Hatchling escaped...

[marwari31]

OK so I know there are tons of threads with ideas on how to catch escapees but they are all about larger snakes and this is a little different. This girl is less than a month old and at last weigh in was like 60 grams... We have torn the house apart looking for her and she's been gone for 24 hours and I'm starting to loose hope. She is SO tiny and could be anywhere... I am going to put a mouse in the room by the rack and see if I can lure her out but I don't have a lot of hope for that because she has only had 2 meals so far and just ate on Saturday so I doubt she is even hungry. Does any one have any advice? I am leaving a hide on the bottom of the rack on top of the heat in case she comes back and have kept the room dark and quiet to see if we can hear her.

[Jeo123]

Check along the walls and inside containers. I fell asleep with my snake in my lap once and found her across the room hiding in an empty gym bag. I wouldn't have even noticed except that when i picked it up to look in the closet, I noticed it felt heavier than an empty bag should have. If there had been stuff in there, I could have easily missed her.

Other than that, search along the walls in the room. Snakes rarely seem to leave the room they escaped in, especially one that small. Odds are, she went to the wall, followed it in a direction until she found a spot she liked.

Also, keep in mind, these guys can climb.

[BPelizabeth]

Check behind the tubs on the heat tap as well. Our little man got away from a guest that was holding him. He was inside the couch and heading deeper...lol. We ended up having to take the couch apart to be able to reach him just in time before he went into "no mans land"...lol

[Sarin]

I just had this happen to me maybe a month or so ago. I had a hatchling pastel that was only 57 grams and only had one meal get loose. I thought she was a goner, everyone told me I'll find her and not to worry. I was hesitant to believe them. (sorry)

I tore the entire reptile room apart and looked all over the house. I set up FOUR traps with live and frozen rats in them. Nothing.

4 days later she popped up and weighed in at 48 grams.

They will be found when they feel like it! LOL. Don't lose hope... Just keep an eye open during the night.. They seem to be found when you're not really looking for them.

[marwari31]

Thanks everyone..
I have a hard time believing we will find her too...but I'm trying not to give up hope. We looked behind all of the tubs and even in the other tubs and under the rack. The room is kind of cold so I didn't think she would stray far from the heat tape but no such luck. I have even looked inside the paper shredder (ew....lets not think about that), we have emptied drawers and shelves and moved them and looked in blankets, laundry baskets, clothes.
We actually had a mouse get loose on Saturday...it scurried under the bed and it took 2 hours to catch it.
Bah

[Vapor29]

We had one escapee hatchling before. We were on vacation for a week and had somebody stay at the house to watch our dogs and check on the snakes. The first thing I did when we got home was check the rack. I pulled out the first tub and our baby cinnamon was gone. I started to panic and tear the reptile room apart. We had no luck and moved to the room next door. The first thing I saw was some poo, which was a good sign! My wife walked in and saw his tail sticking out from under a dresser. We are not sure how long he was out, but thankfully we found him in under ten minutes. The house-sitter must have not pushed the tub in the whole way and he must have squeezed out! We have also had a couple of other escapees and have always found them near there heatpads, when we used to have tanks.

[corgigirl9]

Here's some tips Ive seen or heard off that weren't mentioned:
If you have a cat, watch it closely
Try to go in the room at night with no light or noise
Possibly try the flour trick
Look for warm, dark, small places
Double/ triple check your rack, Ive heard of people putting their snake back in the wrong container And because they can hide in the rack too
Most importantly, if it looks too small for them to hide in or get through they probably can. So look everywhere, I mean everywhere! They can climb alot too!!!
Good Luck and keep us posted

[spitzu]

Does your heater use floor vents?

[Alexandra V]

If you have any heaters near the floor, check around there and areas where it would be warmer, especially if the room is kind of cold. Also, if she had a way out of the room with the enclosures, check under/behind the fridge, because it can get rather warm back there too.

[marwari31]

We have baseboard heating and I have torn them apart like 4 times and we looked everywhere, like torn the whole upstairs apart 3 times. I actually just left and left a mouse by the rack to see if the calmness will make her come out. There are rugs so I can't do the flour trick and we have multiple hides around the rooms. I suppose all we can do is wait... Is there a point in time where it's no point in looking anymore kinda like a "if you haven't found her by now she's dead..." point?