Really Bad News!!! Advice??

So this morning I went to my snake room and realized that my red tail boa escape. After searching for a bit, I found him in one of my ball python's tub. No idea how he get in there! The bad news is that ball python is gone!! I'm not sure if my boa ate the ball python or if the ball python some how escape before my boa gets in. I tried to feel if there is any thing in my boa, but its really hard to tell because that ball python is only about 500g, and my boa is about 5 ft long. I really hope that my ball python just escaped and hiding somewhere in the snake room!:please: Any advice on what I should do?
The last time I checked them was about 3 days ago since I have been pretty busy all week. The boa was just fine in his enclosure.

I would take the boa to the vet and have them examine the stomach, well crap, it's the weekend- unless you are willing to spend money to see a weekend exotic doctor, that's going to be difficult.
There is some hope that maybe when the boa entered the ball escaped the same way, look very very hard. Everywhere. I searched for 6 hours straight before I found a baby ball.

Or it is possible the boa did get him. I don't know, but I wouldn't risk not looking. Can't give up if you don't know for sure. I wonder how he got into the ball's enclosure?

When I found the boa in tub, it was pushed slightly backward. It's either i didn't make sure that the tub is completely closed or the boa somehow manage to push the tub open. I wonder if I should look for my ball python at night since they are more active at night.

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Originally Posted by j94712

When I found the boa in tub, it was pushed slightly backward. It's either i didn't make sure that the tub is completely closed or the boa somehow manage to push the tub open. I wonder if I should look for my ball python at night since they are more active at night.

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I think it's crucial you start searching now. Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. It's very possible you left it open, the ball escaped, the boa crawled in for heat- that's a better scenario than him eating him right out. But now you have to worry about getting to him before thirst and the cold do, depending on where you live. When I lost mine it was literally a race against time. I hope you just accidentally left it open and the ball is just hiding. They cram themselves in the most ridiculous, smallest, coldest places that you'll never find unless you really look. So I wish you the best of luck. I really, really hope you find the python :(

i think the best way to really tell is to do an x-ray before the bones of the BP are dissolved. it needs to be early enough in the digestion process and detailed enough to show the thin bones of snakes.

apart from that, the only things that survive digestion are some hair and some parts of the teeth. reptiles dont have hair, which leaves the teeth. but figuring it out will be groce and nasty, basically you need to collect all the poop, dissolve it, and work it through a fine sieve and sort until you got teeth, and then identify the teeth.

causing the boa to regurgitate / throw up... well, its an option, i dont know if its a good idea. it wont help the BP and might hurt the boa.

an x-ray to check for a BP skeleton or BP skeleton remnants is probarbly the most elegant solution.

of course the fact that a large boa got into the BP enclosure means that the small BP had a good opportunity to get out of the enclosure.

could there be a chance that someone pranked you and just swapped the snakes, did you check the boa enclosure for a small hiding BP? if you have no clue how the boa escaped its own enclosure and got into the BP enclosure, that might indicate human involvement.

I would definitely search all day and into tonight- if you can afford the time, I don't know you're schedule, before doing an x-ray. And that would be a really harsh prank.

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Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

i think the best way to really tell is to do an x-ray before the bones of the BP are dissolved. it needs to be early enough in the digestion process and detailed enough to show the thin bones of snakes.

apart from that, the only things that survive digestion are some hair and some parts of the teeth. reptiles dont have hair, which leaves the teeth. but figuring it out will be groce and nasty, basically you need to collect all the poop, dissolve it, and work it through a fine sieve and sort until you got teeth, and then identify the teeth.

causing the boa to regurgitate / throw up... well, its an option, i dont know if its a good idea. it wont help the BP and might hurt the boa.

an x-ray to check for a BP skeleton or BP skeleton remnants is probarbly the most elegant solution.

of course the fact that a large boa got into the BP enclosure means that the small BP had a good opportunity to get out of the enclosure.

could there be a chance that someone pranked you and just swapped the snakes, did you check the boa enclosure for a small hiding BP? if you have no clue how the boa escaped its own enclosure and got into the BP enclosure, that might indicate human involvement.

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This is not a prank because 99% of the time, I'm the only one that goes into my snake room. This is just a terrible time because i have my final exams on monday and tuesday...

EDIT: a reply from OP saying that its not a prank came in 1 minute earlier.... so... yeah.


i mean, one really classic prank is to swap several doors that look similar, so that the keys dont work anymore. maybe someone figured that there are 2 snakes and 2 snake enclosures and went for a variation of that theme. definitively on the harsh side, but possible.

or (less bad intentions but possible a much worse outcome), someone handled your snakes while you were not there, out of curiosity or whatever, and screwed up when putting them back.

i agree with the part about searching everywhere and looking hard. you can also put something in the doorways that will tell you if the snake moved from one room to a different room, by making a line of flour or rice across the doorway. so that when the BP moves across it, you will know in which direction it went and in which room it is now.

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Originally Posted by j94712

This is not a prank because 99% of the time, I'm the only one that goes into my snake room. This is just a terrible time because i have my final exams on monday and tuesday...

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Oh wow, I feel you. I have mine next week as well. I am sorry I didn't even think about it. Stress compounded onto stress is never a good thing. Don't worry, just get off here and search your little heart out. Honestly, I was sobbing, my heart was broken and I had given up on my ball python an hour into looking. I had torn every piece of my apartment apart but something forced me to keep looking. I gave up emotionally but I kept moving like a robot and 6 hours later I found him underneath a water bowl in my female Burm's enclosure. I have no idea how or why he got in there but I am so glad I looked. So just breathe, look everywhere, look again, and stay calm for your pet.
I have the best hopes and wishes for you.

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Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

EDIT: a reply from OP saying that its not a prank came in 1 minute earlier.... so... yeah.


i mean, one really classic prank is to swap several doors that look similar, so that the keys dont work anymore. maybe someone figured that there are 2 snakes and 2 snake enclosures and went for a variation of that theme. definitively on the harsh side, but possible.

or (less bad intentions but possible a much worse outcome), someone handled your snakes while you were not there, out of curiosity or whatever, and screwed up when putting them back.

i agree with the part about searching everywhere and looking hard. you can also put something in the doorways that will tell you if the snake moved from one room to a different room, by making a line of flour or rice across the doorway. so that when the BP moves across it, you will know in which direction it went and in which room it is now.

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Yes, putting stuff in the doorway and leaving little water bowls out for him in case he comes out tonight after you have to sleep (if you don't find him today). Making sure the temps in the house are not below 75- or somewhere around there, someone can fix me on that, but just as I said prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Some people have lost theirs for weeks and would leave a frozen thawed mouse in the room they lost it only to wake up with it gone in the morning.

Thanks! I do keep my whole snake room around 80 degree 24 hr, so I'm not so worried about her being too cold. Stuffing something in the door way seems like a good idea. I will keep looking and hopefully I will find her.

Definitely stuff the doors, but you said it's been a couple days since you checked? Hopefully she hasn't progressed into further areas of the house. I wonder if she would have crawled underneath the door if she could. I don't know your set up :( Sometimes they sneak out and hide under refrigerators. Flashlight underneath that area if you can as well.

I think there's a good chance the ball-python escaped the same way the boa entered its enclosure. I don't think every snake encounter results in cannibalism unless its a usual prey item. Try putting bait and wait for the ball at night.

Unless kingsnake i doubt it'd be eaten.

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Originally Posted by m1n054

I think there's a good chance the ball-python escaped the same way the boa entered its enclosure. I don't think every snake encounter results in cannibalism unless its a usual prey item. Try putting bait and wait for the ball at night.

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How would you go about placing a bait? I feed all my BP live.

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Originally Posted by j94712

How would you go about placing a bait? I feed all my BP live.

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Put a live mouse in a box high enough he cant climb out, but small enough your snake can go for it.

have you weighed your boa recently? If you have, weigh him now, see if he's up 500 grams or so.

But i too doubt he ate the BP. Good luck with your search.

Best of luck!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by j94712

How would you go about placing a bait? I feed all my BP live.

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I'd try to spread the smell around, a semi open enclosure (you could build a very easy one out of hardware cloth and a tub) and if possible have the mouse in with dirty bedding. If you got a fan put it on slow and cycle around the room, that should do the trick. My ball python goes crazy every time I pull out my mice rack into the room for cleaning, not an usual behavior for him as he usually only wanders around at night.

Weighting him out it's a good idea but unless you keep a check on its weight it's pointless. You shouldn't expect a 500g difference at this point though, especially if the snake doesn't show any signs of swallowing a prey (i.e. bulkiness).

Anyway, a 500g ball python puts him/her at 2-3 foot long? I'd say a meal that large would be noticeable even after 2-3 days, at least for a 5 foot long boa constrictor...

What was the weight of your boa last time you weight him? 2.3-2.7kg?

It's sort of funny, but not in a funny way of course- the first thing I did after I lost my ball python that day was check my boa's enclosure. Poor boas.
Granted, my boa is right underneath my banana and the way it was set up had it perfect for such an incident to occur.

I didn't weight my boa before since it's just a big hassle to weight a big boy that doesn't want to cooperate. I'm still looking for my ball python..:(
Maybe I should put some dirty rat bedding into my ball python tub to see if she will climb into it.

Keep looking, i once lost a 90 gram baby for 2 weeks ended up using a hammer and chisel to dig her out from under a concrete floor after she squeezed through a crack... longest 2 weeks of my life... wishing you luck. ...

As long as you have water bowls out, there is enough heat in there, she is able to find food- wherever it is, she is 99% okay and hiding where you least expect her to be.
Stay strong! Best of wishes again!

I found her!! YEAH!! She somehow get into my snake's closet and hiding under the blanket!:D:D
Glad that i kept my snake room nice and warm all the time. Otherwise she would be really cold. Thanks for all the support and help!

Yay! So glad you found her! :)

I'm so glad you found her.:):):)

Sweet! There's a relief!

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so the baby BP has been discovered :) thats really good news!


and now you know that your boa is a nice guy (or girl?) and merely let the BP escape
in an attempt to check out the other enclosure :D:rofl:.

Congrats !

I just got on this thread a few minutes ago reading with hurried anticipation, hoping for the best!:)

congrats!!!!


now go study!:D

Really feel bad for the boa. lol
Took a quick pic of my bp right after I found her!
http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...psd1aefb14.jpg

So glad you found her. I know you must be relieved. I once had an escapee when I was living in an apartment. My cat thought the screen top of the terrarium would be a good place to rest his fat butt and broke it while we were gone. We had to search high and low for the escapee only to finally find him on the 3rd shelf of our pantry in a lunch cooler in the back. I learned two valuable lessons. 1) If you don't think the snake could have possibly gotten in somewhere they probably can :) and 2) Screen tops and fat cats are a bad combination.