Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey all,
4 days ago i lost my snake. he got out of his cage and now he is somewhere in the basement. I layed traps in hopes of finding my lost snake. took baking four and put it along each door. I took a water dish, hoping it would seek moisture, a carpet, hoping it might hide under, a heatmatt, incase it was cold and needed some heat, and i took scotch tape, and layed it accross the room. I have had no luck in finding the snake none of the traps worked, and he did not go over any flour. last time i found him, he ws sitting on the fuse box in the storage room. above the box there are some cables, and by those there are warm water pipes.(9 ft high) the pipes lead into a 2 ft spacing, which then leads to my bathroom. My guess is that he went up there. should i crawl in that spacing? is there ANYTHING else i can do to find the snake?
thanks,
Craig Condon

Did you try a live rat? Put him in a tall Sterilite with newspaper on the bottom. (Newspaper is pretty noisy when being scratched.) Maybe a brick in there too, just so snakey won't topple it over when climbing inside.

Chris
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"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." -- A. Einstein

I will try that, why didnt he go over any of the traps? the tape, and flour. why havent i seen any trails? could he be where i think he is?
thanks,
Craig Condon

My first Ball Python escaped a number of times from his inadequate enclosure. Each time he disappeared (I kept him in my bedroom), all I had to do was check a three foot perimeter to his cage. He was always nestled inside of a pants leg or under a sweater. Yours is probably somewhere dark and warm, and if the rest of the house is cooler...he'll probably stay exactly where he is for a while. They tend to like the warmth. Give him time. You'll find him.

Good Luck,
Chris
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"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." -- A. Einstein

Put a live mouse indside one of those hamster balls so the snake will smell and see the mouse moving around, it has worked for a friend of mine many times!

Hampster ball,lmao,thats not a bad idea though.
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3.12 Ball Pythons
0.1 Mutant Thayeri

It`s worked a number of times.. I mean.. The snake can smell the mouse and hear him at the same time.... its a awesome way to find your snake.

Normally ball pythons don't go more then 10ft from there living quarters. Then again, normally they don't climb and you said yours was 9ft up in the air somewhere? (He's trying to be a tree snake?) Most likely he hasn't run into any of the traps because he hasn't moved. Just keep looking.

It could be worse it's only been 4 days, he'll turn up when you least expect him and scare the bajibbies outta you. My cat once let out our Orange Ghost and I turned the house upside down looking for him to no avail. The cat found him again about 5 days later.

G'luck, tell us when you find him.
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Violette Garcia
www.shakahnsgrove.com

My ball got out once and it was sitting right behind the tank and i searched for hours till i looked there.

I have an idea that might work. I saw it on tv, they were trying to catch a cobra and it worked so who knows it might work for you.

They had a dead snake tied to a string and the string was staked to the ground hiding under a little hide.

So what you could do is not use a snake for bait. lol but use a dead mouse and tie him to a string and nail him to a board and hit it under a little hide with a hole in it so the snake can go in it. Once the snake eats the mouse he wont let go because of the string and he will feel safe because of the hide. That way you can check the trap every day to see if you have him. and once you do just cut the string and he will digest it through. just dont use a nylon string. use cotton or something degradeable. OH and change the mouse daily. you dont want a rotten mouse in your crawl space. you could set up a couple of these where ever you might think he might be hiding. remember dark warm and safe is where he will be.

alright, thanks you guys
all of these are really good, but the one i like in particular is the mouse in a ball. i have tried doing the "mouse in trap" trick for about 2 days and found it was a waste. i really do not want to throw away a 50 cent mouse only to find no snake!
I will keep looking, thats for sure, and i will lok in that small dark crawl space. i honestly think i will find him there. if hes no where else in the basement. that has to be the place.
also, the walls have insulator with plastic wrap over them. (in the storage room) would he be behind there?
thanks much for your help,
craig condon

I would be sure to look very thoroughly throughout the ceiling of the basement. One of my BPs got out years ago, and that's where we found her.
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