Reptile & Amphibian Forums

another reason I don't keep hots!!

The reality is it happens to us all, a lapse in attention to detail, get distracted, get called away, whatever. We have all forgotten to properly latched a cage before. To those that have not, congrats but it is likely coming. Of course with hots you'd have to be extra careful and extra diligent about making sure the enclosure is secure.

But back to my story. Yesterday was a typical day, cleaning cages and the weekly baby feeding day. I had a hundred pack of frozen mouse hoppers thawing on the counter and had plans to meet up with my local rodent supplier for another 40 live hoppers. I just can't seem to produce enough mouse hoppers every week for all the babies. I had completed a full clean on my two stacks of oak breeder cages and had started working on another stack when it was time to leave. Got back home around 10PM and fired up the crock pot to warm up the F/T. Feeding took a couple hours and went to bed sometime after midnight.

This morning I went in to check on the breeders and first thing I see is a cage door wide open - CRAP!!! Obviously I did not lock it. They had not managed to discover the unlocked door for several hours at least but sometime in the night one had pushed against it enough to make it open. Quick check of the two cages resulted in one found still inside. That meant there were two snakes on the lamb. Double crap!!!

So I start looking under and around cages - nothing. As I get close to the closet I notice several baby drawers are partially open. What?? Quick check verified all the babies were still in their drawers. then I look up and one of my escapees is looking down at me from on top of the rack. Had most likely used the knobs on the drawers to climb the rack and in the process had gotten a few open. Of course there is stuff on top of the rack like water bowls, thermostat and phone so took a minute to get it down without knocking stuff all over the place. Phew, that's one recovered.

Got it put away, turned around and noticed this...

That is several drawers in my overflow rack/workbench partially open. Sure enough, looking behind the drawers I found the second escapee.....

The whole search and recover only took about ten minutes. Phew, I got lucky!!! I spent the next 20 minutes verifying none of my temp probes were disturbed. I know from second hand experience a displaced temp probe can be disastrous.

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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

intriguing as this story is I am stuck on the fact that you use your crock pot to thaw rodents... question, do you cook in it as well....

FYI, that is why I stopped working with hots. It only took one mistake and a bad day for me to realize I am not cut out for it.

fun times Dave!!!

LOL, no the crock pot is strictly for heating up thawed rodents. In a ziplock bag with a weight to hold it under water, works great. just a few minutes and the bag of hoppers (10) are warm and ready to be fed. Start the next batch while feeding the prior ones so is a continuous cycle.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I found a couple large chrome sockets work great, one at each corner of the bag. To get specific, I double bag the sockets, then place the food in a third bag which slips inside the other two so the sockets are double bagged and he feeders are triple bagged.

The double bag stays in the crock pot and I slip the feeder bag in and out. Duh, have to lift all three out of the water to get the inner bag in and out. I use two alternating bags so the next batch is ready to insert at the same time as I pull the previous one.

Funny how "most" of the time they just sit there and every once in a while one decides to bolt. My larger ones are always restrained, either in a vacant drawer or a loose tub. Or sometimes in the water bowl or hide box. Never left alone for more than a minute.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

"I double bag the sockets"

Dave,
...Are you absolutely sure we are not related? Double bagging the sockets sounds like what we call "Clark disease" around here. The engineers in the family (two brothers, a cousin and my late father) have it so bad that it makes them good engineers and terribly annoying to be around when they are working on a project.
...I learned long ago that keeping hots was not for me. Two bites was enough. Neither was serious but some of the snakes I was catching back then could have given me a serious one. I know I make mistakes and leaving a cage unsecured is just one of those mistakes. IMO Hot keepers who think they never make mistakes are just setting themselves up for a big accident.
Jeff

Wow Dave.... you are so lucky more of the little ones didn't realize they could escape! I've had a handful of snakes get loose in the last 5 years, but luckily I've managed to find them all eventually. I can't imagine opening my snake room and seeing all those bins and cages open!

Congrats on finding everyone, and in good health too! Love those pictures.
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Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

oh man, that could of been so much worse, glad all is well,,

Yeah, have a female go missing and then months from now find a baby or two.....
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats