Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Today is the worst sunday of my life...My almost yearling jungle corn "Ducati" grab his bags and took off, he's missing somewhere in my basement (i hope) and he has been gone for what could be anywhere from 5-20 hours. I have turned my snake room UPSIDE down in a matter of a couple hours (it's where i sleep too) including taking apart my bed. I know of other stories where flour is used to track whether or not the snake is still moving around down there, and have set up quite a few traps, or notifications I guess. i have a mouse and water out with flour circling them, but my basement is so BIG!!! also, the 2 rooms next to my snake room happen to be storage rooms, in which they are packed to the ceiling. I am absolutely terrified because this was my absolute favorite snake...and a future breeder due to being the most amazing jungle I had ever seen....I would appreciate ANY help from you amazing people, ANYTHING that would help me find the little guy! the whole basement except for one storage room is carpet, so ive had to put the flour on paper sheets againsts the walls (where they like to travel) I've also set up pop cans 4-5 high against the wall just leaving a crack (so that if he slithers between the wall and the cans they fall over) He could be anywhere, and I would like to contain him to the basement. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies, even a small tip could help me get him back.

ok small lil tip that might not work for u but it worked great when my corns were young and got loose... i actually found this out by accident... i was blasting my stereo and the bass was on full blast makin the room and walls shake and oll of a sudden i saw 5 lil heads from around my room pop out all within 10 minutes of each other..... so try blasting a stereo or sumthen (just make sure if u have any animals that can hear to remove them from the room 1st)

Sorry to hear about your MIA snake.
The flour trick sounds interesting, along with a mouse left out (which I would try too). Only problem with the leaving a mouse out is this...snakes probably do not naturally eat as well in the wild as they do in captivity, therefore a captive snake may go a while without officially needing more food especially if has been feed well like once a week.

I guess I would also try placing heat pads (the kind people use for their backs) in strategic places since most snakes will move towards a good heat source. Maybe even put a dark/black hide box near or on the heat pad to make if more tempting for the snake. Otherwise, if it gets in an inside wall with pipes for hot water then it might stay around that heat source awhile.

I am curious as to what happens since I have never had a snake get loose and always wondered what method would work best. Also, what type of enclosure do you have? I use the snug fit critter cage aquariums that has never failed me yet in preventing corns from escaping. I tried a rubbermaid/sterilite container once & tested with one snake before I made any permanent changes and sure enough...it was not the most escape proof setup... Try & test any new enclosures out first in some controlled way.

GOOD LUCK AND KEEP US POSTED

Thank you so much for the quick replies, I really appreciate it...this is a super hard time for me and all the help I can get will go along way. i guess your right, maybe I should just put mice out overnight, and I'll hook his heatlamp up over a hidespot in the hallway.
His enclosure is a 20 gallon terrarium, that he's only been in for 1 full day...I feel very responsisble for this due to the fact the lid that came with the tank was a smidge too small...so it didnt quite sit level. I had wieghts on the top, but I don't doubt he pushed a corner up and made a brake for it.

As for the sound system...I'll try that too, but I don't know if he's still in my room or not, the one room that I'm confident I've looked EVERYWHERE is that room, it's the 2 storage rooms that make me think it will be a while till (or if) I ever see him again. I just tore apart half of the room beside me, it's crammed full of furniture and stuff so moving it all is tough.

All suggestions are welcomed (thanks to the 2 that have already)
I'm going back downstairs to rummage!

Well thanks to the people who replied, quickly might I add, but I found the little guy tonight under the fridge in the larger storage room. I actually came home due to a feeling in my gut that I should check up on the traps, and peeked into the storage room only to see him move out of the corner of my eye...I had to grab him and yank him out of there, but he's completely fine and I'm SOOOO releived to have him back! He drank water right out of my hand, he must have been thirsty doin all that adventuring! Thanks again!

That's such a happy ending, same thing happened to me about a year back with my ball python, I found him the next day on top of my corn snake's tank, taunting him or something..

thats great! n/p

I have had a handful of escapes and ONCE found the snake when I looked for it. And that was a 5#BP. Any other snake I have had go AWOL from hatchling colubrid to an adult ratsnake have been found by dumb luck anywhere from 5 minutes to 3 and a half months later.
Keep some warm spots and pans of water and be careful where you step and put down heavy objects.
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Sonya