my corn snake has escaped he is only a baby how do i find him or get him back HELP?

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

They have a habit of getting out, tempt him with food ie. a pinkie, I'm sure you'll find him if you put the food in the same place. I found a lost corn snake where I worked, that was a baby too and no harm had come to it even though it had been missing from the pet shop for a few days. It will grow extremly large soon, then you'll never lose it again. Good luck!

Answer 3

In the room where you lost your snake place the contents from his cage cage with some food on the floor position a heat lamp above the snakes scented items dropped the temperature in your house or apartment as low as possible without going below 40°F the only source of heat should be the heat lamp the snake should detect this and go to its scented area you'll have to be sneaky to catch it though so be quiet good luck good hunting.

Answer 4

It will be difficult to find him, and it may take up some of sleeping time. Put outs its favorite food(If its live food, then put the animal in a very steep tuv that is impossible for the snake to climb out of, its should come running to it lol). Otherwise check by heaters and air vents, anything warm, because when they run away, they're going to look for heat to survive. If this happened very recently, then set out a heat pad and sit or lay where you can see it very silently.when you see it approach slowly as to not make it run.Good Luck!

Answer 5

Usually a snake will look for a dark warm place. If you can i suggest you lay a heated blanket or hotwater bottled covered in the room, where you last saw it. Try all places even under floor boards snakes are notorious for breaking a few ribs (with no pain to them), just to get to somewhere intresting

Answer 6

The snake will tend to go toward warm areas of your house. Check heating vents, under the refridgerator, your washer and dryer.
If the snake has been fed recently, you may have to wait a few days or a week until it actively starts searching for food.

Answer 7

Put his cage down on the floor, put a pinkie in it at night time and leave the lights mostly off. Snakes are nocturnal and generally like to eat at night. When he smells it, he will come for it. You may have to cut the head open on the pinkie though so he can smell the brain matter from a distance...good luck!

Answer 8

look everywhere especially in warm,dark places as snakes love to hide in this condition. i would also look near wires and plug sockets just in case. if you can't find him i would try to lure him out with a pinky mouse and put it somewhere visible where the snake can see it and where you can see it too. you could put it in a box which it can climb up and can't get out of.

Answer 9

try leaving some food out and sit quietly and watch, he'll come and get it if your lucky. Look in small dark places, inside your VCR if coins can drop inside your sofa he could be in there. These are places that I have found my snake in the past !!

Answer 10

Make sure you cover ALL your vents. Well...check them first and then cover. Also, corns like to climb, so don't rule out any high places, as they are good climbers. And like other above have said, somewhere warm and dark.

Answer 11

You are gonna find it really hard as they are so small. Try leaving a pinkie down they can smell food from a distance so hopefully it might help. If not look in all warm places.