Stayed home from work yesterday because I was sick and was doing a quick check on my animals before collapsing back into bed when I realized Maverick was not in his cage . Even if I hadn't been feeling so sick, the prospect of searching every nook and cranny of my apartment was pretty overwhelming. My biggest worry was that he would get out of my apartment and then I'd really never find him.
I figured my best chance at finding him would be to wait until nighttime and then hang out in the living room and just wait. I also turned on the red incandescent bulb by his cage that I only use on feeding days to make his F/T mouse really warm. He was due to be fed yesterday and I figured one of the reasons he had escaped might have been he was hungry and if he saw the light on he might come to investigate.
So I turned off all the lights except for the red bulb, took a quick shower, and went back into the living room where my chihuahua and I sat in the dark, staring at the empty cage. We were sitting there for less than a minute when I heard a rustling behind me and sure enough I see the outline of a snake crawling out of a bag of rawhide dog bones sitting on a table.
After returning him to his home I offered him a mouse and he ate it right away and settled down. I was sooo lucky to find him so quickly and easily, I know. I wonder if he saw the red bulb on and really did connect it with food and thats why he came out. Anyway, just had to share my lost and found success story