Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Folks - I'm going nuts. Last Friday I fed my 3 indigos. I fed my 4 year old Female and I guess I left enough of a crack in the sliding door for her to get out into my familyroom/basement. I discovered this on saturday morning. Needless to say I was distraught! I took the place apart. Couldn't find her anywhere. My family room/Basement is a fairly big room with lots of open space and it does allow access to a laundry room and into the walls behind the sheet rock. I was hoping she would find a spot to hide in and I'd find her. Well to make things worse I went to pick up my Nephew who lives a good 2 hours away and my wife stayed home with my 2 daughters. My wife was using the dryer and guess who showed up over her head hanging on a cable TV cable near the exposed ceiling. My Indigo. My wife tried to call my Cell # and went and got gloves. She grabebd the snake but got scared and the snake went up into the insulation. I didn't get her message until 2 hours later. Afte screaming bloody murder (which I should not have done) Letting my wife know that this snake has never bitten anyone, I tried to scearch the ceiling for the snake. No luck. It was very frustrating. She had the snake in her hands and let go !!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
what really threw me was the fact that the Indigo went up instead of into the many ground level hiding spots.
Any suggestions ????? this is killing me. I put a thawed mouse near the last spot my wife saw her. She is a vorious feeder so I'm hoping she will come back.
Has anyone ever found a lost snake in their house? Any other ideas ?
Thansk, Mark

Everyone who has kept snakes for any length of time has had an escape similar to yours. I've had some luck staking out sight where snake may be hiding. Sit quietly in the dark and take time to listen. You may hear her moving and have a bead on where to take out ceiling or wall. Cherish your wife. She tried where many would have declined to get involved. Good luck.

Thanks Steve - I'll give it a shot. I would have felt more comfortable if it was in the wall down on the ground. The way my house is set up I have open cider blocks behind the sheet rock and if she gets down into those there would be no way out. They are about 7 feet up right where she was. I still have the male I got from you about 7 years ago. Great snake. Big, always hungary and handles liek a baby. I live in Carmel not far from you.

Thanks, Mark

Steve has some sage advice. All of us (I think) whether we admit it or not have had escapes.

My number one escapist is a Tex Rat. He's done it enough that we really don't worry about it. There are only so many places he can go. So long as your household is tight, the animal will show up again...eventually.

We've "misplaced" the occasional Y/T as well. they were easier to find. The only thing I can offer is--when searching, if you think the space is too small, it isn't.

Think about the animals habits while you had the opportunity to observe. Then take a look around the space that the animal escaped to. It's likely you'll strike gold if you blend the two observations.

Good Luck,
Jeff Nichols

Thanks Jeff - I was really shocked that she turned up near the ceiling. there were so many places to go on the floor. Its amazing. You are 100 % right about space. This is a good 4 1/2 feet snake. I thought she would be realitively easy to find. But, The frustration will go on.

Mark

Mark,

Hopefully it'll turn out well. I think (if it does turn out well) you will be surprised as to the location of your animal.

Keep after it!
Jeff Nichols

I actually had one get in the ceiling like that once.

They act differently in a house than they would outside.

Steve’s advice is good. I have even put newspaper or even tissue paper around the base of all the walls and camped out on the snake room floor…listening for any sounds.

I bet he’ll turn up soon. He will be moving a lot.
He won’t be content and at rest in the ceiling very long.

He’s going to be on the move.
Good luck

put a breeder cage w/ about 8 mice in it just below the general area she was last seen. their activity and odor will bring her out and you'll probably find her trying to break into the box. it's worked for me and doesn't take long either. and oh yeah.......you might want to buy the wife some flowers afterwards, then everyone will be happy! ;>]

Hi folks: Came home from work ran right down to the Family room/basement to check the mouse bait (still there) turned and checked the room. I noticed a nice big black tail right under the TV stand. There she was right out in the open. Grabbed her right up. Gave her a nice warm bath to get any bad stuff off her and back into her cage she went. Thank goodness. Don't want to go through this again. She seems no worse for the adventure. Thanks for the empathy and suggestions. No one else understands our passion for these guys like we do.

Thanks again.

Mark

Ps: I really liked the breeder mouse option. I'll remember that one

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Congratulations and thanks for posting. It's brought out some good ideas to use in case something like this happens again.

Mark,

Glad to hear it.

Regards,
Jeff Nichols

>>Hi folks: Came home from work ran right down to the Family room/basement to check the mouse bait (still there) turned and checked the room. I noticed a nice big black tail right under the TV stand. There she was right out in the open. Grabbed her right up. Gave her a nice warm bath to get any bad stuff off her and back into her cage she went. Thank goodness. Don't want to go through this again. She seems no worse for the adventure. Thanks for the empathy and suggestions. No one else understands our passion for these guys like we do.
>>
>>Thanks again.
>>
>>Mark

I'm glad you found her, Mark. I had one get out (a big male) once about 20 years ago. It took 9 months to find him, long after I had given up all hope. He was still healthy as a horse. I heard him knocking over stuff on a shelf in my venomous room while I was working in my non-venomous room. That brought about a whole bunch of other questions....I thought I had that venomous room sealed up pretty well so that if a snake got out of a cage, it couldn't get out of the room. So, how did he get in? Luckily, the building was well sealed so he couldn't get out. I finally found that a ceiling tile had a corner broken off over the top of some other cages where I couldn't see it easily. He had gone into the ceiling in the non-venomous room, and came out through the ceiling in the venomous room. He must have been hanging around in the ceiling for months. I don't know what he was eating, but he hadn't lost any weight....I wasn't missing any Eastern Diamondbacks or anything....
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

This wasa painful lesson. I guess I became too confident and was careless. I'll be on my toes for a long time to come. I'm still puzzled on how she got to the ceiling. I was not expecting that at all. They are amazing animals. Looking up was by accident. I was looking under and in stuff all over the place.
I guess on the plus side, we cleaned up the family room/basement.

Mark

Man, I'm really glad for ya! I have learned some valuable info. I hope I never need it! Later,
T.
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"No tree would have branches foolish enough to argue amonst themseleves".

Mark close off the drier vent to the out side if you haven’t already. Seal that puppy off. And belay the use of the dryer. If she finds her way into your dryer she can get burnt or even killed. You have probably already done this.

I used empty pop cans as early warning devices and set them three or four high. Place them in several areas next to the last site location. Also place several can stacks along the walls in that area. This is a large snake and will use the edges of walls to move. Turn out the lights and listen when you here the cans hit the floor move in on her.

This worked for me. Good luck, I vote keep the wife….

Yeah,

The wife is keeper. LOL.

I hope I'll never have to use them!

Glad she turned up.

I have a regular escapee being my male Outerbanks King, followed up 2nd by my male Licorice Stick Black rat...... I don't get as stressed when it's those guys because I know I'll find them. BUT an Indigo on the loose IS cause for concern & would probably start for a good crop of stomach ulcers...... glad you found her..... & I assume you still happily married...... OK everyone..... GROUP HUG.......

I do like the empty soda can idea though..... have a great weekend.......

the 'other' Dean

I got an urgent call at work from my wife, "ONE OF YOUR SNAKES IS RUNNING AROUND THE KITCHEN TRYING TO BITE ME" What does it look like" I replied. BIG,BLACK AND MEAN! she said. Big and black, no problem, he doesn't bite "EVER". Get a trash can, put him in, put the lid on. "HE TRYING TO BITE ME! COME HOME NOW! After explaining to my boss, I ran home to find a trash can upside down in the kitchen. I said, well you got him, but you over reacted to a snake that is absolutely harmless. I lifted the bucket to find a 6' ballistic Black rat. Man was he mad! Somehow, someway he got in, made his way to the kitchen. Sorry honey, wrong snake. I thought she was pretty game!

Do you mean that the rat snake was a wild snake that got into your house or was it from your collection?

Robert Bruce

It was a wild Black Rat. I've had them in the basement and garage several times, but only that once in the kitchen.

My black rat snakes have done some interesting things when they have escaped.

My 5' female has escaped 2-3 times and I always find her in the same place in our family room. She likes to get into our hida-bed couch. Inside were you lean your back against.

My same size male disappeared for a couple of weeks. We found him coiled up in one of those suite cases that carry fancy cloths in. The case was hanging up in a closet and he was inside one of the outside pockets!

Conrad