Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The worst thing in the entire whole world happened today
I bought my tangerine milk snake, only about a foot or so long, from the pet store. they put him in a cloth BAG of all things and tied up the end, but i guess not well enough because by the time i got home he was NOT in that bag. I am 100% positive he was in it when I first got in the car and I know he didn't fall out when i opened the door because I looked at the bag before doing so and checked my door first, thinking he could fall out if he was beside the door. My suspicion is that he is up inside the front passenger seat where it is warmest. Please, for the sake of my sanity, somebody tell me they have an idea for luring him out or finding him, PLEASE!
my father suggested opening up all the doors, getting all my friends to cover the doors, and letting me spray lyscol or something, anything, up inside it so he'd move. I don't know if it would be a good idea though, I don't want to hurt him but at the same time if I don't do SOMETHING he'll die anyway! heeeeeeeeelp!

I have had 3 snakes get loose in my car before.One Lous milk was never seen again.One E.king hatchling was found a year later in my neighbors backyard.The 3rd,a LARGE everglades rat found his way into an inaccessable cubby,curled up and died and is STILL stinking up my car almost a year later! My suggestion is to put the car somewhere DARK,leave it on with the heat CRANKED,and run out and check it with a flashlite every 20 minutes for a couple hours.....Unless the animal moves you wont find it right away. What state are you in? If you are in a cold state you may be in trouble as they may just shut down and brumate til it dessicates.Good luck,Jeff

I live in Virginia. The weather is good right now, not too terribly cold. So you don't know of any traps or lures I could set to catch him (not kill!)?

Of course you cant readily use your car,lol. The method is to take clear packing tape(the krinkly kind)and lay it sticky side up all over your car. It works as a safe glue trap but you cant use your car normally. Do this after you HEAT the car so the snake will MOVE,Jeff

well yes, i'm in Virginia so the nights were decent as of late. Only tonight has it been very cold and we took an extension cord and whipped out the heating pad. It's now in there with the little soda-bottle home-made "trap" with a thawed out frozen pinkie in it. HOPEFULLY he will go "gee i'm cold, i better go to this warm thing, and eat this other thing" and then stay there until 6 AM when i check. i'm so worried about him. everyone keeps asking me if i'm scared of it biting me or assuming my only problem is being too scared to drive the car now for my own sake. i'm far more concerned about his health than I am about a baby-size snake nibble. ugh! some people!

thank you so much for all the advice, i'm taking every ounce of it. we've done the thorough searching. i'm so tempted to just start ripping my car apart... by the way, my car is an SUV/GMC Jimmy to be precise. yay, even more room for him to hide. perfect...
wish me luck
at least I keep hearing stories about them showing up a week later. i very much hope it comes true for me. but i'd still like x-ray vision so i could see where he is!

oh yes, and i did try cranking the heat in my car for a while earlier but nothing came of it. if this tactic doesn't work tonight, then that will be my repeat move.

they put him in a cloth BAG of all things and tied up the end, but i guess not well enough because by the time i got home he was NOT in that bag.

That is the best way to carry snakes,...in a snake bag. However, the bag has to be secure (no holes and tied at the top securely).

my father suggested opening up all the doors, getting all my friends to cover the doors, and letting me spray lyscol or something, anything, up inside it so he'd move.

DO NOT try this. Lysol is extremely toxic to snakes. If you were to spray that in the car, it would kill it whereever it is hiding and you would never find it.

I suggest putting a small hidebox in the floorboards and checking those and the rest of the car several times per day with a flashlight. You may get lucky, although baby milks are pretty elusive.

Get a mirror and a flashlight and look up under the dash, seats, etc. It is probably still in there somewhere.
-----
Chris Harrison

...he was beginning to realize he was the creature of a god that appreciated the discomfort of his worshippers - W. Somerset Maugham

ok i didn't really trust the idea to begin with, good thing I didn't just go ahead and listen to him this time
the lady at the pet store gave me about 7 or 8 hot hands warmers and i put them all in my car, 4 are in the bag he came in and 3 are in a pile nearby, do you think that will work tonight?
I also heard that if you put a bowl of water in there he can smell it and will crawl in. is that so?
another person suggested milk, but i dunno...

I hope my suggestion doesn't come too late.
Get a cardboard tube like the ones they ship posters in.
Tape a funnel to each end facing inward.
Place a prey item inside and leave this contraption in your vehicle, in the dark and very warm.
With luck, your snake will smell the food, enter the tube, and not be able to find the opening of the funnel.
Kinda like a "minnow trap". May sound silly, this has helped me recently recover a pyro. Your main disadvantage is the cold. If he's not warm enough he won't want to eat. Them it just wont work.
Good Luck!