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orangepenguin
08-29-2010, 05:00 PM
hey guys new to the forum... just a quick question... where do garters tend to hide when they escape?!

i have recently just upgraded my snake into a bigger viv with lovely new decor etc he was in there for less than 24 hours and now hes gone.. with out a trace. ive turned my room upside down looking for him but he is nowhere to be seen. he hasnt eaten for the past 3-4 weeks either so on top of worrying about that im now worrying where the heck he is!

this is the first time hes escaped (altho i have no idea how he has... as its a v secure viv).. but im also thinking coincidental as i have just had a new guy move into my house who is scared ****less of snakes........

now im not one to pass judgements but my snake is nowhere to be seen.. and im pretty sure he cant get under the door...

help!?
steph x
Tyrel26
08-29-2010, 05:09 PM
well as i posted a couple days ago I too lost a snake, I placed a straw beach mat along the wall in the room where the snake was kept (snakes tend to follow walls) and in 3 days (after looking under the mat 2-3 times a day everyday) there she was, all curled up under the mat.

I too took every single item out of that room but found no trace of her that way

Goodluck!
orangepenguin
08-29-2010, 05:13 PM
ive looked round the edges... ill try ur trick tho i got a nice big cardboard tube he might go into...

u dnt think it could get under a door do u? the doors definatley been shut as its a fire door n the gaps pretty small.. hmmmmmm :( :confused:
Tyrel26
08-29-2010, 05:15 PM
i plugged the space under the door with rags, just in case the snake was still there
guidofatherof5
08-29-2010, 05:31 PM
They tend to stay along walls.
ConcinusMan
08-30-2010, 12:09 AM
I rarely find them by looking for them. If they've only been missing a short time, sometimes I find them under or behind furniture along the walls.

Most of the time, they just show up one day unexpectedly, out in the open, days or weeks later.

If you have no idea how he escaped, and yet claim the viv is secure, then it's obvious that it is not secure. All to often there are aspects to the enclosure that can facilitate escape, and people overlook those aspects or underestimate the capability of snakes. For example, they can get up glass walls taller than themselves, and they can push and prod with surprising strength, say, on a screen top or sliding door, allowing just enough gap to squeeze through.

Plugging a gap under a door with rags is like trying to damn the Mississippi river with a mud wall.:cool:

Not trying to sound critical, I'm just saying many escape stories have been told by people claiming the enclosure is secure and even experienced "impossible" escapes myself. There is always something that has been overlooked. They don't just magically disappear.

Good luck. Hope you find your snake.
Tyrel26
08-30-2010, 07:15 AM
Quote "Plugging a gap under a door with rags is like trying to damn the Mississippi river with a mud wall"

I pushed the rags in with a screwdriver, and it worked for me. If you are really concerned about your snake leaving the room (as I was cause I have cats) its worth a try.
mustang
08-30-2010, 05:13 PM
holy crud yours is like checker (his middle name is hudini guess why?) put a warm object (turned on radio ,litle heat pad , charging laptop,ect) in rooms he might reappear near em....in major hall ways put strips of tape (loosly) so in morning if it went by youd see the tape would be curved wher he drug it. (or is sticks to it if you dont do it right but then all you have to do is follow trail of missing tape and give him a bath once you find him and the tape should come right off) good luck!(checker compleatly dissapeared once we cleared out my room (furniture and all) checked everywhere then put stuff back in and blocked doo with towel....he appeared on my radio warming up the next morning just outa the blue)
ConcinusMan
08-30-2010, 05:47 PM
Yeah, those sneaky snakes. Even in an unnatural environment, they are the masters at disappearing right under your nose. If a snake just got out minutes ago, I'll look. Other than that, I don't bother. Too much effort and little results. I just wait for them to surface one day in the open. Usually happens from a few days to a few weeks later.
infernalis
08-30-2010, 05:54 PM
Yeah, those sneaky snakes. Even in an unnatural environment, they are the masters at disappearing right under your nose. If a snake just got out minutes ago, I'll look. Other than that, I don't bother. Too much effort and little results. I just wait for them to surface one day in the open. Usually happens from a few days to a few weeks later.


Had one show up on the kitchen counter before, found them inside furniture, piles of cloths, in baskets, hampers, under appliances... all potential hiding spots.
Snakers
08-30-2010, 07:05 PM
lost one of my babies a couple days ago and seeing sense I have them out in my garage I thought sure enough the baby was gone, found it a couple days later on top of the cage!
guidofatherof5
08-30-2010, 07:06 PM
lost one of my babies a couple days ago and seeing sense I have them out in my garage I thought sure enough the baby was gone, found it a couple days later on top of the cage!

Great news, Nolan.;)
Snakers
08-30-2010, 07:08 PM
Great news, Nolan.;)
I know guess he wanted to see his friends again:rolleyes:
mustang
08-30-2010, 07:33 PM
I know guess he wanted to see his friends again:rolleyes:
or he was showing them the way out:D
Snakers
08-30-2010, 10:02 PM
or he was showing them the way out:D
Now that's and idea:D.........
ConcinusMan
08-30-2010, 11:42 PM
Jeez, just a few hours ago, I walked into the snake room and behold a baby concinnus scurried across the floor. Snagged him up and put him away. Got so many of them I didn't even know one was missing. Must remedy this soon...
infernalis
08-31-2010, 04:33 AM
Jeez, just a few hours ago, I walked into the snake room and behold a baby concinnus scurried across the floor. Snagged him up and put him away. Got so many of them I didn't even know one was missing. Must remedy this soon...

Been there done that.....

My big Pueblan that spends days buried in substrate had escaped once, so reclusive I never noticed he was missing.

Lifted up a mailing box that was sitting on a chair, and he was coiled up under the box.
prattypus
08-31-2010, 07:40 AM
I thought my similis got away once- tore apart the room- he hadn't left at all- he went into the top crevice in one of his fake rock hides- little turd! Hope you can find yours- not a good feeling at all.
drache
08-31-2010, 08:30 AM
make sure to check the cage again as well
guidofatherof5
08-31-2010, 10:05 AM
make sure to check the cage again as well


Great suggestion, Rhea.
I've had a few escapees that hadn't really left.:D
ConcinusMan
08-31-2010, 01:10 PM
Shoot wayne, it hasn't been very long since I parted with my 4 foot pueblan. She escaped once and got clear the opposite end of the house within minutes. I heard a disturbance and found her climbing up a wall knocking pictures off. I was blown away at how fast she got there and that I found her 5 feet up a wall!
orangepenguin
08-31-2010, 03:17 PM
oh i have checked the cage many times lol and still no sign of him!!! ive given up looking, and left food out in my room for him but hes not touched it - but then hes been off his food recently :( i hope hes ok! its been 4 days now!
ConcinusMan
08-31-2010, 03:35 PM
I have found you'll only drive yourself batty with worrying about it. It won't help. Be patient, he'll probably just show up unexpectedly. Sooner or later they get thirsty or hungry and start wandering around. If the humidity in your house is fairly low, sometimes turning on the shower (hot) and letting the steam come out into the rest of the house will draw them out.