Lost baby snake, need ideas

[Bogertophis]

Consider inviting some friends and relatives over to join in the search as well. Remember milk snakes are primarily nocturnal and are more active at night and in the darkness. All invitees should be aware of the task and need to remain quiet and still as much as possible. Baby snakes of all kinds make it harder to find their small bodies. Tell everyone to bring a flashlight. Bill it as a search and rescue party! Concentrate in closets and in shoes. Also in all dark spaces like corners and under things. Move quietly and methodically but take time to just sit and watch. You will be surprised how quietness and observation with extra pairs of eyes will reveal certain things.

You speak as one who has some practice at this...? Actually, sooner or later, it happens to most every snake-keeper. You'd think that pet stores would not sell tank lids with holes in each corner, wouldn't you?

[Armiyana]

When using a glass housing, I actually liked using the front opening tanks for my smaller noodles... those lids are usually clamped down pretty tight. Think like Exo-terra models.
Otherwise a tub setup until they're a larger size isn't too bad of an idea either, just not everyone's cup of tea.

The lids for a aquarium top, you need to test fit them to make sure they lay as flat as possible and then make sure they're still as flat as can be when they're clamped. the only one I have right now is for my rescue boy, Zuko. A 20 gallon tank size with a 800 or so gram handicapped snake inside.

[Malum Argenteum]

I have to disagree with you BIG TIME on this- please do NOT use glue traps! They're cruel & a tiny snake will probably suffer internal injuries & broken bones without patient & skilled hands to remove them slowly & carefully. Not to mention the stress this would cause the snake. Better the snake stay loose, IMO, than to be caught & injured in this manner. Just PLEASE don't!

We can disagree on this, I guess, and the OP can judge according to their own values.

I use glue traps to remove native fox snakes from the basement when they come in looking for hibernation spots (wild snakes simply cannot be in my reptile room, and this is the least worst way I've discovered to remove them), and they seem to work pretty well. I've caught a handful of them (less than ten), and all seemed in good condition on release.

The removal procedure isn't difficult at all, but I agree that patience is required (takes less than 5 minutes to remove a snake), and the situation probably is pretty stressful for the snake, though perhaps not much more so than being shipped as hatchling colubrids are typically shipped pretty snug.

[Albert Clark]

Yep! Plenty of experience with escapees! I know it comes with the territory. Especially those of us who have multiple animals and still rely on tanks rather than tubs, rubs, and or rack systems. We become more responsible after these escapes for sure. Triple checking enclosures becomes a habit!

[Rose414]

My guess is that the little one may have squeezed through the gap in the corner of the lid.

Also.... What's the interior decor like aside from plants? For example, some 'reptile' rock or tree branch decor sold at stores can be terrible because they can have a hole big enough for a baby snake to climb into and wedge themselves inside.

Thank you for this idea-
I think I know what you mean, I will see about securing the corners on our other lids.
I did search every tiny crevice bc last week my king gave me a scare and I finally found him in the tiny foot of his water dish.
Amazing what they can cram into!

[Rose414]

A rescue party sounds delightful, but sadly we just moved and know almost no one here. On the plus side, there is almost no furniture to search! Lol
I will give the kids flashlights tonight and try to make it fun. Turned the entire upstairs upside down and no luck.

[Rose414]

Going forward, remove the probe from the enclosure and use an IR temp gun to check surface temps of cool side, hot side and under the warm hide. (I assume you have a thermostat probe on the outside of the enclosure on the heat pad/tape -- continue using that one, of course). Unless you live in a literal desert, ignoring enclosure humidity is fine so long as you provide a moist hide (box with a hole in it, and half full of damp sphagnum moss); a milk is fine with ambient humidity and should have a moist hide to regulate its own desired environmental moisture levels anyway.

You're right... he was on an externally probed and regulated UTH with a timed UVB bulb so the constant monitoring wasn't really necessary. In fact, I usually double check with a temp gun anyway since I assume snakes care far more about surface temp than air temp...I hope the cords aren't the culprit but I will take them out of our other tanks just in case

[Rose414]

ETA... lost the link that was shared...Here is the kind of screen lid:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
That's the kind of lid we have with these locks:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Bogertophis]

ETA... lost the link that was shared...Here is the kind of screen lid:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
That's the kind of lid we have with these locks:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As already noted, little colubrid snakes can escape thru those corners. I hope you find him soon, & that he's okay. Depending on how warm or chilly it is where you live, he might sense the lingering winter chill & hole up somewhere to brumate- so don't give up no matter how long it takes. Snakes can easily turn up 6 mos. later- not kidding. Or the opposite could happen- he might seek someplace warm, but I think you said he hasn't been eating, so he might decide to "chill" at this time.

[Daniel_Effler]

I only lost one colubrid back years ago. It was a small corn snake and about 2 weeks later I found him one night biting me in bed because I rolled over on him. Lol

I hope you find the little guy soon.

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