Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have no idea how, but my honduran milksnake got out of it's cage sometime last night. I need ANY tips anyone can give me on finding it. It should be in the same room as the rest of my snakes, but it is the only really small snake I have, and it could have gotten under the door. Anything at all you could tell me would be lifesaving (or snake-saving in this incident). I do not want to loose thi amasing little fello. Againa thank you very mcuh for ANY ideas you have.

I always get a flashlight, and something long which I can reach into dark places with like a wire hanger bent straight. One thing you DO NOT want to do is in your panic and haste squash the poor snake while moving things you think it may be under. Also keep in mind if there's a ledge or space underneath any furniture or objects in the room you want run your finger along the entire perimeter of it. Being a Milk I wouldn't be looking very high off the ground until the areas closer to floor are all checked. If you have heated shelves where you keep your snakes be sure to take down every cage and inspect the area thorughly, sometimes they are very close to their cages and you tear your room apart to find he never left the shelf! The hardest find for me was a lost baby Black King, which is much harder to spot than an orange snake. Even if you do not see the snake in a hard to reach spot gently poke around it and you may possibly stir him up. Just remember, it is easy to turn your hatchling into a hatchling pancake, be careful! Tom Stevens

I would make would walk in all the rooms and surrounding areas every hour , Best chances at night . I have had a couple of excapies before I useally find them but can take a couple weeks .

I have also caught a hatchling pyro by getting a couple large cups and putting duct tape inside so that it sticks to cup and placing a pinky on the duct tape , them in areas in or near rooms where it excaped . I caught the little guy a couple days later . He eat the pinky but got stuck the the tape .

Good luck

jason

When we first got our Pueblan, he escaped within 2 days. This link was quite helpful, lots of good ideas.

http://forums.kingsnake.com/forum.php?catid=7

I'm in Texas, so everywhere is nice and warm. He ended up being under the refridgerator. He was gone for about 3 days, and we looked everywhere. We'd set our alarms, and get up in the middle of the night with flashlights to search for him. We put thin thread around doors and such to see if he was out and about, the thread would move if he crossed over it. Even put heating pads around encircled with thread to see if he went to those...so at least we knew that he was alive and still inside. Good luck, I'm sure your snake is fine, you'll find him somewhere.
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Deborah McAllister

Your baby snake will use the edges of walls to move. He will seek warmth. Turn the lights out and just relax and wait and listen.

Not sure how big this baby is? I have used empty soda cans and balanced them two high in several areas of the room and adjoining rooms. Place them against the walls. Turn the lights out and be very quiet (may take hours) Balance the top can so that the slightest movement makes it fall. Your snake will travel against the wall, not across the open ground.

Just a little trick I learned in the Army about early warning devices….

Good Luck.

I have placed heating pads on the floor and flour around it to see if the snake has been travelling in certain areas.
You could also make tape traps with Duct tape sticky side up.
I know tape is a man made enemy to snakes but a snake can be removed from tape by using vegetable oil.
Also offer prey items near heating pad and water.
These are just a few tricks I have used in the past that has worked.
Good Luck,
-John Lassiter-

I would suggest setting up a snake trap. It is pretty simple. Use an appropriate size soda bottle, for a small snake use a 16-20 oz bottle, for a larger snake use a 2 litre bottle. Cut the top off the bottle right where it is the largest. Then insert the top of the bottle backwards into the bottom of the bottle. What you are doing is making a fancy funnel type trap. Put the trap that you have baited with a frozen/thawed mouse of the appropriate size in the house where you think they may be on the floor. You can put one of those heat pads under it. Leave it overnight. In the morning, hopefully you will come out to a sleeping snake in the bottle.

You might want to make a few of these to use in several rooms. Don't forget the hallway and bathrooms.
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sue

I used flour around the edges and in the corners. This is easy to see if any movement has occured. I also used flour around a small container containing some the used mouse bedding. Found a little corn that way overnight once. Just vaccuum afterwards.

Scott

Lots of great advice here. The one thing you do have to worry about is any open spaces, holes and opening along the floorboard. Once a snake that size gets into the walls it will probably dehydrate before coming out.

I have left splilled water out (by accident) and found a small snake drinking from it at 2 a.m. in the morning.