You know, no one here is saying that you are stupid. I too made a mistake when I got my first male normal ball python. I had him in a 20 gallon long tank and I had not latched the lid on properly one night before I went to bed. I woke up the next morning and he was gone. I was freaking out because I had a cat with very high prey drive and I have a dog also. Luckily my dog is chill as all get out but I was really worried that the cat would find the snake and potentially hurt him.

I tore my apartment apart to find that little snake. I ended up finding him hiding in the baseboard heater in my bathroom. My bathroom was located in my bedroom which was where my snake and tank were located. He had no injuries and was none the wiser of his little escape. My cat never got to him and luckily I didn't have the baseboard heat running either or he could have been badly burned.

I guess what I am trying to say is that we all make mistakes with keeping these snakes in the beginning and we think we know better when we actually don't. I read your other thread too about the pooping and digestion. My goodness that thread got derailed. I do not believe that these snakes feel emotions but that they are in a sense conditioned. You are lucky Wheatley escaped that dog without any injury. You really should let the poor little guy distress for a while. Lord knows I would be stressed out as hell if some big dog were coming after me.

I also want to speak on behalf on Deborah. She may seem rude and like a know it a all but she is a great lady. I have been on this forum for a while now and I have learned a lot from her. Hell, when I was first on here I got an infraction from her but I just dealt with it and moved on. As I got to know her and learn from her I found out that she is a pretty cool person. The mods have a tough job on here and they are not there to sugar coat things. They will tell it like it is and they also do their best to be of help with answering questions. Give the mods a little slack. I used to be a mod on here and I can say from experience that it is not an easy task at times.

Try to do your best with Wheatley and let the little dude have some very much needed time off from hanging out and handling.