Ball pythons escaping

[Bogertophis]

...Most secure way I ever fastened down an aquarium lid was with metal shipping tape. I dumpster dived for the tape. Then I wrapped the tape all the way around the aquarium the long way, overlapped the ends, drilled holes in the overlap and put a small bolt with wingnut though the holes. I could lift the whole aquarium by the top with that tape holding them together....

You reminded me of how I've set up quickly for unplanned snakes that came my way:
I used pipe-strapping (metal) "tape"> Two pieces that each go under the tank, each end bent upwards with a couple inches on each side so that
a bungee cord could stretch across the lid on either end of the tank & hook into the holes in the metal straps. Not pretty, but quite effective. Honestly I don't trust the
clips they sell in pet stores, not the ones I've seen I tried (& returned) anyway.

As a fan of tanks, the most secure way I use is fastening 4 chains from the 4 corners of the base the tank sits on, upwards with a snap-bolt that clips to an eye-bolt in
the wood frame of the lid*. (*I make my own tank lids, wood & wire mesh/screen.) Nothing is ever going to push MY lids off, lol. You can buy
the right sort of chain in hardware stores...not too light & not too heavy, easy to work with. So how you lock your cages really depends on what kind of cage YOU have.

And the most secure cage in the world is only as good as your attention to detail...if you're someone who forgets to close the refrigerator, you might not be right for a snake yet, lol. You have to make sure you don't get distracted & forget when the phone rings, etc.

One word of caution: if using something heavy to set on the lid of a cage to contain a pet, be very careful about what you use. I've heard of accidents with
this method- like using a small dumbbell that ended up crashing thru the screen that wasn't strong enough to hold it. It's really NOT the "best" way to lock.