice for temporary housing as it is a house in itself, having a full kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, living rooms, storage, etc. One of my pyros and a gopher snake had escaped just as they sold their house and was loose in the basement. I took the basement apart, cabinets included, and could not find the snakes. My wife, who hates all reptiles, would have been really mad at me, except that escaped snakes served to deter my mom from ever wanting to move in with us. The next March I thawed some mice for some of the snakes and left for a short time. When I came back, the pyro was stretched out along edge of the basement counter top near the thawing mice. I still have no idea how the snake climbed onto the counter.

snake adventures

Good deal that you got your pyro back, I'm sure you were totally stoked about that!

Scott

Yes, that was quite a find. I just wish I could have seen how the snake made it's way to the countertop considering how it looks like such an impossible climb.
snake adventures

That is an awesome story. Now I know how to keep the mother in law away!! LOL.

I have more escaped snake storys then I care to admit.
Here are just a few:
The story Joecop mentioned in the lead post was when I found my female adult gentilis after being lost for 3 New York winters. She was in my detached garage crawing over a yet to be sprung 8 inch rat trap.If you have never seen these traps they are a larger version of the old classic mouse traps that you set with a steal rod on a spring loaded snap bar.When I saw her I had no idea what snake she was.(I have a few missing milks out taking strolls)Later I photo IDed her.I wasn't sure how to grab her w/o springing the trap on her but I managed to hold the snap bar with one hand and grab her with the other.Whats amazing is that she survived 3 years on her own with winters to 10 degrees and what ever food she found on her own.

Another time I found my sinoloan on top of a ten gallon tank/cage I used to raise feeder mice.This was in that same detached garage as above about 50 feet from my house.

Two more storys :
I found a AZ Mt. King (not mine)where I dump the mice bedding in the back yard. It belonged to a guy that lives across the street and three houses up from me, about 300 feet away.Its my believe that a snake can smell mice pee from hundreds of feets away.
I also found his speckled king in my basement a few years back.It had escaped from my neighbors "escape proof snake room" and found its way down to where my "escape proof" snake rooms is

WHERE TO LOOK
When snakes are lost they are often found around food,mice cages thawed mice and mice bedding and in the case of kingsnakes they maybe be found near milk snakes as they are food also.
They are often found in sinks or bathrooms where there is a dripping faucet or some water.
One last thought. As i read all these lost snake storys I have to wonder if I would want my neighbor keeping "hots" or very large snakes.I have a puppy about 8.5 lbs and the people next door have a new baby and two tiny Boston terriers.
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wake me when its april

Doug L

Doug, I have been waiting for ya!! I knew you had several good ones that you had told me over the phone and while herping with you. I love the mouse trap one. Good point on the hots and large snakes. My coral loose had me very worried about kids in the area. Not ever going to happen again, I can tell you that. That was my first tri-color though!!!!LOL.

I've had many snakes escape, especially back in the first 2-3 years of snake keeping! Some found, some never seen again... you know how it goes!

1) One corn of mine escaped... found it 2 mornings later when a guest in our house found it in their pillow case they were using! looking for warmth i guess...

2) Another corn ended up inside my roommates underwear drawer a month later... died surprisingly about 2 weeks after that... musta been some diseases in that drawer!

3) I had a really wonderful checkered garter, which was my first snake, that escaped, and was found my step-dad. Thankfully, he was nice enough to scoop it up and put it back in a cage.... just not the right cage!

He put it in this girls cage.... she was very fat when I got home as she wasn't a great deal bigger than the garter back then...

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- Matt

1.0 Black Milk '04
1.0 Andean Milk '06
0.1 Eastern King '97
0.1 Bullsnake '09

I am sure the garter boosted her size a little. LOL!! Garter thinks he is back home and turns to see that big girl peeking out of her hide box----then starts the slow deliberate crawl straight at the garter. YIKES.

At least the gater didn't die in vain!

Scott

LOL yea I actually wasn't even really that upset when I got home. i almost felt kind of proud of her for doing what they do!
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- Matt

1.0 Black Milk '04
1.0 Andean Milk '06
0.1 Eastern King '97
0.1 Bullsnake '09

Back in the late 80's ,(God I am old), I was herping Southern Maryland with some friends. We would catch several kings a day back then and released almost all of them. We caught one that was all scared up and about five foot long and decided to keep him/her. We also caught several other snakes that one guy wanted and a large skink that we kept. One problem. I was the only one that brought a pillow case. (Young and dumb) I don't have to tell you what happened. We got back home and dumped out the pillow case to find a skink tail hanging out of the kings mouth and no other snakes. The thing ATE ALL OF THEM. We just did not think after being caught and stressed that the king would bother the other snakes. WRONG. This is what they do and I love them for it.

That's crazy... all he was thinking about was food!
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- Matt

1.0 Black Milk '04
1.0 Andean Milk '06
0.1 Eastern King '97
0.1 Bullsnake '09

lots of escapes over the years, one of the best for me was about 15yrs ago, had a prarie king i had caught and raised and eventually bred with another prarie. i had them in 20long tanks, well after i was sure the female was gravid i decided i was gonna move her to a 55g deluxe setup i had been working on, w/egg chamber, soil floor w/sub floor heat cool perfect 75degree egg chamber area moss, logs, etc etc. all the bells and whistles very posh imho, anyway i move her into and notice the nextday she had shed so i was excited as i new it wouldnt be long now!!! i went to open the tank and see how she had dug her nesting area and noticed the lid was ajar... oh no! she couldnt have... as i dig up the egg chamber area and whole tank it was about 6 inches of potting soil and sand on one side, tunnels, branches, logs, i realize she is gone! man what a bummer 5years id had her...and gravid!AAARRRRRGGGH! THE PAIN...
then...
a week later my neighbor comes over to let me know a snake is under her car(all my neighbors new i was/am into snakes) so i go over we usally have ratsnakes, and watersnakes, garters etc in our neighborhood well i bend down and look and lo and behold one pi$$ed off very gravid calligaster it was her!!! brought her into her now SECURE tank and she went on to lay eggs 2days later all of which hatched, and i had my girl back! that my best escape story i think ...

,,,,,,,,,thomas davis
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

That is the luckiest escape story so far!
snake adventures

Good thing you got her back in time. Very lucky.