Sticky Traps

[Kaorte]

I was browsing another ball python community when someone posted about their escaped snake. I saw all the usual suggestions: Sit and look, put out some flour or baking power, put out a heat lamp or pad, put a f/t mouse in a box with a small hole and wait.

And then I saw this:
"In extreme cases, you can use glue-board traps, but check them frequently. Some snakes can rip their own skins struggling to get loose. (Get the snake loose with non-toxic oil, a q-tip and patience.)"

Am I crazy to think this person is absolutely insane for suggesting this??

I have seen mice in these glue traps and they usually rip out all of their hair in struggle or get their face in the glue and suffocate. I cannot even believe this person suggested this method. I questioned their judgment and they insisted that it was an OK think to do.

This was their response:
"Well, I've used them. They work. If it's urgent that you recapture it in the shortest possible time (e.g. snake-phobic neighbor who will get you evicted if they find out it's loose, or snake escapes while moving and you must catch it by the end of the month), they're a useful tool.

Not exactly nice for the snake, though."

[joshn6805]

thats sounds like a horrible idea snakes scales are very delicate there basically the only way they get around, with the friction and everything. there are better methods of finding it than this and the odds of it wandering onto a glue pad are pretty random.

[Jsh]

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe"
--Albert Einstein

[Slim]

Using a sticky glue trap to catch a BP might just be the single stupidest idea I've ever seen on a message board. I mean most dumb advise you see, while stupid, generally isn't life threatening. A glue trap could cause serious damage to a BP. A small one could suffocate, and a larger one could tear skin away from the body.

Just when you thing people can't get and dumber, they always prove you wrong.

[Beardedragon]

hell why not just get out the spring traps as well?

[alohareptiles]

Using a sticky glue trap to catch a BP might just be the single stupidest idea I've ever seen on a message board. I mean most dumb advise you see, while stupid, generally isn't life threatening. A glue trap could cause serious damage to a BP. A small one could suffocate, and a larger one could tear skin away from the body.

Just when you thing people can't get and dumber, they always prove you wrong.

AMEN!!!

[Kaorte]

Using a sticky glue trap to catch a BP might just be the single stupidest idea I've ever seen on a message board. I mean most dumb advise you see, while stupid, generally isn't life threatening. A glue trap could cause serious damage to a BP. A small one could suffocate, and a larger one could tear skin away from the body.

Just when you thing people can't get and dumber, they always prove you wrong.

I think the fact that the person has actually done this is even more stupid. I don't understand why anyone would think that is a good idea. EVER.

People are so frustrating sometimes!

[aahmn]

Glue traps are bad. At the vet clinic I work at, one of our clients had a hamster that got loose. The genius decided to use a sticky trap to catch it, then didn't know how to get it off the trap. They brought it in to us and we seriously had to use iso on it to anesthetize it, and slowly work it off with mineral oil. It took two of us over an hour. It ended up being an over $200 mistake on their part (yeah, kind of a 'stupid charge'). For a smaller escapee, I will say that in the past when nothing else worked I used a long strip of duct tape with one end stuck on something. That worked, but left a bit of residue.

[JeffJ]

wow thats all i got to say... aparently bear traps are effective in catching your loose dog too.....