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Thread: Snake loose in my house....

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    Elite Member tanacat's Avatar
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    Snake loose in my house....

    I'm a naturalist at a nature center and my hubby found a baby black rat snake at his work in a maintenance building. He asked if I wanted to take her to work to show the kids. I talked to co-workers and we decided to keep her since she was young and hadn't been used to a life in the wild. We named her 'Sweet Pea' and she's been great as an educational tool to help teach/relieve fears, as I'm not scared of snakes and would get her out for the school programs. We had her there for about a month but recently I had a 3 day weekend and took her home (that day she had been traumatized by some middle school kids tapping on the glass getting a thrill out of her striking at the glass). I thought nice to have my boys get to know her and tame her some more
    but on day 3 she escaped out of her tank!!!

    She's only 1 foot long now but they can grow to 8 feet! It's been 2 weeks and we still can't find her. Snakes are notorious escape artists. The ironic thing is that I'd decided the day she got loose to go ahead and set her free behind our house (woods/creek).... I was feeling guilty about keeping her in captivity, that she would be happier in the wild.


    Anyone have ideas on how to find a snake loose in the house?? I thought we'd find her by now...
    Last edited by tanacat; 11-18-2013 at 10:03 AM.
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    Junior Member Longhair's Avatar
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    Look in warm dark places. And don't give up. I once had a pet snake that vanished for several months, only to reappear very undernourished and dehydrated.
    Good luck finding it!
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  3. #3
    1. Think of your friend who is the most terrified of snakes.
    2. Invite that friend to spend the night at your house.
    3. The snake will invariably end up in bed with that person.

    Snake found, problem solved!
    Last edited by Tony Two-Cent; 11-18-2013 at 11:40 AM.
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    Elite Member tanacat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tony Two-Cent View Post
    1. Think of your friend who is the most terrified of snakes.
    2. Invite that friend to spend the night at your house.
    3. The snake will invariably end up in bed with that person.

    Snake found, problem solved!
    Love it!!!
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    Elite Member tanacat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Longhair View Post
    Look in warm dark places. And don't give up. I once had a pet snake that vanished for several months, only to reappear very undernourished and dehydrated.
    Good luck finding it!
    Thanks- I've been checking around the water heater/furnace area a lot and put out a big plate of water... I thawed out a pinkie a couple times to no avail. If it disappears I know she's still around I need to try that again. That is reassuring that yours showed up. I feel sorry for her - hope she got outside the times I left the doors open...
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    Elite Member coinnut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tony Two-Cent View Post
    1. Think of your friend who is the most terrified of snakes.
    2. Invite that friend to spend the night at your house.
    3. The snake will invariably end up in bed with that person.

    Snake found, problem solved!
    That's the best plan I have heard yet
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    Administrator del's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tony Two-Cent View Post
    1. Think of your friend who is the most terrified of snakes.
    2. Invite that friend to spend the night at your house.
    3. The snake will invariably end up in bed with that person.

    Snake found, problem solved!

    thats just great stuff ,Tony


    sweet pea will show up sooner or later Tana , they like to lay low when theres a lot of activity around the house and move around when its very quiet.
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  8. #8
    If you don't want to try Tony's idea (which I think is a great idea), I think Sweet pea is just chillin out as Dan suggests. Likely you will open a cupboard or closet one day and and find her resting in a corner. Rat snakes are very docile.....at least the adults are. Maybe the young ones are skittish ???
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    Elite Member tanacat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lodge Scent View Post
    If you don't want to try Tony's idea (which I think is a great idea), I think Sweet pea is just chillin out as Dan suggests. Likely you will open a cupboard or closet one day and and find her resting in a corner. Rat snakes are very docile.....at least the adults are. Maybe the young ones are skittish ???
    She was more skittish- being young she wanted to explore and hunt and be free. I had rationalized that she would be good for captivity being so young... but freedom is innate desire. I'm always telling my kids to set critters free mommy is a hypocrite!
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    Elite Member tanacat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by del View Post
    thats just great stuff ,Tony


    sweet pea will show up sooner or later Tana , they like to lay low when theres a lot of activity around the house and move around when its very quiet.
    Thanks Dan, I could put on my night vision goggles or set up the surveillance camera.... if I were more patient haha gives me idea to set out the thawed/heated mouse at night right before turning out all the lights though.

    Some people prob think I'm pretty weird, snakes, dead mice, etc
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    Junior Member Longhair's Avatar
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    At one time, I had a pair of Red Factor Canaries, a Conure, 5 Amazons, a Yellow Rat Snake, an albino Rat snake, and a 12½lb male Mexican Red-Legged Tortoise. One Amazon and the Tortoise had the run of the house.
    So no, I don't think you're weird at all.
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  12. #12
    Global Moderator aloldstuff's Avatar
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    Tana,

    I hope that "sweet pea" has been found. I have to tell you a funny story.

    Back in the day (early sixties) I was a young lad and bought myself a alligator. I can remember it cost me $3.12. Well I brought it home in a shoebox and as I was walking down the driveway my Father asked me what was in the shoebox. I of course told the truth and proceeded to let my new pet out of the box. Okay now what do we do with it he asks. I said that we can keep it the cement tub we had in the basement and he agreed. Well Mom was on board as much as Dad was. One morning my mother comes us from the basement screaming.....it's loose, go and catch it....NOW. Took a while but I saw the ridges of his tail under the dryer and used a broom handle to bring it out. My mother was so relieved when I finally sold it to a friend (for a profit).
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  13. #13
    Elite Member tanacat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by aloldstuff View Post
    Tana,

    I hope that "sweet pea" has been found. I have to tell you a funny story.

    Back in the day (early sixties) I was a young lad and bought myself a alligator. I can remember it cost me $3.12. Well I brought it home in a shoebox and as I was walking down the driveway my Father asked me what was in the shoebox. I of course told the truth and proceeded to let my new pet out of the box. Okay now what do we do with it he asks. I said that we can keep it the cement tub we had in the basement and he agreed. Well Mom was on board as much as Dad was. One morning my mother comes us from the basement screaming.....it's loose, go and catch it....NOW. Took a while but I saw the ridges of his tail under the dryer and used a broom handle to bring it out. My mother was so relieved when I finally sold it to a friend (for a profit).
    Thanks for the funny story Al A loose alligator would be pretty nerve-wracking. Your parents sound pretty cool to have let you keep for a while at least. I've wondered before how many pet caimans have been set free inside the states. We deal with people setting pets free here at our 30 acre wildlife sanctuary (mainly turtles) Children often ask if there are alligators in the wetland and I think to myself 'not unless someone set some free'...


    Quote Originally Posted by Longhair View Post
    At one time, I had a pair of Red Factor Canaries, a Conure, 5 Amazons, a Yellow Rat Snake, an albino Rat snake, and a 12½lb male Mexican Red-Legged Tortoise. One Amazon and the Tortoise had the run of the house.
    So no, I don't think you're weird at all.
    Very neat! I've always wanted a conure or amazon... Were the Amazon & Tortoise buddies? Just saw a neat documentary about odd animal friendships.

    I've had some pretty strange pets over the years too. I raised a baby opossum at the same time that I had a 5 foot iguana- they liked to hang out together in the window sill and got along with my cat & dog. It was a zoo around that time. I've had quite variety of lizards, snakes, turtles, fish tanks and a ring-necked turtle dove. I think fave pet ever was a rat named Simon
    Last edited by tanacat; 11-19-2013 at 08:29 AM.
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  14. #14
    Junior Member Longhair's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tanacat View Post
    Very neat! I've always wanted a conure or amazon... Were the Amazon & Tortoise buddies? Just saw a neat documentary about odd animal friendships.
    DON'T get a conure, unless it's a Sun Conure! Most conurers don't talk, they only SCREAM! Sun conures are very friendly, are small, and are by far the least obnoxious compared to the others.

    And no, my Yellow Nape(Alto) and the Mexican Red-Leg(Shep) weren't buds. They pretty much ignored each other.
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  15. #15
    Owner/Administrator Epi-hunter's Avatar
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    Tana, don't invite me to your house

    I'm sorry, but I hate snakes. I don't wish them any harm, but they just need to stay far away from me.

    I hate spiders too.... I have a phobia about spiders.
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  16. #16
    Elite Member tanacat's Avatar
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    I totally understand/respect your fears Angie. Those big 'ol house centipedes give me the heeby jeebies... and now I have fear of yellow jackets since I got swarmed by them recently- while relic hunting!

    So if I find her you'll come over for a game of darts?

  17. #17
    This may help, back in 1969 I had a pet rattlesnake that I kept in a wood box in he garage when I lived at home. One day my Dad came home from work and saw me in the garage looking around, and asked me what was in the box. I told him it was my pet rattlesnake, but he seemed to have got out. Up to that point in my life, I had never seen my Dad run, he must have hit 60mph in about 3.2 seconds. ( I was impressed) As he stood at the end of the driveway,he yelled to "get rid of that %#$@& snake". well, I had no luck finding him, so I thought the local pet store may be able to help. Since it was only a couple of blocks away, I went over there and told the man there my problem. He told me what I needed was a snake whistle, to get the snake to come to me. As luck would have it, he had one left and I bought it. To make a long story short, I went home and tried it and it worked. As a matter of fact it seemed to irratate the snake a lot. If you like, I can send it to you to try. (results may vary). There you go, problem solved.
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  18. #18
    Global Moderator aloldstuff's Avatar
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    Wow, a snake whistle.......is that something like frequency grease????
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    Elite Member tanacat's Avatar
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    Oops I missed this post... okay you can mail it to me:

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    If I weren't a naturalist I prob wouldn't know that snakes don't have ears
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  20. #20
    Tanacat, I think I would of moved out and sold my house!!! YIKES (Did you ever find that snake?)

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