Reptile & Amphibian Forums

To my horror, due to a mental lapse (forgetting to latch lid) my greyband king that I've had for 8 years escaped. I have two cats but I doubt they would harm him as they never seemed very interested in him. The snake is about 3 ft in length and 1 1/2" give or take in width. There are several nooks and crannies in my house which he easily could have gotten into. One of my cats had the misfortune of finding her way into the wallsand getting stuck, luckily she made it out on her own accord several hours later. I've laid out sevral water dishes around the house, should I take sevral pre-killed mice and place them near cracks as well? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Here are some old tricks that I have found useful in the past. However, I can't take credit for inventing them. I learned these from other herpers over the years.

(1) Place crumpled up newspaper (loosely) in corners, under appliances, behind furniture, etc... You may hear the snake sliding through it.

(2) Place a line of flour in front of closets and across doorways, etc... If the snake crosses the flour he will break th line, and you should be able to get some idea of the direction it was traveling.

Those have actually worked for me...Anyone else?

[STORY TIME: I lost a 2.5 - 3.0 greyband several years ago. I also forgot to secure the cage. I searched for 9-10 hours, non-stop, and finally took a break. Hungry as hell, and pissed off, I filled a pot with water to cook pasta. As I approached the stove I saw my missing snake coiled up under the electric burner coil on top of the stove. Apparently, there was an easy way up from underneath. Anyway...keep looking and good luck.

Adios,

Prosecutor / RWK
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A great thanks for the tips, I'll be sure to try them out. I had to replace the two pre-killed mice I placed in crevices the other day. I'm beginning to think my house is one giant knook. Thanks again, I'm off to buy a bag of flour.

Take plastic grocery bags and place them behind every piece of furniture you can and you should be alerted by the sound at night when the snake crawls across them.
A more aggressive step is to use packing tape in three foot strips sticky side up.If you trap the snake this way you can get it off with olive oil to dissolve the glue
Good Luck Jason Hood
Snakesunlimited.com