Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I woke up this morning to an empty cage! A rookie maneuver! My 36” JCP got out into my living room (I know this from the presents she left me on the carpet) and as far as I can tell is in my giant sofa sectional. She managed to get past to big sleeping dogs…I hope! I tried to look in the sofa but it has a hide-a-bed and two recliner chairs that could cut her in half if I open it. This is the same sofa that ate my keys and two TV controllers for more than a year .MAN I CAN’T BELIVE HOW STUPID I WAS NOT CLOSING HER CAGE COMPLETELY!

She was my prize JCP. I even got my brother to get her a mate because she was so exceptional! She had more bright yellow than black and a really nice pattern. Every one that saw her said she had a VERY bright future.

I shouldn’t talk like she is gone forever, but this has really screwed up my day!

Any advice on snake retrieval? Should I cool the house down or heat it up? I am going to see if she moves tonight on ½ hour intervals. NO DOGS until she is found!

I lost a 4' one for 2 weeks. I kept looking up in the rafters of the basement..no luck. He finally showed up on the main floor (small water pipe holes) about 9' up on a shelving unit. So...look up
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1.1 Blackheaded pythons
1.1 Woma (Juvie female)
2.1 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
1.0 Angolan Juvie
1.1 Savu
1.1 Juvie Bloods
1.1 Juvie Balls
1.1 IJ Carpets
1.1 Coastal Carpets
1.2 Macklotts
1.1 Papuan Olives
1.0 Jungle Carpet
2.2 Scrubs (on breeding loan)
0.1 Jungle/Diamond cross
0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

Thanks for the advice, I do have a floor to ceiling shelving unit in the next room. My worry is crushing her in that damn sofa. I’m always surprised to hear stories about lost snakes that are found weeks or months later OK! I’m not worried about her starving because she’s very well fed, but I’m concerned about water.

I had a very similar experience once with mine. I sat down on the couch holding her and she darted down into the cushions. By the time I realized what had happened, one nanosecond, she had her head hooked on something and I couldn't pull her back out. So in she went. I also had the hide-a-bed deal and could see her but could not get her out. Usually, if they escape they are hungry. I would put a mouse in a small cage and wait for her to come to it. Works every time for mine. Good luck, Eric-

I've heard it suggested to sprinkle powder on the floor at night before going to bed. That way you can see if it moved around by the tracks it left. Sorry, but that's all I have to offer besides...Good luck.
Kirk
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1.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.1 Ball Python
1.1 Corn Snake
0.1 Gray band Kingsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
0.1 Pueblan Milksnake
1.0 Bullsnake
1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback (Hondo)
0.1 Spouse (WC)
3.5 hatchling ball pythons

Always look UP. They'll climb, and go to warmth. Then there's the old trick of a dead mouse tied to something heavy by string in a hide box. Any water nearby?
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1.1 Blackheaded pythons
1.1 Woma (Juvie female)
2.1 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
1.0 Angolan Juvie
1.1 Savu
1.1 Juvie Bloods
1.1 Juvie Balls
1.1 IJ Carpets
1.1 Coastal Carpets
1.2 Macklotts
1.1 Papuan Olives
1.0 Jungle Carpet
2.2 Scrubs (on breeding loan)
0.1 Jungle/Diamond cross
0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

I lost my Savu twice...32 days the first time and about 2 weeks the second time. She was found up in my attic within 6 feet of the same spot each time!! She headed up for the heat...I thought for sure she was a goner...all you can do is keep on looking and looking and then look some more. I tried the flour on the floor, the mice in the canary cage, a heat pad on the floor along the wall etc. but ultimatley it was just a matter of persistent searching. Good luck! I'm sure she is enjoying her little field trip quite a bit more than you are!You'll find her...she can go a long time w/o food and water.

ps...my Savu setup now features six clamps!! She had somehow been squeezing her butt out under the screen top.
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JOHN H in NH

My girlfriends JCP escaped twice from a defective screen in a neodesha cage, and we found it twice, once on top of the curtain rod above the window, and once hanging from our canopy bed! I think you will find it sooner than you think. Make sure you look about 1/2 an hour after the lights are out too. Daytime searches have been uneventful for us usualy. GOOD LUCK though!!

My animals are in my basement, which is over 100 years old. MANY places to look, and each night I'd go down w/a flashlight and look wherever I could. He found the two holes the pipes went through and went up to the pantry. This was about 25' away from his cage, then 9' up. I found him as I was washing my hands and looked up. We have 3 cats...they would have knocked him around a good bit.

On the other hand, years ago, I lost a baby water python that somehow got into our clothes washer. When my wife hung the sheets up outside you could see bits of skin and little ribs
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1.1 Blackheaded pythons
1.1 Woma (Juvie female)
2.1 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
1.0 Angolan Juvie
1.1 Savu
1.1 Juvie Bloods
1.1 Juvie Balls
1.1 IJ Carpets
1.1 Coastal Carpets
1.2 Macklotts
1.1 Papuan Olives
1.0 Jungle Carpet
2.2 Scrubs (on breeding loan)
0.1 Jungle/Diamond cross
0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

Thanks everyone for your good advice and sympathetic kind wishes of good luck!

I found her last night, safe and sound! She wasn’t in the sofa like I thought, she was in a secret compartment in a 125 year old secretary (desk/ display cabinet). I looked underneath it and saw that the drawers didn’t go to the back, so I pulled each one out to find a thin space going up to the desk. I started looking into all the cubbies and cabinets and almost gave up when my brother said”, Is this one of those desks with secret compartments?” Sure enough, almost 4’ of JCP was in a drawer 3”x4”x6”! She didn’t want to go back in her cage, and has been trying to get out.

I’ll give her, her fill of rat pups tonight and make her happy! I should also vacuum up the flower on the carpet, unplug the heating pad, take the mouse out of the bird cage and put away the water dish, and the ladder!Man do have a tolerant wife!

Thanks again

4' eating rat pups? I think it went in search of a bigger meal Figure a prey animal twice the girth at mid-snake.... but I'm glad you found her...
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1.1 Blackheaded pythons
1.1 Woma (Juvie female)
2.1 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
1.0 Angolan Juvie
1.1 Savu
1.1 Juvie Bloods
1.1 Juvie Balls
1.1 IJ Carpets
1.1 Coastal Carpets
1.2 Macklotts
1.1 Papuan Olives
1.0 Jungle Carpet
2.2 Scrubs (on breeding loan)
0.1 Jungle/Diamond cross
0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

Glad to hear you found her! Its hard to relax at home knowing you have an animal on the lose, especially a prized one.

I have had a more than one good sized jungle escape on me (not that Im proud of it) and I always worry that it will get out of the house and a neighbor will see it. A nice black and yellow jungle sure as hell doesnt look like any snakes that live in the states, so you could imagine someone seeing it and thinking it was a venomous exotic - then calling Animal Control! Your average person can't ID a carpet python. That has always worried me when my jungles have escaped.

I could just imagine it turning up in old lady's apartment next to mine... She'd probably have a heart attack!

Glad you got her back!

- Joe

That's great news!! I laughed out loud reading the end of your post...the part about picking up the flour etc...
Hopefully, she won't get out again on you! My savu seemed really bummed out when she was found too...like a kid that didn't want to come in from the playground.
Glad to hear you wrangled it up!
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JOHN H in NH

I am now Snake-Shack. I was formally Sac-snake-man but I moved and had my e-mail striped from me by a MAD boss when I quit…so I just decided to change everything.

I think my JCP has found the appropriate size food item (she’s 40” and ready to shed in this pic)