| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| timbo king |
Posted - 28/05/2009 : 11:42:06
Hello! A few months ago my King snake escaped from its vivarium and while attempting to find him again i searched the internet for tips and ideas on recapturing him. Although there were several articles they were spread about and often unhelpful, so i was thinking maybe it was a good idea to have a thread where every one uses there experience or offers suggestions on the subject of escape prevention and recapture, so that any panicing owner will benefit from others experience.
My king snake is a juvenile and the first king snake i ever owned, i also own a corn snake which only escaped once due to me leaving the viv open and was quickly found! However the king snake seemed to escape from a closed secured vivarium. I was warned that they are very capable escapologists and searching on the net discovered that alot of people to this day cant figure out how there king snakes escaped.
Luckily after the first escape we found him after a few days in a duvet cover, yet were still unable to explain his escape. The kind of vivarium we have is the very common style with the two sliding glass pannls. It previously housed our corn snake when he was a juvenile (and the same size)and we had no problems what so ever. After a few days of having him back my girlfriend caught him red handed in an escape attempt. He had managed to flatten his body and squeeze between the two glass panals of the vivarium, a gap so small that we had thought it an impossibillity (3-5mm)! And of course having faith in the manafactureres of the vivs we thought they would have made sure this gap was escape proof.
So luckily enough we had got there in time to prevent another escape and work out how he was getting out. From that moment onwards i placed sticky tape over the gap in the glass sealling off the previous escape route. However i woke up one morning to a strange noise, and discovered (you guessed it) our king snake pushing back the sticky tape and half way out again!!! I doubled my efforts and layered the tape but despite this a few weeks later he was out again. I think its worth noting that he seemed to make attempts after shedding (sluffing) his skin, not sure if this has any science behind it but thought it was worth mentioning.
Again luckily, we managed to find the little sod after 5 days of him being on the run. But this time we are taking no chances and thoroughly taping up the gap ( a small fortune in stickytape). I just wanted to post this so other owners would be aware of this perhaps overlooked escape route. And see if anyone had similar experiences? I guess we will have to keep securing the viv in this fashion untill he has grown considerably.
As far as recapture goes the most helpful tips i found were to sprinkle flour on the floor in the hope the the snake will slither across and lead tracks to where he is hiding. Also obvioulsy leave food out and shelter in the form of his hide.
Also (not sure if this is coincidence or not) but the second time he was captured he was crawling down the stairs while we were playing led zepplin loudly ( i recommend the immigrant song). He hadn't eaten for a goog few days and i wondered if the vibrations had drawn him out in to such an exposed location?
Thanks for your time please add your tips thought etc.
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| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kazerella |
Posted - 01/06/2009 : 17:56:56
kings are too curious to stay hidden for long. Nosey parkers! |
| Mancunian |
Posted - 30/05/2009 : 10:24:33
I have had two escapees. The Tibo, my Royal Python, got out as I stupidly did not close the glass doors properly on his viv but I found him a week later in the bathroom curled up with the toiletries!
I also lost a baby Cali twice! He was found downstairs initially and I assumed I had not palced the lid on the glass tank correctly. Sadly the next day he was gone again, despite having weights on the viv lid to stop him prising it off. I assume he managed to squeeze between the rim of the tank and lid. I never found him again. There have been unproven sightings of him treking through the Peak District ;) I am selling the house soon so I just hope he does not turn up after we move or the new residents will have a shock!! |
| magneticblue |
Posted - 28/05/2009 : 19:53:50
Welcome to the forum |
| lee2308 |
Posted - 28/05/2009 : 15:27:01
I would like to start by say hi and welcome to the forum,that was one heck of first post,i luckly have not had the problem of a lost snake (yet)Thanks for posting your experience and thats a good heads up about the glass gap  |
| Kehhlyr |
Posted - 28/05/2009 : 14:19:39
I have a bit of folded cardboard between the panels on one of my vivs, it keeps the gap filled and is tough to remove. |
| wolfspirit |
Posted - 28/05/2009 : 13:09:24
i am in the same boat with two dogs and cats which probably made it easier to find my corn..lol.. |
| timbo king |
Posted - 28/05/2009 : 12:17:27
Yes point taken i would have run water over it had it become stuck to the snake but i think your right best avoided. So maybe a strip of wood secured with tape would be the best option.
We also have two dogs and two cats so the fact that it made it down the stairs avoiding confrontation even more remarkable. |
| wolfspirit |
Posted - 28/05/2009 : 12:06:49
my corn snake escaped a short while ago and she got out of the tiniest hole, since then i have plugged all the holes with strips of wood.
But i remembered something i was told by a friend, that was to look close by her viv as she might not be far..and fair enough, my son found her, she had been sat underneath my computer desk all day long..
possibly helped by the fact i have other animals so she would have been a bit scared of coming out..
i would make one comment though..
you should never ever use sticky take anywhere your snake can come into contact with it...including holes gaps or anything like that...
you can damage scales and also if it got it stuck on its face and could not get it off your snake could suffocate...damage an eye or a host of other things trying to remove the tape..
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