How long until I start worrying?

[Cthulhu2015]

One of my ball pythons escaped the rack on Monday. Ive spent hours everyday looking for her and i've been unablw to locate her. I have a hide and heat pad set out in the room with the rack. I also tried setting out a rat near the hide.

So basically, my question is how long can she be gone before I worry about her health? Ive read stories of ball pythons disappearing for months.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Depends on the size obviously you would need to worry fairly quick about a young hatchling not as much for a larger animal.

Search dark places and remember they can squeeze into very tight spot.

If you have furniture in that room sofa, recliner etc search there, same for dressers if it's near the kitchen search under the fridge or stove. Again tight dark places.

[Cthulhu2015]

Depends on the size obviously you would need to worry fairly quick about a young hatchling not as much for a larger animal.

Search dark places and remember they can squeeze into very tight spot.

If you have furniture in that room sofa, recliner etc search there, same for dressers if it's near the kitchen search under the fridge or stove. Again tight dark places.

Its a 400g yearling. The problem, is that she got lost in a storage room with all kinds of boxes and hidey holes. However, the rooms been checked top to bottom 6-8 times. What are the chances of her going up a flight of stairs?

[EL-Ziggy]

Keep up with the search and don't give up hope. I had a BP escapee years ago that was gone for 3 months before miraculously reappearing.

[chilliscale]

99% of time they are close to the rack. I had one get out last year that went about 30 feet across the house and curled up undr the rat rack but generally they stay close

[marchlevi]

Could be a dumb idea but it could be helpful as long as it's not a carpeted room. Squirt a deccent amount of baby powder on the floor where you think it might be at and let it sit over night then check the next day to see if the snake crawled through the powder, if so then you know it's in that room.

[Cthulhu2015]

Thanks a bunch guys. The room is quite large and has a lot of stuff on the ground, so i'm not sure how effective baby powder would be. There are a bunch of plastic bags. So around 3 am i'm going to spend some time in the room listening. I'm starting to doubt shes still in that room, but theres not many other places she could be unless she traveled all the way to the exact opposite of the house (I dont have a very small house either).

[chilliscale]

Good luck. With the hunt. Just remember they can fit anywhere their head fits. Keep posted.

[Cthulhu2015]

No luck. Going to set out water dishes in some other rooms for her.

[Cthulhu2015]

She's definitely dead . I can smell decomposition, but cannot find the body. I feel it can't be anywhere obvious because I checked every nook and cranny. I even cut open all of my insulation to check in the insulation. Very upset and its put me off from buying anything in my biyearly reptile expo.