Missing Ball

I'm so upset this happened and no one around me understands.

My daughter came in yesterday morning and said one of the tubs was at a odd angle in the rack and she checked and my new pewter was gone. It happened between 1230-630. I'm thinking the cat must have swatted the tub.
I tore apart our upstairs went though closets, drawers, clothes, toy bins and moved furniture. Nothing. I took it as a positive sign we did not see any blood anywhere because I would hate to think of one of the dogs getting her or the cat. I placed tin foil around the rooms and got up a bunch of times to look for her and nothing.
today I searched downstairs and nothing.

She is only around 120 grams and she ate Monday night. I have left water bowels in all the rooms and left a article of clothing hoping she hides in there.

I feel horrible this happened and I'm just hoping she just hiding and will come out.

:( That sucks.. you've checked in all the other tubs too right? And she might even be climbing along the bars of the rack.

The best things to do in these situations is remain calm and try not to panic. Think like a snake, where would you go if you got out?

She couldn't have gotten very far, there's a good chance she's probably still in the same room that her tub is. Especially if that room is warm. They like dark cramped places that are warm, so try looking in covered corners or a closet. Look under any clothes that are on the floor. If there are vents in that room you may want to check those as well, especially if the heat is on, and the vents are open.

Look in your other tubs like Capray suggested, she may even be hiding behind them. You never know.

You didnt find any blood around the house, or in that room, and thats a good sign especially if you have larger animals.

I wish you the best of luck in your search, it's a very stressful thing when a snake gets out. Keep us informed if you have any luck.

Well, it it helps any, my wife yelled at me the other day telling me to come and get the snake that was in the bathroom. Turned out to be a baby cornsnake that I lost TWO MONTHS AGO. He was fine. I put him back in his shoebox and he ate right away.

Thanks everyone.

We really looked and moved what we could checked the racks and tubs.

Last night I got the idea about using the camera system that my husband uses when drains are clogged. We used the camera to look under everything and as far as we could down the vents a little while ago and he helped do a general search of the upstairs area and nothing.

Thanks for the hope Mark. It does help.:)

My dad has a story-- when he was in high school, the biology teacher had a retic, about 7 feet. Well, he got out one night, early in the year, and the administration CANVASSED the building, with no luck. Everyone just counted him as MIA and went on with life as usual for 7 months.

Finals came around in may, and a class was testing in the biology room-- suddenly there was this crash, and a 15-foot snake fell onto the biology teacher's desk from the drop-ceiling in the middle of finals. Apparently the retic had been doing pretty well for himself tracking down the vermin of the school. Ultimately a happy ending, although there was some screaming and climbing up on chairs on the part of the students.

Another little anecdote of hope for you, Michelle-- hope your little pewter turns up, and remember, stay calm!

CORRECTION: apparently it was not a retic, it was a boa-- his name was Larry Boa. :P so of course, sizes have been exaggerated.

Since you have other pets (especially the cats) I would actually bring them in the room and watch them. I've heard many a story where someone said it was their cat or dog acting funny or being very intent on one spot that showed where their snake was. Obviously watch them very closely so they don't hurt the snake when they find it.

If you don't have carpet, you can use the flour trick. Lay down lines of flour or baby powder in every doorway; you'll be able to see if they pass through there. Or you can substitute pennies if you do have carpet. Good luck! I hope you find her soon.

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Originally Posted by Archimedes

My dad has a story-- when he was in high school, the biology teacher had a retic, about 7 feet. Well, he got out one night, early in the year, and the administration CANVASSED the building, with no luck. Everyone just counted him as MIA and went on with life as usual for 7 months.

Finals came around in may, and a class was testing in the biology room-- suddenly there was this crash, and a 15-foot snake fell onto the biology teacher's desk from the drop-ceiling in the middle of finals. Apparently the retic had been doing pretty well for himself tracking down the vermin of the school. Ultimately a happy ending, although there was some screaming and climbing up on chairs on the part of the students.

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^If anybody from here had been the teacher/in that class: "JACKPOT!!!"

I, too, have had babies escape their boxes and was lucky enough to find them within a few hours of searching. Twice, I found them on a curtain rod in the corner of the room above a window! Don't ask me how they got up there, but both of them went to the same location on separate incidents. Weird. So... Don't forget to look UP in your searches. They can and DO climb.

Good luck - he'll show up. I was paniced at first too.

Andy-:snake:

Thanks everyone for the positive stories and support. :D its greatly appreciated. What a sight that must have been the boa dropping down on the desk.


I had not heard about using pennies we will try that!
That was another indicator one of the dogs or cat did not get her. We would have heard something the cat would have been growling and the dogs making a fuss.

I talked my husband into going into the crawl space and disconnecting the duct work and run the camera up there and nothing. I can at least put my mind at ease she is not in a vent or the ducts. I hated the thought of her dying in there.

I wouldn't panic quite yet. I've had one particular snake escape 2 times. She was a baby around the same weight as yours. She went missing for a week once. And 2-3 months for another. She turned up on her own both times. She was fine when found. A little thin, but not drastically unhealthy yet.

Good luck with your baby.
Try making a trap and fix it to a wall or something. Put some feeder bedding in it. Or even a FT. Covering part of it will make it seem like a secure hidey spot for the snake too.
http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/how_to_images/trap8.jpg
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My snake is out too. I'm going to try your bottle trap tomorrow. I think he's still small enough to fit in there

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Originally Posted by obsidianembrace

My snake is out too. I'm going to try your bottle trap tomorrow. I think he's still small enough to fit in there

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If you need a larger opening, a Gatorade bottle or the Crystal Geyser gallon water jug will work. Just put a cloth around the opening inside the bottle so he can go in, but not out.(if you get what I mean)

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Originally Posted by obsidianembrace

My snake is out too. I'm going to try your bottle trap tomorrow. I think he's still small enough to fit in there

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I really hope you find him. Keep us posted!

Thank you! I'm really hoping she turns up. I was hoping with last night being feeding night she would turn up but no:( I can't imagine her being out for weeks or even a couple months. I was hoping it would be a quick find.

we are going to try using a trap next. My daughter has a hamster so we are going to try the hamster bedding. That's for the great idea and the pic.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

I wouldn't panic quite yet. I've had one particular snake escape 2 times. She was a baby around the same weight as yours. She went missing for a week once. And 2-3 months for another. She turned up on her own both times. She was fine when found. A little thin, but not drastically unhealthy yet.

Good luck with your baby.
Try making a trap and fix it to a wall or something. Put some feeder bedding in it. Or even a FT. Covering part of it will make it seem like a secure hidey spot for the snake too.
http://www.thecornsnake.co.uk/how_to_images/trap8.jpg
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

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I wonder if buying a rat and leaving it in a box with a lot of holes (so its scent can easily escape) will attract the snake... Has that ever been done?

I personally would buy 3-4 small mouses so its cheap and put them around the house (until my mom punched me in the face I guess lol).

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Originally Posted by turkspartan

I wonder if buying a rat and leaving it in a box with a lot of holes (so its scent can easily escape) will attract the snake... Has that ever been done?

I personally would buy 3-4 small mouses so its cheap and put them around the house (until my mom punched me in the face I guess lol).

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Knowing my luck they would get loose and then I would have both running around the house lol. My husband would freak.

i thought about using the hamster as bait. I naturally assured my daughter I would keep him safe. Although that is the meanest little bugger. You need to put food in when he is sleeping or else he comes out and attacks you hand. We have a fairly large guinea pig that lives downstairs the snake could get in that cage...great now I need to figure out what to do with Oreo.

I hope you find your ball soon! I couldn't sleep with one of mine missing!

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Originally Posted by Luciferskeeper

I hope you find your ball soon! I couldn't sleep with one of mine missing!

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Thanks! It has not been easy. I wake a few times at night and I get up to check. I'm at the point where I'm so tired by early evening so it's not something I can continue doing long term. The experiences others have shared helps and I'm just going to hold onto hope that one night she will show up.

Have you had any luck? I certainly haven't :p

Check in shoes, that's where mine hid.


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Originally Posted by obsidianembrace

Have you had any luck? I certainly haven't :p

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no luck here either. I was hoping yours would be a easy find.

No sign of her anywhere. Pennies not disturbed. Cats and dogs not acting weird. I'm trying to stay hopeful it's 10 days tomorrow she is gone and Monday its 14 days since she ate.

I've had a couple of escapes. Both were found only 5ft from the tubs. One was in a sub woofer and the other was in the plastic legs of the rack system. They usually don't go very far. It took us 2 days to find one that was only 2ft from her tub. Don't give up she will turn up.

My ball escaped for 3 days. I set up it's heat lamp and put a F/T mouse in a Premium Plus cracker box with a hole cut in the end. I got rid of the mouse before I went to bed, and found him crawling along the floor boards to the box the next day when I go home from school. I've heard stories of people finding their snakes INSIDE mattresses and couch cushions. He'll turn up. They always do.

Thanks for the replies. We put the bottle traps up in 4 different areas upstairs with a f/t pinkie. Fingers crossed it works.

I just recently found a BP that i chalked up as either dead or thrown away by accident, as i have a huge garbage can next to the racks in the BP room. We found him in the basement by the hot water heater with a fresh shed right next to him , he was gone for two months. i ripped my house apart for 2 weeks until my sister said "why would they climb up when they would go down into rat holes and such they arnt very arboreal". minutes later we found him. It also happened with a Female Lesser we have she was gone for 6 Months. We found her on top of the porcelain toliet of all places. They will turn up , even as frustrating and as disappointing as it may feel.

you could also put a couple of hides on the floor with her food in, sometimes they will smell the food and eat it then go to sleep in the hide. good luck with your search.

You haven't updated us lately. I am hoping you found it, got super excited and forgot to let us know lol

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Originally Posted by turkspartan

You haven't updated us lately. I am hoping you found it, got super excited and forgot to let us know lol

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We did find her!

I posted a new thread because I was so excited lol

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...0-We-found-her!!

she is doing great. She actually did not lose any weight and looked great.