Snake Went Off Food, And Now Missing

Guys, my snake somehow managed to get out of her cage! I've been looking for her for two days, tore apart my entire house and skipped half a day of class because I spent all night looking for her. I'm so worried about her, and I feel horrible. I don't know how she managed to get out, but obviously her cage isint snake proof.

She also went off her food and it's been two weeks and still refused to eat which is worrisome enough and now she's completely missing!

I've been searching the web looking at "traps" I can set and I currently have all the windows open and a heat spot set up over a crumpled up towel. I also laid a bunch of plastic bags around the house, I guess you can hear the snake slither over them. I can tell from the number of people who lost their snakes online that it's a common thing and that not eating when the weather starts to change is also common but I'm still worried, especially because I have other pets.

I'm mostly worries about my one cat, who is always interested in booping the snake whenever I have her out. I really really hope he doesn't/didnt find her and eat her...

Like I said earlier, ive looked literally everywhere 5x's in the last two days. Under/in/behind furniture, under and behind the fridge, the oven, the dishwasher, the washer and dryer, the water heater, I've looked in every drawer and cabinet in the kitchen, every closet, I looked in the laundry baskets, the clothes on the floor, around/under the beds, under the rugs, I dug through the trash, in every shoe, every box. I don't know where else to look or what else to do! I just moved so there are boxes everywhere full of stuff, but they're all in the coldest room of the house.

We have cadett heaters that have a fine grate over them, so she couldn't fit in there, and there aren't any holes in the walls or floors or anything that she could get into the crawlspace or walls with. I fear the cat ate her...

What else can I do???

***UPDATE***

I FOUND HER!!!

After almost 3 months of her missing, she decided she was thirsty and knocked over some lawn chairs we had leaning against a wall. When we checked what the noise was, there she was! She ended up drinking her entire dish full of water 2 times and then soaked in the 3rd refill. She looks pretty good, although there is a tiny scratch on her head/neck area and looks like she's missing 2 scales on her body. I think these are just from her being a snake and should clear up soon. The only other thing is that the very tippy end of her tail is bright red. It doesn't look like it was severed or anything. It's just red. Should I be worried about that? Anything I can do to make it better?

Thank you all again for your help, advice, and patience!

 

Step one: sequester the cat to a room the snake cage wasn't in and that is preferably farthest from where the snake cage was so the snake is least likely to be there. Leave the cat there unless supervised until snake is found.

Step two: get salt or flour and sprinkle a thick line across the door way to the room the snake was in. If you can, do this to every doorway. This way if the snake crosses out of a room or into it you will have a 'track' to tell you.

Step three: wait.
You've already set up a heat spot, good.
Don't worry about the snake having not eaten in two weeks. They go months without eating in the wild.
Have patience. I've had them turn up days later in super obvious places after I tore apart a house and couldnt find them.
The biggest risk to the snake is the cat.
After that its the snake being in a couch and getting sat on and crushed. So just check before you sit.

 

You’ll find him, this happens to most every reptile keeper at least once. My boyfriend’s red tail boa ended up escaping and was found in his mom’s room under her bed - funny thing is she’s deathly terrified of snakes so out of all the places in the house for this snake to hide, he chooses her room...

Anyways, you’ve done pretty much all you can at this point. Flour on the floor is a good idea too, if you don’t have carpet hopefully haha.

Just continue to consistently look everywhere. Under ANYTHING. And I literally mean check under everything and anything. Check up high too - sometimes snakes can surprise you and become arboreal. I would also put a blanket or towel in front of the door that leads to the outside, just to ensure he stays in your house and doesn’t end up completely escaping. And leave the cage open.

A friend of my boyfriend and I had a rat snake get out, and it was gone for well over a year. He had a small hole in the screen of his tank, and miraculously the snake slithered it’s way back in to its own tank - over a year after it escaped. It was breeding season so it made sense, but little turd not only came back, but he put himself back in the tank too. So don’t lose hope!

And I’m not sure if this works at all, but I’ve heard of people braining a mouse and leaving it out on the floor on a paper plate. Sounds pretty gross, but you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.... braining a mouse is pretty much what it sounds like - crush it’s head so brain is exposed. Guess it’s pretty enticing to snakes.

 

Thanks for all of your input! I will try every one of these things until I find her. Last night I opened all the windows to let the fall night cool the house down in hopes she'd search out her heat light or my own body heat. She didn't . I feel like I've looked everywhere and I'm wondering if she is in the garbage that we took out... Or if the cat already ate her before we knew she was out.. wouldn't the cat leave the snakes head and/or guts behind tho? Idk I'm just running through possible outcomes now ️

 

Do i/should I tell officials about my missing snake? And should I tell my neighbors? It's been 4 days now basically, and I haven't seen or heard any signs of her.

 

Do i/should I tell officials about my missing snake? And should I tell my neighbors? It's been 4 days now basically, and I haven't seen or heard any signs of her.

If your neighbors are cool with snakes, I see no harm in it. I would just be concerned if they were the kind of people to run for a shovel whenever they see a snake.

 

If your neighbors are cool with snakes, I see no harm in it. I would just be concerned if they were the kind of people to run for a shovel whenever they see a snake.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking..

 

What kind of snake?

And usually no, I don't tell neighbors or officials. They get entirely too nosey and are of absolutely zero actual help. Even if they were to see a snake you would be the laat one they would tell.

 

I FOUND HER!!!

After almost 3 months of her missing, she decided she was thirsty and knocked over some lawn chairs we had leaning against a wall. When we checked what the noise was, there she was! She ended up drinking her entire dish full of water 2 times and then soaked in the 3rd refill. She looks pretty good, although there is a tiny scratch on her head/neck area and looks like she's missing 2 scales on her body. I think these are just from her being a snake and should clear up soon. The only other thing is that the very tippy end of her tail is bright red. It doesn't look like it was severed or anything. It's just red. Should I be worried about that? Anything I can do to make it better?

Thank you all again for your help, advice, and patience!

 

I FOUND HER!!!

After almost 3 months of her missing, she decided she was thirsty and knocked over some lawn chairs we had leaning against a wall. When we checked what the noise was, there she was! She ended up drinking her entire dish full of water 2 times and then soaked in the 3rd refill. She looks pretty good, although there is a tiny scratch on her head/neck area and looks like she's missing 2 scales on her body. I think these are just from her being a snake and should clear up soon. The only other thing is that the very tippy end of her tail is bright red. It doesn't look like it was severed or anything. It's just red. Should I be worried about that? Anything I can do to make it better?

Thank you all again for your help, advice, and patience!

Can you post a picture of her tail? That kind of concerns me, but she has been missing for a pretty good amount of time now, so she could’ve scraped it up a bit. I just want to make sure it’s nothing like tail rot.

But regardless, I’m so so happy you finally found her! This really made my entire week.

 

Can you post a picture of her tail? That kind of concerns me, but she has been missing for a pretty good amount of time now, so she could’ve scraped it up a bit. I just want to make sure it’s nothing like tail rot.

But regardless, I’m so so happy you finally found her! This really made my entire week.

Oh! I didn't even think of this! I will definitely send you some pics as soon as I get home. I looked it up and some pictures look like her tail, except worse in the pics. There's also some pics of scale rot and that looks like her "missing scales".

Tail rot and scale rot are the same thing, and are fungal infections, right?

 

omg!!!!!!! what a weirdo. I wonder where she was all this time! so glad you finally found her.

 

Good to hear she popped back up. They usually do.
A couple missing scales by itself isn't a big deal. They get nicked and ripped off in the wild all the time. A couple good sheds and they'll come back. Still, the red tail could be something so oics would be good.

Oh and she'll probably be quite hungry.

 

omg!!!!!!! what a weirdo. I wonder where she was all this time! so glad you finally found her.

It looked like she came from the room where we keep all our boxes from moving. We still haven't unpacked all of them!

 

Good to hear she popped back up. They usually do.
A couple missing scales by itself isn't a big deal. They get nicked and ripped off in the wild all the time. A couple good sheds and they'll come back. Still, the red tail could be something so oics would be good.

Oh and she'll probably be quite hungry.

As much as I've seen her climb up something and then just fall (quite dramatically, I might add), I figured the two missing scales were normal for a runaway snake.

Also, I'm feeding her now lol, she did snap the mouse up rather quickly!

Oics? Spelling error? Or do I just not know what this is? Lol

Thanks again!

 

Can you post a picture of her tail? That kind of concerns me, but she has been missing for a pretty good amount of time now, so she could’ve scraped it up a bit. I just want to make sure it’s nothing like tail rot.

But regardless, I’m so so happy you finally found her! This really made my entire week.

Here are pictures of her tail and her "missing scales". Thanks!

 

Yay! She looks great!! That will probably all heal up within the next shed or two just keep an eye on her tail and make sure it doesn’t progress.

 

Yay! She looks great!! That will probably all heal up within the next shed or two just keep an eye on her tail and make sure it doesn’t progress.

Awesome! Thanks so much for all your help!