baby escaped.....

[Snake lover 3-25]

my little gut got away.... :( my snakes get out a lot... :o but i usually find them within a few hours.... a day at the most.... but he got out on Tuesday... i've looked everywhere.... i'm beginning to get really worried... i raised him from birth... he is so careless... whenever i hold him... he always just zooms off my hands... and if he does that off the balcony......:( i don't think a 15 in snake could last a 15ft fall....... :( i'm not really worried about my cat.... she's learned to stay away.... but if someone shuts a door and he's on the corner.....:( where do i check??? what do i do??? please help....:(

[Stefan-A]

How did he get out?

[Snake lover 3-25]

well..... i was holding meadow and i kind of left the cage open........:o:o:o

[drache]

Shanley - I really hope you find him
if your snakes get out a lot, it's you who's careless though - not the snakes
and as for the cat, I'm sure he's learned to stay away while you're around, but when you're not - all bets are off
I hate to tell you all this while you're worried already, but I'm wishing for less snakes to escape in the future
good luck for your current little escapee

[Snake lover 3-25]

i know..... i try not to.... but i have them out so much.... it's easy to forget....:o:o:o

[drache]

i know..... i try not to.... but i have them out so much.... it's easy to forget....:o:o:o
every time you take one out or put one in, you close the tank - becomes habit after a while
I goof up too, but "all the time"???
give yourself a break and establish some better habits
anyway - enough ranting
I know I've been turning into my mom - scary
I've never lost a baby
they're so little, they could go into any little crack

[GartersRock]

Shanley. I have to agree with Rhea.... I had noticed when you post that they get out all the time and that you always "forget" to close the cage... But I would strongly suggest that it doesn't happen anymore. I wasn't going to say anything. But well. It happened didn't it?
I sure hope you find your baby... Good luck!! =D

[Snake lover 3-25]

:(:(:( i have bad habits :(:(:( i moved the stove..... nothing.... i ripped apart my brothers room..... nothing.... then my sisters..... nothing.... i checked the couches..... chairs too.... opened the bottom of the fridge... took out all the dresser drawers in all three rooms.... closed all the vents... checked the coat closets.... checked mom and dads room.... cheacked moms closet... dads is locked... all 4 bathrooms... where else do i look???

[gregmonsta]

Lost a snake? Wanna know how to make a trap? - Reptile Forums UK (http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/snakes/73850-lost-snake-wanna-know-how.html)

I used the bottle idea myself although I never managed to recapture my Squiggles. Crossing fingers for you!!!

[Snake lover 3-25]

thanks!!!!!! i'll have to find some bottles!!!!!! how many should i make???

[adamanteus]

As many as you have, Shanley.

[Snake lover 3-25]

i made one already.... :( i hope this works!!!!

[gregmonsta]

I had six 550ml bottles, one for each room and try them in a different place every evening.

[LyrisFlame]

Have you tried the flour trick suggested in the articles? You spread flour around the edges of the room so that the snake disturbs it when he's slithering around and you can tell where it's been. It might tell you which room it's in.

Good luck finding your babay, Shanley! I hope he shows up soon.

[Sid]

Good luck, Shanley. Hope you find it soon.

[Garter_Gertie]

Any luck yet, sweetheart? I'm thinking of you. Keep believing, honey.

[anji1971]

Shanley, I'm hoping for his safe return. Babies are tricky, being so small. He could be in one of a million spots. Just keep looking!

[Snake lover 3-25]

:( i had to leave!!!! right now im 2 hrs away....... i left thurs night and i won't be back till later tomarrow...:( but i managed to set 2 traps.... and i guess that's all i can do for now..... :( and to make things even worse i may miss my first babies of the year!!!!!:mad::mad::mad:

[Spiritwolf]

I had two escape over the winter, from cages with lids that were totally duct taped down and weighted with heavy books. I tried all the trap ideas, etc, used toothpicks by the walls instead of flour coz flour doesn't work well in carpeting, and have yet to see any evidence of either of those two escapees alive or dead. I keep small dishes of water around for them and until I find evidence they are dead, I won't give up hope. I know of cases of escaped snakes, including babies, that have turned up alive over a year after they escaped.

[Snake lover 3-25]

i sure hope he turns up soon...... i brought bottles back from my grandmas and so i'll make and set a bunch more traps tomorrow..... i'm just worried about my cat...... she's a hunter...:(:(:(

[Spiritwolf]

I've found in my experiences, that cats weren't too interested in killing snakes. The ones my cats brought me when I was on the farm, were in good shape except for minor puncture wounds that healed after a few days of treatment.

One baby snake that escaped last fall, was found a week later when I heard one of the cats making a "trilling" call that cats make to call their kittens or call another cat to come see something they've found.
I went into the living room and saw a circle of cats sitting and watching something in the center of their circle. That something turned out to be the escaped baby snake, unharmed, and the cats were just watching it and one sometimes would reach out to try to touch it and the snake would move and the cat would yank its paw back right away.

When I've been handling the snakes outside their cages, the cats would keep their distance, clearly wary of this weird creature that doesn't have legs and whose head and tail look much alike (in the cat's point of view).

When I had my smaller rescue garter escape, the cats had plenty of chances to have caught it before the snake found me. The snake found me when I went over near my dresser, which has shelves and a variety of objects on those shelves. When I came close to the dresser, the snake came out of a vase of artificial roses and started trying to come over to get onto my shoulder from the vase! I was so relieved and happy that my fugitive snake decided to find ME!
And as long as I see no evidence of death of the fugitives that haven't been found yet, I keep leaving pcv and bottle traps, water dishes, etc, around for them in hope that they will turn up one day alive and ready to go home where food is served to them by their willing human servant while the snakes enjoy their cushy lives in captivity!

[Snake lover 3-25]

yeah.... but my cat has picked one up and shaken it..... i def think she would have killed it if i hadent thrown her acros the room...... but she hasn't come near since except to sniff.... but i'm just afraid of what she'll do when i'm not there to punish her......:(

i've lost three... but i'm pretty sure that they either got outside or down the vents:(

but whenever i let meadow my 30 in female wander she always finds me or goes to her feeding cage and each time she gets a special treat... but she def. notices that her baby is missing..... together since birth this is the longest they have ever been apart... and i'm responsible....... :(

i've made the bottle traps and set them around the house... but do you have a plan for your pvc trap???

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

cats, without a doubt, kill snakes. The petco in my area gave me a baby snow cornsnake that starved itself for the first 6 months of its life. "well did you try live?" "oh we dont do that here" I took her home and she INSTANTLY took a live pinky. I had her for 3 months... she escaped somehow and my mom found her dead on the stairs before I even knew she was missing. Bite wounds all over her and her tail had been eaten. This is the second occurence I've had of cats killing snakes. They may be curious about it for a while before they go for it, but they will eventaully kill it, they can't help it, it's their instinct.

I see Raja, a cat we sent to my grandparents farm seeing as he didnt work out in a house, eating a snake or two every summer.

[drache]

my cats are very clear about the fact that snakes are toys first and foremost
if I don't pay attention for one moment, they will come and start batting at a snake that I'm holding
I am positive that they would kill any snake that got out and what's worse is that they would take a long time to do it - it takes them hours to kill an escaped roach

[Sputnik]

I've found in my experiences, that cats weren't too interested in killing snakes. !

I have to say my experience is the total opposite! There is absolutely no way you can trust a cat not to kill a snake. When I first had my garter babies, my cats managed to knock the tank down, when I hadn't secured it enough for them not to. They had taken great interest in the wriggly little things for days. I found one soon after with many puncture wounds, it died a few hours later, one managed to escape the cats and is living on happily in a new tank, but the last one I found a couple of months later in the garden, again with severe bite wounds which had killed it.

Anytime I open the vivs, the cats come running and if I take the snakes out, there are sneaky paws trying to make a swift swipe.

But throwing your cat across the room, is also certainly not the way to punish your cat! Keeping the snakes safe is YOUR responsibility and keeping different kinds of animals together means that you have to respect how each kind behaves. Shout a short sharp "no", or shoo the cat away with your hand (DO NOT hit her!), splash a little water at her or hiss at her and best of all keep your snakes well out of reach! It's not hard to keep the door shut and the cat outside if you feel you really have to let the snake "wander".

[anji1971]

Cats are not snakes' friends. Period.
They will play with them to death, even if they aren't interested in eating them. It's not a pretty way to let a snake die.
I've seen what they do to mice. :eek:

[Garter_Gertie]

While all this is true, can you imagine the effect it's having on Shanley?

And while it is a lessoned learned, I hope I don't have to go thru posts like this because I did something not very bright and learned the hard way how to properly care for my boys.

[anji1971]

We're not posting these responses to make Shanley or anyone else feel bad. We are all sympathetic when someone's snake goes missing, regardless of the circumstances.
Unfortunately, it is a harsh reality, and sometimes those are the lessons that hit home the most.

[Garter_Gertie]

We're not posting these responses to make Shanley or anyone else feel bad. We are all sympathetic when someone's snake goes missing, regardless of the circumstances.
Unfortunately, it is a harsh reality, and sometimes those are the lessons that hit home the most.

You may not be meaning to make anyone feel bad. But you are - I for one. I think continued examples, under the circumstances, is very insensitive. The point has been made regarding cats.

While it is a harsh reality, who are we to see the lesson hits home? Is it our responsibility to post after post discuss something that is probably Shanely's worst fear? If it were in her place all I'd be learning is how insensitive people can. I would be hurt and offended at the lack of empathy.

Also, at this point, it's still conjecture regarding the cat. The lesson needing learning is to close cages - always. And I do think Shanley's picked up on that.

[adamanteus]

I hear you. But if someone makes a post... they will get responses. The responses here are honest and truthful.
I hope that this time Shanley has picked up on our hints that these constant escapes are dangerous for her snakes. She didn't last time, or the time before.
I really feel for Shanley and hope she finds her little snake alive and well very soon, I'm sure we all do. This is one lesson nobody wants to learn 'the hard way'.
Fingers crosed for you Shanley.

[Garter_Gertie]

I do,too. James. Hope this has a happy ending.

Yup, I gave an honest and truthful response in response to a response. It's nice that I I'm allowed to.

If it were my thread I'd have jumped in and said, "Cut it out!" a long time ago. I hope I don't have to experience a 'brick bat in the face' type of honesty and truthfulness. Points can be made without overkill.

[jitami]

[quote=adamanteus;63444]I hear you. But if someone makes a post... they will get responses. The responses here are honest and truthful.
[quote]

And it's this "harsh truth" that makes this forum valuable. We all have lessons to learn and if it was all niceties and "fluff" we'd never get down to the nitty gritty of the work involved in keeping snakes as pets.

As James said, I'm truly pulling for Shanley and Baby. I don't think anyone here is trying to scare or hurt Shanley, but it's not realistic to think that a cat won't harm a snake regardless of how it's been discouraged to do so in the past. I'm sure that's the point everyone was trying to get across.

Good luck again Shanley. Still hoping Baby turns up soon!

[Garter_Gertie]

Well, then I must have missed something. I totally missed any of the "Shanley, we've told you many times you can't leave cages open."

All I caught was one example after another of cats injuring snakes. Why do you think it's "fluff" to simply say, "Shanely, we've repeatedly told you to shut your cages. Cats kill snakes. You have to be even more careful with snakes when you have cats."

I'm not professing having everything being all niceties and "fluff." My point is the lesson to be learned is the closing of cages or there are consequences. Continued consequential horror stories (my opinion) with no empathy is hurtful. The point was made and I think it went beyond being a learning experience with overkill.

[jitami]

Ok, I went back and read through this thread again, just to see if I may have missed something... which is always a possibility! I am blond :) I really don't think there was any intent to harm Shanley. Everyone was responding to Spiritwolf saying that he didn't think cats were really interested in killing snakes. Got a couple people, including Shanley herself, basically saying, yes, cats will kill snakes, then a couple of examples. I know I learn more by example(seeing is believing?) than just going by someone telling me something is so. I grew up with indoor/outdoor feline killing machines so it was a no brainer to me, but some people need to hear the "horror stories" to get it.

edited to say, Gertie, I'm really not trying to argue with you. I love your enthusiasm for life and you're obviously a very caring person and I truly appreciate and admire that. I just think in this instance you jumped the gun a little. Love ya... truly...

[adamanteus]

I think we're digressing, guys.:)

[Snake lover 3-25]

i set 5 traps.... i still have to find more bottles.... the cage that they are in right now is very easy to leave the cage open... and i'm not used to it.... sooty is in their regular cage and the krtiier cage that they are in can seem closed but be just open enough for the little one to escape... i'm just too used to the larger cage and have never lost one from it... i have found no sign yet... if my cat had gotten him there would be a sign... we have all white carpets and she was here alone for 3 days... so i agree that she can hurt him but she may be too interested in chasing mice to chase snakes... i hope.... i am determined to find him and believe that it is just a matter of time b4 i do.

[adamanteus]

Patience is the key, Shanley. Don't give up, just keep looking and keep baiting those traps. We're all rooting for you.

[Snake lover 3-25]

i just hope he's not gotten into the basment...:(

[adamanteus]

Have you got traps in the basement, Shanley?

[Snake lover 3-25]

yes.... but there are so many places to hide... and there are mice down there.... so there is not as big of a draw to the trap...:(

[adamanteus]

Maybe water would be attractive to him down there?

[Snake lover 3-25]

okay thanks! :D

[Sputnik]

I'm sorry, if I came across nasty, Shanley, that wasn't my intention. I was trying to be firm and helpful but certainly not mean.
It's heartbreaking to loose a snake and I really do feel for you and hope your little one shows up soon.

[Snake lover 3-25]

i know it's okay..... i just REALLY REALLY want to find him.... he's my baby......:(

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

cats can kill snakes but more often watch it, meow at it, play with it a bit, i let my cat come sniff one of my snakes it liked her nose she sneezed and now is scared of them.. lol

[Snake lover 3-25]

:(:( everyone at home says he's dead.... the cat ate him... you'll never find him... etc. it really hurts.... :(:(:( and it's all my fault:(

[jitami]

:( I'm so sorry Shanley :(

I certainly wouldn't give up hope, tho... you never know...

[Snake lover 3-25]

i hope so.... but it really doesn't help that my parents ship me off to kayuga 3 days a week.... doesn't give me much time to look:(:(

[adamanteus]

I once lost a very small marcianus... he squeezed out between to two sliding doors of his viv. I thought it couldn't be done, but he did it.
Eight months later I found him under a wood pile in my back yard, he was skinny but quite a bit bigger... and he survived the winter... and we had a cat. Chin up, Shanley. Never give up until you find him, alive or dead.

[Snake lover 3-25]

:(:( i just hope he IS alive.... and stays that way.... :(:(:(

[adamanteus]

Garter Snakes live in your yard naturally, Shanley.... why should he be any more at risk than his wild cousins?

[Snake lover 3-25]

:(:( i guess..... but i still and always will want him back:(:(

[infernalis]

Shanley, in different thread you had mentioned not getting another snake until you find baby.

Sometimes a new face is just what we need to ease the pain.

Not really a replacement, one can never replace a friend, but rather a new friend to help you through the missing your old friend.

[anji1971]

Shanley, don't give up. Lots of people have found snakes after quite some time.
Keep positive, and don't beat yourself up about it. We all feel for you!

[Snake lover 3-25]

thanks guys.... but i just don't want to bring one in my house because then i'll spend time that i could spend looking for him on the new one.... and i'm going to be spending enough time taking care of the females' babies already....:( i just want to find him:(

[Snake lover 3-25]

:(:(:( his birthday's soon....:( July 17..... 2006..... he'll be 2 yrs old:( i hope i find him b4 then:(

[jitami]

Shanley, I hope you find him soon, too. But I couldn't help but picture him spending his birthday down by the pond with a toad cocktail :) In my head I can see him kicked back in a lounge chair, wearing a sombrero(have no idea why!), with a worm hanging from his mouth, and a cocktail in his hand(yeah, I know). It's all terribly silly, but hey, we all need vacations from time to time! :D Perhaps I'm overdue! :o:p:rolleyes::o

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol :D i hope he's on a vacation!!! because once i find him he's never going on another!!!!!!:eek: lol

[Stefan-A]

What are you going to do, break his legs? :D

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol maybe!!! no.... i'll prob. love him even more and feed him till he's to fat to escape!!!:eek: LOLOL :D

[infernalis]

What are you going to do, break his legs? :D

Stefan, No matter what, your one liners always make me crack a smile.:D

[Snake lover 3-25]

OMG!!!!! i found him..... i'm a little overwhelmed right now..... but i'll tell you what happened once i can get myself under control....:)

[Garter_Gertie]

WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO HAPPY for you, Shanley!!!!!!!!!! That is FABULOUS NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jitami]

Sooooo happy to hear it Shanley!!!!!

[adamanteus]

Fantastic news Shanley!:D I'm so pleased for you. Now, shut that bloody door!:rolleyes:

[Lori P]

YIPPEEEEE!! (Doing the Happy Found Snake Dance)

[Snake lover 3-25]

Thanks for the replies everyone!:D

so this is kind of long and I’ve never told anyone about this before….. and I don’t really know if I should now…. But here it goes…

Ok so ever since I was a kid I’ve been picked on… but isn’t everyone??? Yeah!! But the difference is that I didn’t know how to control it… every time someone would call me a name I’d flip out… causing them to make it into a game… so they called me name after name and they wouldn’t stop till I was cowering away shaking with rage… :mad: so a bunch of adults told them off… and it was fine for a while…. But they are kids… so then my parents told me this… “they are just trying to get a rise out of you… if you make no reaction they’ll stop…” so I stopped reacting but this had gone on for a really long time… and they were in a habit… so they’d all just do it and try to get a reaction…. So I’d just put it all away… imagine it as a bottle… so I’d put all these things into the bottle… but a bottle can only hold so much… so sometimes I’d explode over the tiniest of things and get so upset that no one including myself could control it…. So eventually they grew up and stopped… but I just kept bottling everything up… even if you were supposed to have a reaction I wouldn’t… because no one ever told me when I was supposed to let it out I never did… until it got full… :(
so anyways.. a lot of things have been going on and I’ve just bottled them away… for example a woman that taught me more than anyone else ever has passed away… her name was Martha Trot… and I just tucked it away… along with the feelings about losing my snake… and a bunch of other things…. So earlier I said that everyone kept telling me that my snake was dead… the cat ate him… you’ll never find him…etc. and so I was arguing with my brother about doing some chores… and he said “what did you do yesterday… besides look for your snake” I go “I need to find him” and he says “what’s the point? He’s dead!” OMG that set me off big time and I hit him and say “what did you just say” and so he says it again… and b4 you know it I’m chasing him around and then he grabs his airsoft gun (which is harmless but it still hurts….) and shoots me… :eek: and so I wrestle him to the ground and take it away…
by this time I am literally shaking with rage and so I run up to my room b4 I do something REALLY stupid…. So I open up my dresser drawer which I had searched previously and not found a trace of baby and put in the gun and there he is…. It was like a miracle… I was so enraged and out of nowhere comes the tiny thing that had made me so upset…. And I broke down… I was able to stop from shaking long enough to write the b4 post and then I had to go for a walk to calm myself…. I am still filled with so much mixed emotion that I have no idea when I’ll be fully calm… :o
so there it is… and it may sound bad….. and I hope that it doesn’t make anyone to upset… but I’m learning to control it :D

[adamanteus]

Sounds as though 'Baby' knew exactly when to come home!

[Snake lover 3-25]

yup and i'm SOOOOOO happy he did then!!!:D

[Zephyr]

Hooray. Happy ending. Now you're gonna pamper him, right?

[adamanteus]

Me too, Shanley. X

[drache]

Shanley - wow!
I'm so happy you found him, I can't even tell you
and I can get frighteningly emotional myself, so I know what it takes to manage that

[Snake lover 3-25]

yup i have to give him a bath and feed him... he's kind of um.... how do i describe it..... deflated????? i think he's just hungry/thirsty...:D

[jitami]

Shanley, I think it's good that you realize what is happening with your emotions even if you can't quite control it just yet. My younger son is like you. Always has been. From the time he was an infant he would just scream with frustration. I could watch him laying on the floor trying to reach something but couldn't. Instead of working at it like most babies or losing interest in the item entirely, he would stare at it and scream. It was the same when he learned to walk and fell, learned to talk and someone didn't understand him, etc. A friend of mine was watching him ride his bike when he was about 4. He fell once and tried again. He fell for the second time, got up, threw the bike as far as he could, kicked it, walked away for a minute and then tried it again. It's a cute story, but so typical of how he deals with things. (Yes, I'm saving money for anger management classes! j/k) He doesn't get teased a lot, but when he does he often over-reacts, which you've learned, makes matters worse. Anyway, long story to simply say, I hear you and understand. You can overcome it, though, and if you're working on it now I'd say there's a good chance you will do just that :)

[Zephyr]

Heh, if I ever got teased, I know what the tormentor would find in their bed...
Begins with an r and ends with an h. ;D

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol thanks.... thanks EVERYONE!!!!!

ok kyle i give up what is it?????

[Snake lover 3-25]

ok so i put him in his favorit place! the bathtub! :D and he's erked up.... i think he was in as much of a shocked state as i was!!!:eek: but so right when i found him i scooped him up and put him in his cage and closed the lid like if i didn't lock him up he'd disappear.... so him and meadow were very confused and now meadow is freeking out lol bc i just took him away and put him in the bathtub..... she is banging her head on the door???? lol idk i think she def knew he was missing and wanted him back!!:D:D

[Garter_Gertie]

I love the name Meadow. It's such a soft, pretty name.

Think you'll be leaving that cage door open anytime soon? ;)

Now you'll be able to relax and have a great 4th weekend!

[Snake lover 3-25]

i know thank god!!!! i would have had another MISERABLE weekend away from home.....

he seems quite week.... i had to pretend to take his food away to get him to eat.... his bath perked him up a bit... he drank half the bath tub!!!:eek: lolol

[Garter_Gertie]

Now would be a good time to let him relax and get quiet; to snuggle down and get some rest - don't you think? He's fed, had water and is home safe and sound. He probably needs to settle in, whatchew think? :)

[Snake lover 3-25]

yup no more excitement till monday..... i won't be here.... so it won't be too much trouble.... lol but after that i don't think i'll be able to resist!!!!!:D:D:D

[drache]

hey Shanley
have a great weekend

[Sputnik]

That's pretty incredible! Congratulations, Shanley! Your weekend will be the best ever now that you can relax. :)

[Snake lover 3-25]

i will!!!! :D:D:D

[ScimitarX]

So glad to hear you found him Shanley:D

[gregmonsta]

Well done :D

[anji1971]

Oh Shanley, am I ever glad to hear you found him!
I logged onto the forum after a long day, and the first threads were about snakes with prolapses, snakes with tumours, snakes born too early with poor odds, and I was starting to feel a bit down myself.
Then I read this wonderful news, and now I feel so much better. Looks like baby knew when to come home for more than one of us!
And thank-you for sharing your story with us. It must have been hard to open up like that -- I admire your courage for taking that chance! :)

[infernalis]

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj129/shapum/dance.gif

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol thanks anji! i agree it really was a miracle!!!!:D

[infernalis]

Shanley, what no comment? I searched long and hard to find that dancin' smiley guy, and you didnt even notice, see how you are:D

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol it is very cute!!! where do you find those things??????:D:D:D i LOVE it!!!!!!:D:D

[infernalis]

Google image search, it's easy.

Just type happydance.gif, and endless choices pop right up.

Pictures are always worth a thousand words, or at least easier than typing a thousand words...:D

[Snake lover 3-25]

i'll have to try that!!!:D:D

lol they sure are!!! i wish i could use those instead of writing essays!!!!:eek: think i should try it????:D:D

[infernalis]

Teach would find fault with the grammer:cool:

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol!!!!:D:D:D:D:D:D

[Zephyr]

Shanley... As previously mentioned...
Ur grmar gves me a hedach!!!!!!?!?!!?!?!?!?:D:D:D::D111234598threeone (WTH?)3354:D

LOL XD