Lost baby snake, need ideas

[Rose414]

I'm sure you see this all the time. One of our baby snakes has escaped and I don't know HOW. I need to know bc we have three other baby snakes in identical setups and now I am worried.
The escape artist was a very small milk snake, we also have a very small corn and two kings ( one Cali and one MBK) which are bigger. All are in glass terrariums with ZILLA metal mesh terrarium covers and two ZILLA locks of the appropriate size for the tank, installed on the long ends staggered, not both at front for ex. There were plenty of fake plants he could have climbed to get to the lid of course...but we thought it was locked.
My only idea is that he may have been able to expand the hole created by the thermometer/hydrometer cord. Its a pretty tiny cord. I could try to share a pic but it was just your standard digital model. I have felt and checked the lid over and over, I just don't see how even a tiny snake could have done it. I have checked every crevice of every hide and sifted all the aspen but I'm leaving the cage locked JUST in case.
He may have gone venturing for food bc despite our very best attempts he was off food. My son is very sad...
Any ideas
A) HOW????
b)Where they tend to hide. We have checked all over and under and in everything on his floor. Thankfully our upstairs heat registers are on the ceiling but he had to do was drop off a balcony to get to the downstairs and a drafty exterior door. I am thinking he will go for heat or water, but our whole house and even the outside is comfy for a colubrid. I am worried he might even try to get into a diff terrarium as he is in the kingsnake family and they eat other snakes...
I'm considering plunking some bricks on our other cage lids or painter's tape at this point...

[Lizrd_boy]

This video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb3IbkDgOvI
Is very helpful. Good luck!

[Rose414]

Thank you, love that channel<3 Big part of why we got snakes

[Bogertophis]

Oh no! Tiny milk snakes (or other hatchling colubrids) are the hardest to contain- you don't dare leave ANY gaps- a .25" that means nothing to a hatchling BP is an "open door" to a tiny milk snake.

Look EVERY where- they hide in & under things. Check before you sit or lay down. Sift your closets & dressers full of clothes. If there are any gaps around plumbing* fill them! (*Like where water pipes go into the walls.) Keep your sink drains closed, they'll happily go into a drain or garbage disposal. If you can block off the gaps under bath & kitchen cupboards, do so- from the floor level looking up (as a snake might) there are usually "caves" to explore that go under the floor of your cupboards- there may even be gaps into the walls from there. Many snakes somehow find holes or gaps in the stitching under upholstered furniture too, & move inside.

Snakes often follow the scent of "fresh outside air" around doors, sliding glass doors & windows. And cross your fingers that he's not attracted to warmth & hiding places under your refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher, stove... our houses are very hazardous to loose snakes, unfortunately, & challenging for us to search.

I once had a new hatchling king snake escape from a store-bought glass terrarium with a sliding screen lid, with a peg that locked the screen into the frame. Later I realized that there was just enough wiggle room (about .25") in the track for the screen where it was still locked, but the snake followed the track to the great wide open room. What fun to find a tiny snake! Mine was in the toe of a boot inside my closet, no kidding. If it was a rat or corn snake, I'd say look up, because they love to climb, but your milk snake is far more likely to be on the floor, or at least not high up.

Good luck! Keep us posted?

[Armiyana]

Don't use painter's tape. Even having a more gentle adhesive than other types of tape, you could injure a baby colubrid if it somehow gets to it and gets stuck.

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.

[Malum Argenteum]

Perhaps you did this already, but: tear the entire enclosure apart to make sure the snake is really not in there. I've had larger snakes than that hide really well in some pretty simple enclosures and freak me out.

Bogertophis hit all the main points about searching, but I'll add that the only hatchling milk snake I ever had escape (a Costa Rican Black, the largest milk species) left the house -- climbed out of the basement where he was housed -- and was found in the attached garage (got himself into an empty bucket and couldn't get out). So once you've covered the room, expand the search to adjoining rooms.

Maybe this is not for the faint of heart, but: rodent glue traps will catch snakes, and the snakes can be removed safely from those traps by rubbing the entrapped snake all over with vegetable oil. Just check the trap at least twice a day.

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.

[Bogertophis]

...

Maybe this is not for the faint of heart, but: rodent glue traps will catch snakes, and the snakes can be removed safely from those traps by rubbing the entrapped snake all over with vegetable oil. Just check the trap at least twice a day...

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!

[Armiyana]

Maybe this is not for the faint of heart, but: rodent glue traps will catch snakes, and the snakes can be removed safely from those traps

Assuming that the snake isn't already dead when you find it...
How do I know? Checking glue traps every 3 hours while working in a big box pet store when one escaped the night before

Or finding it half eaten by something else since it was an easy meal...

Personally, I would remove any type of glue trap immediately when knowing an animal escaped. Yes, the oil trick is handy in case of emergency, but cons severely outweigh the pros of this situation

[Bogertophis]

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

That would be my guess too- those gaps* should NOT be there at all- what were they even thinking? Incidentally, after my tiny king snake escaped (long ago) I began building my own tank lids out of pine & screen/"hardware cloth", & making them escape-proof- no little corner gaps, & no more "wiggle room". It's not just the top itself, but how you keep it ON the tank securely, because it WILL be tested- snakes will push & try to escape using any weakness they find.

*https://www.amazon.com/Zilla-Reptile...41147989&psc=1

Snakes are much better at "hide & seek" than we are, so my goal is to never again play it with any of mine. It's way too stressful & humiliating, having a little snake make a fool of me.

[Albert Clark]

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.