Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My son had a gopher snake for about a year- it is about three feet long and was CB and eats frozen pinkies about twice a week-
It's terrarium wasn't secured and it escaped-
this was about four days ago-
I have looked all throughout the room it was in, and throughout the house with no luck-
Are there any secrets to catching a loose snake-
I know she is more active at night so I look for her at night with a red flashlight-
I was hoping someone on here had some trick or atleast encouraging words that she was not doomed to die-
She could survive, and is actually an indigenous species here so thats ok I guess but I dont want to find her dead in a corner or stuck in a couch-
Any ideas or suggestions-
besides secure the lid better next time!
thanks for any help-
nick

Most of the time you should check closets or anywhere dark with junk/clutter in them, look in the shoes, boxes, anything that the snake can squeeze into, under refridgerators or places that would hold heat-some parts of the US are warming up so that may be out the window soon. They can fit in some very tight spots, so if you had a hole or crack in the wall/doors/windows left open that lead to the outside thats not good.

You could try this, get a secure cage and putting f/t food inside the cage in the room that the snake escaped in around sunset. Leave it like this until around 2 or 3 am no peeking, sometimes it coaxes them out of hiding and they will be trying to get into the cage for the food. Dont forget to sneak up, burst in and turn the lights on quick.

If nothing else you might just be walking around and stumble on the snake one day out of the blue. If you have cats and dogs dont ignore any scratching/barking at a strange thing like under the kitchen oven. Had a chihuahua that was good at finding escapees for me. He would sit where he saw then a cry until I checked it out-miss that little rat dog.

I had a WC gopher escape when I was a little boy, a door was left open and I did not see the snake again. We lived in a culdesac and about 3 years later I was walking across the steet that lead to a large open field outside of our culdeseac and I saw her flat on the road. . .the snake had a hiding place around our house to the field to hunt for 3 years. Just amazed me, I felt bad but what can you do. I knew it was the snake because the area was devoloped, I grew up there and had never seen a single snake in the area besides the one that was flat moving in the direction fom the culdesac to the field that was a clearly "they" gopher.

good luck.

Alot of time cats or dogs in the house force the snake to climb. I've found escapees on bookshelves, kitchen counters etc. You could also try those sticky mouse pads. Place them w/ a food item in areas where you think the snake might be tempted to frequent and check them daily. If the snake ends up stuck there, I think baby oil will remove it.

reako45

If one is going to deploy cats and dogs or sticky pads, only do one or the other. Dollars to donuts the cats and dogs would find the poor snake in the sticky pad before you would!

My cats are great at finding my snakes. When I have an escapee I carefully watch my cats. One time when she was a baby Gonzo the gopher snake got out and was found in the couch cushions doing her level best to fool the cats into thinking she was a rattlesnake. Another time one of my little pyros got out, and after tuning the house upside down trying to find him, I stopped in front of the big box I keep the feeding jars in and said "I give up!" At that very moment the little snake came crawling out from amongst the jars towards me.

wow did not read this clearly i was tired after driving for 12 hours, sorry about the typos.

Snakes follow perimiters, so feel for holes underneath cabinet toekick areas, if it did find a void it will hold up there for a week or so but it will come out one day, oh and you dont have to use a red light to look for it at night use a regular white flashlight silly...if its hot where you live look in a cool tiled spot like under your washer or dryer or if its still cold where you live look in a warm spot like near windows or any heat source. worst case is its inside your washer or coutch because it will likely die there, and if you do have a dog or cat your snake dosent stand a chance. Good luck!

Check under the refigerator. Can't tell ya how many snakes I have found in the the nice warms coils underneitht he efigerator.
!!!

Dan