Ball python escaped.... I'm an idiot and can't find him

[ontariosnakelover]

My little yearling ball python kronos was in his hide when I left for work and I came home and he's gone. I made a mistake of not fixing a tiny hole in the screen last night as I needed to sleep so badly before work and rushed off in the morning. Sure enough the hole was pushed out a bit and he's gone. I'm in an enclosed 1 bedroom apartment and I have zero exits to the outside of the place of any size in any place. Lots of random furniture and clothing lying around and I went through as much as I could and couldn't find him. Hoping he comes out near night time. Between my bedroom and the rest of my apartment is a doorway which I lined with hole bunch of grocery bags and some layers of tinfoil so if he crosses that door way he has to get past like 5 feet of crinkly sounding material. I'm sure he'll be MIA a couple days but I wanna know others tips and experience besides using flour and stuff

[tttaylorrr]

we just had another forum member post about an escapee, and here was my advice that helped them find their noodle:

keep calm.

keep your search close to the enclosure; i've never had an escaped ball python go more than 10ft, and usually less.

be as thorough as you possibly can, and only move on from one area to the next once you are 100% certain the snake is not there.

even if you see a spot and think there's no way he's in there, guess what? he'll likely be there.

and you do not stop looking until they are found.

EDIT: couches seem to be a lure for an escapee. you might need to tear into any furniture you have that's close to the enclosure.

[Bogertophis]

What he said ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ and also, don't sit on a bed or couch without looking between cushions (mattress & box spring), you never know? they like to hide in snug
places...get busy & keep looking! He's there, some place. Snakes like to hide in & under dressers & such too, behind bookshelves, anything is fair game...hey,
they're really GOOD at this! And never leave a cage with an escape possibility without fixing it...snakes have nothing better to do with their time than find a way out
of their cage.

[BallPythonWannaBe]

we just had another forum member post about an escapee, and here was my advice that helped them find their noodle:

and you do not stop looking until they are found.

EDIT: couches seem to be a lure for an escapee. you might need to tear into any furniture you have that's close to the enclosure.

That was me Little bugger was less than a foot behind the cage!

[Stout76]

I've had a few escape years ago. One thing we use to do is leave a light on but today you may have to use a different way for heat with the way light bulbs are nowadays. We'd leave it on and the next morning he'd be curled up around the base. I'm not saying don't look for him but you could try this as a backup. Like everyone else said usually they aren't far from the enclosure.

[Bogertophis]

I've had a few escape years ago. One thing we use to do is leave a light on but today you may have to use a different way for heat with the way light bulbs are nowadays. We'd leave it on and the next morning he'd be curled up around the base. I'm not saying don't look for him but you could try this as a backup. Like everyone else said usually they aren't far from the enclosure.

I'm glad this worked for you in the past, but what bothers me is how many house fires have been started when a pet (of any kind) knocks over a lamp & the hot bulb
in contact with flammable materials eventually starts a fire. For that reason, I wouldn't want to encourage anyone to do this, at least not with a light. How about
using the UTH heat pad (controlled by thermostat or rheostat at the very least), setting on a safe surface (like tile) instead?

[Stout76]

I guess my point was more about creating a hot spot and a UTH pad would most likely work. I had lose a snake and noticed it's tail sticking out from under the dryer that had been running but I wouldn't suggest that. Could be tragic. That's an interesting point, I wonder what the statistics are for home fires created by pets?

[Zincubus]

I got mine back by simply leaving a little enclosure on the snake room floor . There was only a bowl of fresh water left in it and a heat mat underneath to provide a warm spot . The snake turned up two weeks later ... I found it asleep on the warm patch one morning


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[ontariosnakelover]

Thanks guys. When I get home from work today I'm gonna search again. This time I'm gonna flip my bed and check the box spring cuz the bottom is wide open for someone to get in there. He just fed a week ago so he's probably wanting somewhere warm and cozy

[B.P.'s 4me]

My little yearling ball python kronos was in his hide when I left for work and I came home and he's gone. I made a mistake of not fixing a tiny hole in the screen last night as I needed to sleep so badly before work and rushed off in the morning. Sure enough the hole was pushed out a bit and he's gone. I'm in an enclosed 1 bedroom apartment and I have zero exits to the outside of the place of any size in any place. Lots of random furniture and clothing lying around and I went through as much as I could and couldn't find him. Hoping he comes out near night time. Between my bedroom and the rest of my apartment is a doorway which I lined with hole bunch of grocery bags and some layers of tinfoil so if he crosses that door way he has to get past like 5 feet of crinkly sounding material. I'm sure he'll be MIA a couple days but I wanna know others tips and experience besides using flour and stuff

I think this happens to every snake owner eventually. I"m always super careful, but about this winter had a particularly bad month. I was distracted,stressed, and a bit of a zombie. I had two escapees in as many weeks, which did nothing to help my stress levels. One was gone about 3 days. I put her bin on the floor with the lid off, a heat pad underneath and a water dish near by. In the meantime I checked EVERYwhere, went through my drawers, upended furniture to check the innards, rearranged my closets... no luck! My snakes are in a room by themselves all closed off so I kept checking... no luck. Then on the 3rd afternoon, I found her about 6 inches from the bin just disappearing underneath a skirted chair.

The 2nd escapee was gone a week! Same thing, I tore the room apart, rearranged the closet AGAIN, no luck!! It was COLD that week, my house is cold, I was worried sick. This snake is in a 42 gallon tank, so too big to put on the floor, but I plugged in a heating pad and covered it with a small blanket... no luck! Exactly one week later I found him on the closet floor (I'd checked earlier) underneath a blanket. *about 2 ft. away from his tank) He was as cold as ice, actually thought he was dead. He moved when I picked him up though, so I warmed him up , returned him to his tank and watched him closely as I was SURE he'd end up with a repiratory infection. Luckily that never happened, and in the meantime the snake rack I was waiting for arrived, so hopefully there will be no more escapees. I learned a difficult lesson in ALWAYS checking and double checking lids, ESPECIALLY when I'm rushed and/or distracted and THANKfully, my snakes are none the worse for wear in spite of my carelessness. (phew)