Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i cant believe this happened..my snake,that i have owned for almost 2 years,escaped last night and i cant find him.i started dating a new girl and i think she didnt secure his cage well enough.anyway,i first noticed that he had escaped at like 430 in the morning when i was going to the bathroom.i noticed feces on the floor and thought maybe i had a rat in my house but further inspection proved it was my snakes.the thing that worries me is the feces was right next door my utility closet.inside the closet is the only place in my apartment that has a hole in the wall where he can get into the walls.the door was closed and if he went in there he would have had to squeeze under the door.there is a large gap under the door,plenty of room to squeeze but im wondering what you guys think? is it in chondros nature to squeeze into holes like other snakes?or do you think it more likley that his head was in the air looking for higher ground?he once escaped as a youngster and i found him the next day in the shower coiled on the shower curtain.anyway,i just started looking but to no avail.i went into the utility closet with a flashlight,took everything out and shined the light into the hole.nothing.he ate a large mouse 2 days ago and since its summer,im not worried about temps.i live in a 2 family apartment building and ,if he got into the walls,he could wind up in their apartment.so,i dont know what i am looking for here,maybe someone to tell me they lost their chondro and actually found it,something to keep my hopes up.maybe some advise on where he would be or someone to tell me that its unlikly that he would have slid under the door.what ,if all else fails,im wondering just about how long i have to find him with no water or food.my apartment temp is 75 degrees,maybe quite a bit warmer in the walls if he got in there(please no).the only thing thats keeping me from thinking hes in the walls,is one,i am assuming since hes arborial,he wouldnt have been looking for holes in the floor to go,more likley,like the last time i found him,hed be somewhere high.secondly,the hole in the wall in the closet is on the ceiling.he had stuff to climb to get there,but once going in the hole,he had nothing to grab ,hed have to drop through the hole and freefall to the floor.i dont think he would do that unless hes was fleeing someone.not the case here.so,like i said,i never lost any of my chondros except years ago when i first got this one,so i really have no idea of chondros hiding behaviours.i have spoken to people and i have been told that monitors and lizards are fairly easy to find when they escape,but snakes are almost never found because of their nature to slip into tiny holes and they wont move for weeks.im just hoping that chondros are an exception because of their desire to coil and climp to high places.i am really a good keeper.i own three and many other reptiles.my girl fell in love with this one(by far the most blue)and his temperment makes him easy to handle.she was showing him off to her friends and....oh well ..you know the rest..please help!!

look for him in higher locations as well as on the ground. In the middle of the night would be the best time with a flashlight. If you don't find it soon, you might want to set a couple items around for the snake to move or knock over so you know were it might be prowling.

There have been quite a few posts over the years of lost green tree pythons. I've done it myself. My favorite story was one that was found sitting in the blades of a ceiling fan. I've found mine perched in the closet on the clothes poll, under pillows, behind enclosures, under enclosures and a few others. Years ago I sealed off my reptile room so they can't go far. I always find them quickly now after I forget to close an enclosure.

hey thanks for the reply.the more i think and search,the more im starting to think he did slither under that door.behind the door is the AC unit and the entire ceiling of that closet is open.access to the inside of the walls and ceiling.i live in an apartment building and if he did get into the ceiling,he could easily get into my upsairs neighbors apartment or any apartment next door.i just tore apart my entire apartment,looked everywhere and found nothing.the only sign was the feces right outside that door.it was just like he left it there for me to tell me that he went in the only place that would worry me.i have a dog but i dont think he would harm him but the feces bothers me.it was right in the middle of the floor nowhere near any perches.it means that he would have deficated while slithering accross the open floor.does that seam weird? iv always witnessed my chondros going to the bathroom off a perch.i would have figured that he would have been too uncomfortable on the floor to go to the bathroom,being a tree snake that is.it makes me think maybe my dog did get him and it was like a defensive defication,like monitors do.is this crazy?am i thinking too much about this?? if my dog did get it,that means he would have had to eat him entirely because i found no remains or blood.man..i dont know what to do.wish i could get a flashlight into the ceiling and look but it would really be useless anyway.my buiding is so large.i think i better warm my neighbor to be on the lookout..i hate this because there has been ab ongoing fight between us.we hate eachother.oh well.if i hear a scream tonight ill ring their bell.

I find that exercise will incite a defecation, so perhaps just the moving around caused it. Tree pythons are not entirely arboreal and do pretty well on the ground. Mine climbs on her perches and around the bottom occasionally so I know they do o.k. with it. I would think you would have found some sign of your snake if the dog had gotten it. They usually aren't real clean eaters especially if they had to kill it. Good luck finding your baby!
-----
1.0~amel corn~C.S.
1.3~Aztec Okeetee corns~Coatl,Maya,Acatl,Tepin
0.1~Green tree python~Tempest
0.2~Rhodesian Ridgebacks~Akilah, Ona
1.0~Black fat cat~Topper
3.0~Horses~Zaarah,Galliano,Achilles.....

hey thanks for the post.upon further inspection,it seems that if he had gotten into the walls,he could be in any apartment(of 6).there was even a hole leading into the ac vents.im going to ask everyone in my building to be on the lookout.im gonna have some unhappy neighbors.not everyone is like us.not everyone is as comfortable knowing that a python could be loose in their house.i really hope i find him.

Make sure they're aware that it won't eat the cat or anything. Most people think python, and think 12 ft. snake strangling them in their sleep!
-----
1.0~amel corn~C.S.
1.3~Aztec Okeetee corns~Coatl,Maya,Acatl,Tepin
0.1~Green tree python~Tempest
0.2~Rhodesian Ridgebacks~Akilah, Ona
1.0~Black fat cat~Topper
3.0~Horses~Zaarah,Galliano,Achilles.....

I've had a couple of my chondros escape and so far have been lucky and found them all. The common thread in my findings is that NONE of them were physically very far from their original cage location when found. Not even the one that was gone for 6 weeks before we found him.

One escapee did make it through a floor intake vent and was found inside the cubbyhole on the other side on a water pipe... physically, this was less than 4 feet from his quarantine tub at the time. Another was in a closet perched on the vacuum cleaner handle..... we had given up looking but made a mess while at it so went to go for a quick vacuum to clean up the mess and VOILA!! My 6 week runaway had apparantly found himself a nice spot in the wiring behind our stereo system... we found him late one evening as we went to bed just crawling up the floor toward the rodent room!!! I had pretty much written that boy off!!! Was a sweet surprise to find him!!

I really hope you find your snake!! I know the feeling too well to have one go missing on you.... I just wish they weren't so quiet and sneaky when they do get out!!

Another of my short time escapes.... this was my "funniest" escape story... left the enclosure cracked open accidentally while doing the rounds with fresh water and misting before feeding time. This one crawled directly out of his cage, crawled over my parakeet cage directly above him at the time and perched on the wall with my flutes! We went ahead and fed him where we found him because he was "in the position" and looked ready!!

You must keep the faith that you will find yours too!!! Best of luck!!

i almost didnt post this because i was afraid of getting hammered by you guys for not keeping my chondros caged well enough.ha ha ..i guess this happens to almost everyone who keeps them long enough.ok ...now i ave searched my entire apartment and i am almost 100 percent sure that he is no longer in my apartment but has gotten under the only door that has holes in the ceiling.in that room there are vents could have gotten into,access to walls,and access to the ceiling..basically giving him access to any one of the apartments in my building.i went into the basement and shined a flashlight on the ceiling that is filled with hanging wires and pipes and looked like exactly where i would go if i was a chondro.no luck.now i have a couple more questions.first i poured baby powder along that door crack to let me know if he came back through,and placed loud crunchy plastic bags around so i can hear him up there if he is moving around.i let all my neighbors know what happened and that he is harmelss(youd be surprised how many people tell me that my chondro looks like a poisonous snake)..now...since i am pretty sure he has gotten into the walls,do you think it would pay to leave prekilled mice near the hole in hopes of driving him out?is his sence of smell really that good? i have never seen mice in my apartment but most of my neigbors say that they sometimes see droppings so they may be living in the basement.alsoin the basement there are tons of dripping pipes.seems that if he did get down there,and there are mice..hed have plenty of food and water to last a while.my only worry now are the hotwater pipes.i touched them with my bare hand today and they are hot.not steaming hot but i can only keep my hand on them for like 5 seconds then it hurts too much.will he get serious burns on these or do you think hell feel the heat and get off in time or sence the heat and avoid them totally?

I am for anything that increases the chances of getting a snake back! One thing to note, many snakes have been trapped in Australia, Indonesia etc.... because they've gone inside a chicken coop lets say, ate a chicken... then couldn't get back out because they were now fatter than the bars of the enclosures.

Can't hurt to try to set up a mouse cage nearby with the same thought in mind!!

im wondering if anyone has had a snake get into their walls and actually came back out.i have spoken to people that say once it gets into the walls you usually never see it again.they are far more happy inside there than out in the open.im just hoping that with green tree pythons,that their nature makes them like wide open spaces better.to tell you the truth,i was really surprised that he went into that hole.from what i observed when i took him out,he ususally avoided holes and cramped spaces and just usually reached for whatever was above his head.

i doubt he went into the hole... i have not had one get loose yet, but i did have one stolen and i was asking all the same questions you are asking, because i didenr know if it was stolen or just escaped...
i talked to several people and everyone that i talked to found the snake... these are not your average boa that lives on the floor...
i'm sure it will turn up...
he is probably the best thing you can do... locate all the warm spots in your appartment... like back of fridge, hot water tank whatever put off heat... and once you have all that located make sure it is accessable to the snake... and one you have all that in place... turn you A/C on as low as it can go and leave it that way all night... i am pretty sure that if your snake is in your appartment that he will show up in one of the warm spots... just look in the morning and see...

good luck...

Shiloh

-----
Shiloh Hawkesworth
kansas
(Midwest Serpents)

In the past I have kept a few snakes in my classroom. Nothing fancy, a couple of Thayeri, a ruthvens or two. They get out all of the time because my duffy students leave the cages unsecured when they leave. Every single snake that has escaped has turned up. One was stuck in the freshly waxed floor. One was in the cafeteria (that was a big hit). One met the librarian at 6:00 AM. One was just meandering down the hall during class change. The kids all knew this guy well and as he was a habitual offender they knew exactly where to return him. Of course when you have 1600 pairs of eyes looking it gets a little easier than you might think.

One fall I had a het albino adult ruthvens get loose. She was comparatively large and not in the least shy so I figured it would only be a day or two before she was returned. Seven months later I found her lying in her feed box with her nose sticking up in the air waiting to be fed. I think she was PO'd becasue I hadnt been feeding her while she was on vacation. I was truly convinced she had been stolen.

As I tell this story I have a Thayeri loose in my house somewhere. My son left her cage open and off she went. I expect she will give us a little surprise one of these days.

Happy Snakin
Steve