My corn has returned

[Sunny1]

To make a long story short, early last November the lid to my corn snake tank was left with a slight gap and my baby corn got out. I searched for weeks, and then lost all hope that I would find him again. I never did post this on here because I was just too heartbroken to do so, plus i couldn't face any possible negativity that may have come from a thread.

So today I was outside doing some yard work and went into a black plastic trunk we use outside to store extension cords and stuff in, and what do you know.... I see my missing baby!!! Needless to say that ended any hopes of getting any more yard stuff done at that time, I caught my not quite as little corn snake, fixed him up a tub, and got him in all nicely settled and gave him something to eat. He seems to be okay, the end of his tail seemed a little thin, but hopefully that will be corrected with a few good meals in him. I was just utterly shocked that he was still alive and that I found him outside!! He is quite a bit bigger than when he escaped, so he must have found something to eat while he was gone, plus he looks to be going into shed!! He is currently in quarantine, and will be taking him to the vet for an overall checkup probably next week (he just ate and I wanted him to destress a bit in his new tub).

So, through all of this I have learned a number of things.
1. Never underestimate your snakes.
2. Make sure that your enclosures are secure at all times. I have all of my snakes now in tubs, with either bungee cords or binder clips to help keep the lids in place and secure. And I double check to make sure that they are secure after I do anything with them as well as when I do my snake checks a few times a day.
3. Snakes are resilient!! I thought for sure that my snake was probably no longer alive, who knows where he has been all winter??? But to find him alive and seemingly well, bigger and getting ready to shed! Not to mention finding him outside!!
4. Never give up hope. Maybe I never fully gave up, but as the weeks passed, it seemed much less likely that I would ever find him. Especially 5-6 months afterwards!!
5. Maybe I mentioned this already.....Make sure your enclosures are secure!!!

[Jenn]

That's amazing!!!!!!!!! Are you sure it's the same snake?

[_Venom_]

I hope that is my story
But it got up to -5F degrees this winter

[Sunny1]

I'm positive that it is the same snake, I have never seen any wild corn snakes around here, actually I've never seen any type of snake anywhere near my house (besides the ones I keep). No one that lives near me keeps any snakes. Plus when I went to catch him, he didn't act like I would expect a wild snake to act. He seemed fairly calm, flailed very little, no bitting. Same coloring and pattern, only a bit darker but again he's in blue.

[STORMS]

Glad to hear u found him! Congrats!

[cassandra]

Holy cats, congratulations!!

...plus i couldn't face any possible negativity that may have come from a thread.

We need to work on this as a community. We all, unfortunately, make mistakes (hey, I'm in the Escaped Snake Club due not checking on the cage security), but you shouldn't feel like you'd be bashed here. That is not what b-p.net is about.

Com'on, group hug everyone...

[dsirkle]

That is good news.

[Sunny1]

Thanks everyone!!

And Cassandra, I know that I shouldn't have felt that way and kept myself from posting about it. I am normally very hard on myself and when that happened I had put a ton of blame on myself already that it was the possibilities of negativity that kept me from talking about it. Not to say that something neg. would have come up, I really enjoy this site and all the people here!! I owe a lot to this site in helping me to learn about and to better care for all of my animals.

But, through all of this, I have definitely learned from my mistakes. And now he is back home, and all is good!! Honestly I am still shocked as to how he was found!

[kc261]

It's great that your little guy turned up after so long!

I wouldn't be too surprised that he survived the winter. Corn snakes are native to most of Virginia.

[Sunny1]

Thank you Casey!!

Honestly, when he disappeared, I thought for sure he had gotten into the floor vents (one of them being pretty close to the tank that he was in). And with the heat on for the winter, I thought that it would get too hot in there for him to have survived there. Believe me, I put off turning the heat on for as long as I could, but at the same time couldn't let my kids freeze either.

And what shocks me the most is that while making it outside (at whatever point that was), he stayed so close to home for so long (unless he left and then came back??), as far as even having to have climbed up to get to the plastic trunk (which sits on top of a ~4ft rubbermaid shed we have outside) and then him being in there at the right time!! He almost blended in with the orange extension cord that was in there, I had to do a double take to make sure that it was him that I saw!! Why can't I be this lucky/fortunate while playing the lottery?? LOL