It was my sons 11th birthday last week and he’s been asking for a snake for at least the last 3 years. Cue Saturday morning and he’s the proud owner of a month old Royal Python.

All was going well until Wednesday night and we realised she was missing, after a bit of frantic searching she was found curled up in top of a drinks fridge. Lesson learnt, or so we thought!

Cue Friday morning and she’s missing again, another 45mins search and no joy before I have to head out to work.

Friday night and all of yesterday has been spent ripping the house to bits, no box, pair of shoes, pair of wellies, cupboard, draw, basket, nook and cranny has been missed.

I’ve even taken up carpets, 2 x laminate floors and the floorboards underneath, then spent hours crawling around underneath the house.

The cooker, washing machine, tumble dryer and fridges have been partly dismantled and searched, all to no avail.

I’ve then stayed downstairs with a torch to do regular checks, one final check this morning after waking at 5:50 on the sofa before going to bed, shone the torch down the side of th washer to see a tail disappearing around the back.

5 seconds later and I’d have missed her, the wife thought we were being burgled the amount of noise I made hurriedly dragging out the washer! :-))

All in all not a weekend I want to repeat, though as a bonus the house is now the tidiest it’s ever been since moving in 3 years ago! 🤣

Has this happened because the boy has left the viv door open?

We’ve had a corn snake for about 6 years now and it’s never got out, and only absconded when we have left it unattended when out of the viv.

To be fair I did once carelessly watch it slither up behind a radiator and then had to take it off the wall to get the snake back.

We put the first escape down to the door not being closed properly for which he got a proper talk about.

As for the second time he swears it was shut and a heavy book placed on top as we’d discussed. There’s a small hole I’ve drilled for the thermostat but it only measures around 1/2” so I can’t see it being that.

I think he must’ve not closed it properly again but I’ve taped up the holes and placed 2 books on top to be sure.

New rules in place that it’s not to be taken out unless myself or the missus is there!

You’d be supprised how strong they are when they are trying to escape so you can’t rely on weight of books really, there has to be no way for them to prize a lid or dooroff off, like a latch or a sliding door so they can’t just push out.

I had this problem with one of mine that was in a repurposed aquarium tank.. A purpose made vivarium should be escape proof, as long as you close it properly 😉

My wooden viv with sliding glass front was escape proof.

Also if you have laminate floors as opposed to carpet, you can sprinkle some salt or something in the event of an escapee, which might help track down thier movements.

If the one I was watching yesterday is any guide I would seal up any gaps as it was probing everything.

like mice they can get through impossibly small gaps

This is Jake my friend Shirley’s Boa. She’s had her (jakes a she) for 15yrs and is one of the biggest privately owned snakes I’ve heard of. Always fun when she brings her up the pub. Getting under the floorboards is no longer a problem 😮

[url=https://postimages.org/]photo upload website[/url]

Is this the m8ssing snake?

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-44993331

A few of my friends have linked me to the last post but honestly that’s not ours! Must’ve give her a right fright waking up to that!

Though, if we can keep her long enough without any more escapes she should grow to around 3 to 4 foot, certainly not anywhere near Shirley’s boa!

A can of expanding foam is going to be put to good use tomorrow sealing any possible escape routes underneath the house.

Mattyfez, we sprinkled flour everywhere on Friday night, along with placing crinkley plastic bags everywhere as an audible alarm, not a murmur other than a couple of slug trails…. I’m beginning to hate suspended wooden floors!

Fond memories.

Had a friend who kept snakes – lots of them. He spent most of his time breeding mice and rats to feed to them. This was also my job when he went on holiday.

Many happy evenings were spent taking the snake shed apart looking for escapees. Not all were found: some made a home run :/

Someone my wife knows had a very large reticulated Python. Unfortunately it got caught up in a house fire. Once the firemen had finished with the building, they noticed that the snake had gone.

They received a call a few days later from someone who had heard the story and thought the missing snake was at their local vets. Turns out the snake had been found but this vetinary practice was 10+ miles away.

Turns out the snake had escaped the house and climbed into the warm engine bay of a car, which subsequently drove away. The snake fell from the car and was spotted in the middle of the road where someone reported it to the vetarian who collected it.

Snake was reunited with the owner.

I’ve owned various snakes myself. Never had one escape. If your lucky enough to find it before it dies make sure you give it a proper check over or take it to someone that knows what they’re doing. They can easily pick up a respiritory infection from being away from their heat source which they rarely recover from without appropriate treatment.