Tube Pets

An unfortunate occurrence when you’re in the hobby of keeping creatures in containers in that they generally have the mind set to escape. Snakes, being lithe and strong animals, can be frightfully good at this. Almost every single hobbyist will have to deal with this at some point. Here’s some suggestions

• Don’t freak out. Calm down. Being anxious will not make this easier.
• Figure out the parameters of your hunt, and refine your search based on that. Are you looking for a big snake who just ate in a cold house? Chances are it hasn’t gone far and it’s hiding locations are limited by size. Alternatively a hungry neonate in a warm house has a massive range of distance and hiding spots.
• Keep all free roaming meal sized pets away. Stick the dog outside or lock the cat & hamster in the bathroom. An escaped snake means potential dangers for one of your pets.
• Start with the area closest to the tank. Check around the vivarium – sometimes creatures don’t venture far from home before becoming bored about this concept of adventure. Plastic aquarium backings, inside light fixtures and under tank stands are possible spots.
• Rotate through the room in a complete path to make sure you check everywhere. Don’t look under the sofa in the far corner, then the desk in the middle, followed by the shelf over there. That pattern will lead to missing areas – potentially missing your snake.
• Pick up, move or look behind everything your snake could possibly use as cover. For a young snake this will mean every tshirt dropped on the floor, shoe and nook possible.
• Pay special attention to heat generating sources, especially in the cooler months. Under appliances, around computers, near hot water pipes and outlet vents.

Generally while you’re moving around looking – your snake will be staying put. If your search ends unsuccessfully, you have to stop, or you’re worried about the snake moving while you look – there’s methods to contain your snake.

• If possible, block off any holes or gaps that could be used for escape. This includes floor vents, open windows and actual holes. Towels and plastic bags can be used to temporarily plug these points.  (As a preventative measure, I installing a section of window screen over all vents to deter possible escapees.)
• Keep doors closed if they’ll deter movement of the snake between rooms. This is easy enough with larger snakes, but may require stuffing a towel across the door if the escapee is smaller.
• Spread a solid line of flour across doorways. This won’t stop movement but will show you if a snake has moved between rooms and in what direction. Having a strong vacuum will help cleaning this up.
• Do not use glue traps or sticky tape to capture your snake. If you have any sticky traps set out for rodents or pests – pick them up immediately. The damage a snake could do to itself while stuck is massive. Even if you could find your snake rapidly after it became ensnared in glue, removing it unharmed would be tedious and extremely stressful. (Oil – mineral, coconut, olive etc. would be the safest way to dislodge a stuck snake – but don’t put yourself in that position!)
• With large snakes (2.5″diameter and larger) putting crinkly plastics bags on the ground may help you hear when a snake is moving. This isn’t a good idea with smaller snakes, or even adult ball pythons, as they’re likely to just hide under the bags.

Sometimes you'll find your roaming pet right away, but for those less fortunate it may take weeks of anxious hunting and its not always successful. Don't underestimate the ability of your reptiles to escape. Invest in quality enclosures with tight fitting locking lids. If someone else is putting your creatures back in their enclosures – make sure they're properly locked! It's always better to be overprotective than to lose a pet.