Ball Python On The Loose!!!!!!!?

Question

I need some help from someone who has ever had an escapee...My snake got out of his enclosure on Friday night....I haven't been able to find him since...I looked in every spot u could think, and then some...any tricks to find him? I am worried about him. I tried a mouse, I tried soak bowls, I tried sitting up late and turning out the lights....but he is stubborn, if he has found a spot, I don't think he will come out for awhile. He loves the cold more than heat, he's weird I guess....so heat sources won't work....any ideas? I call this Operation find Draco...

Answer 1

Almost every snake you'll have will sooner or later find a way to escape. Most of the time it's a stupid mistake on our part and don't we realize it until it is too late.

As hard as it may be, snakes can generally be found in the house after an escape from their enclosure. Somewhere. It may be nowhere you think it could be, but it is there, somewhere, assuming you don't have holes in your walls and great gaps between the bottom of doors leading to the outside and into the subfloor.

Snakes, even diurnal ones, will generally move around at night. They also tend to move along walls and baseboards. The first place to look, then, is behind the enclosure, all along the floors and inside any bookcases and cabinets in the room, checking in the back of shelves and knickknacks and on top of books.

Get a hand mirror and a powerful flashlight, and look under and behind everything (even if you think the gap is too small of your snake, no gap seems to ever be too small): bookcases , kitchen appliances, chairs and couches. If your chairs and couches (and box spring mattresses) are upholstered, check underneath thems to see if there are any rips in the fabric that the snake could get into. Check between all of the cushions, along the gap between the mattresses of the bed, and put your hands down between the sides and backs and bottoms of the upholstered furniture.

Got any boxes (even kleenix boxes, file folder boxes, anything which would form a nice snug cave), wastebaskets (do cheak here BEFORE you take out the crash), boots or shoes, bags? Check 'em all.

Check inside of cabinets in bath and kitchen and laundry area. If you see any holes leading into the walls, or into the cabinet from holes down near the floor, make a note of them and come back after you find the AWOL critter and duct-tape them over. Get down on the floor and look UP at the underneath of your cabinets, stove and dishwasher and look for openings; tape or have steel plates fabricated to block any openings once you find your critter. A snake is not very likely to go down the toilet - not when its more fun to squoosh in between the toilet tank and the wall - be sure to check there.

Okay, you've searched all over, and nothing.

It's time to lay some traps.

Lay some sound traps along the walls. The crinkly-sound-making plastic bags from the grocery store are great. Kind of crumple them up and put them on the floor, at least one on each exposed wall. Do the same in any nooks and cranies (spaces between furniture and walls, for example). About 9-10 PM, when it is completely dark, turn off all the lights, turn off the TV, stereo, make it as quiet as possible. Then, with a flashlight turned off but close at hand, just sit. And listen. Give it a half hour or so for the snake to become convinced that it's safe to move. Once it hits one of the bags (or any other crinkly or other noise making sound traps you've put out), you'll hear it. It is just a matter of figuring out where the noise came from, getting over there quickly without causing a great deal of vibrations through the floor (you don't want to overly alert them to your coming), get that flashlight on, and nail 'em. (yes I know that sounds harder then it is but it's pretty easy)

That doesn't work? Too tired to keep it up all night? No problem. Before retiring for the evening, lay about an 2 inch-wide strip of flour or cornstarch across the doorways. The next morning, if the snake moved through any of the doorways, you will see the trail for a short distance pointing in the direction they were headed. This, if nothing else, should help you narrow down the field of search.

If the sound and flour don't work, you can also put a nice warm mouse (dead is fine) in an empty litre soda bottle. Poke a few holes in it to let as much odor out as possible. place it someplace on the warm side (again, get those odors out there), disappear yourself, and wait. The snake may come out for a snack, and stay (the black bottoms of some of the bottles makes a nice cave-y feeling place) after its eaten. Or, put some prey in a cage; many a snake has wormed its way between the bars, scarfed up all the prey, and was then too fat to fit back through. If this happens in the soda bottle, you can alway cut it open, or just put the bottled snake back into its enclosure, and it will come out on its own. (I have found that this works best)

Once you find the snake and have restored it to its enclosure and done whatever is required to assure that it cannot get out again (assuming you didn't just get stupid for a moment and forget to latch the tank or enclosure!), pull out your list of holes and that roll of duct tape and start taping everything...so the next time it happens, you won't go *quite* as crazy!


Just a friendly word of advice: Don't be stupid about cage security. Nine times out of 10, the snake escapes because the enclosure is not designed for snakes or has been built with little regard for the tenacity and squishability of a determined snake.

Boards and bricks are not a suitable enclosure cover, nor are make-shift latches, metal or otherwise. Even the glass enclosures outfitted with a half-screen top with a hinged glass lid are not secure enough for small snakes. The latch is loose enough so that they can squeeze out the top; baby snakes can exit through the gap on either side of the hings. I had a king who kept squeezing out the top until I taped aquarium air line tubing around the top. It was easily compressed when the top was closed and latched, but effectively blocked the gap, preventing the baby king from further escapes. When I got a baby gopher, I noticed the gaps around the hinge before putting her inside, and taped them over before installing her in her new home.

The best way to lose an animal is to think like a human. The best way to find an animal is to think like that animal, to view the world from its point of view and perspective. Just because you have no desire to squeeze out of a comfy enclosure, crawl around the perimeter of the room, up into a bookcase and stash yourself into a box of disposable gloves doesn't mean that your ball python or corn snake doesn't want to do it!

Answer 2

I have found my snakes under the stands they were on, in closets, behind the TV, in the heater, in my mom's room, underneath the washing machine. Ball pythons and king snakes have gotten loose. You want to look in all electrical areas that produce heat, underneath anything that the snake can squeeze under. What you want to do is set up a cage with a heat pad underneath, a towel over the top with a corner open for him to get in. Provide a water bowl and a mouse inside. Leave it there for a while without bothering it. Of course you check every now and then. More often than not they are still chillin in the room their tank was in, ball pythons of course. More active snakes like kings roam far away. Good luck with Operation find Draco!

Answer 3

There are a few things you can try .. sometimes they will work, sometimes not.

You can try setting some small boxes with one hole cut in them around your house. They like to feel secure and the box will act as a hide.
Also, check around the water heater, behind the toilet, under sinks, anywhere dark and warm.
Leave a dish of water out somewhere, so he has access to water .
If it is time for your snake to eat, you can put a mouse in an aquarium with no lid.(you will have to watch from a distance to make sure you don't end up with a loose mouse as well) But, it may entice your snake to come out for his meal. Once he grabs the mouse, you can put a lid on the aquarium and move him back to his cage.(make sure you get better latches ,or clamps on the cage first.
Otherwise, About the only thing you can do is watch and wait. He will eventually come out of hiding .

Good Luck!

Answer 4

Good luck. They tend to get into the tightest places. I have a recliner couch and mine got into there and crawled all the way to the top of the couch in the frame behind where head rests. I had a friend find his in the vents of the house and another time under his computer desk. You can also try as mentioned behind/under appliances also try under the dishwasher too. But seeing as he has already been out a week he may be gone. If he is still around he will come out when he is hungry to hunt. Also if you have a waterfall in his enclosure i have heard of them getting in tose also. Good luck.

Answer 5

I had a python that got out all the time he would hid in the space between the back and base of the couch, another good place to try is under the fridge

Answer 6

Good luck. My friend had a ball python that was an escape artist. She always came out when she got hungry. She would put out a mouse in a trap and catch her.

Answer 7

look under the stove and under the fridge. They like dark, warm places and these are the safest, warmest places in the average home.

set up a trap for him. Close up a box and have only a small "cave" opeing for him, have it in a warm spot and hope for the best.

good luck!

Answer 8

never had our ball get out but we did have the burm get out a couple times... found her in the kitchen, under the bed, behind/under the couch... dark tight areas check there... not really a trick or way to lure them out . good luck

Answer 9

Wow how big is he? you have tried everything leave the lid off the cage and see if he willfind his way back. and just keep searching cracks in the couch and chairs if hes smaller.