How to Catch Your Escaped Pet Snake?
Snake lovers love to keep snakes as their pets. However, pet snakes usually escape from their enclosures even when all windows are closed. Nothing that pains pet snake owners more like knowing that their pet has run away from home and it will probably never return.
If you just came home and realized that your pet snake isn’t around, you could be wondering how to get your pet back. In this guide, we shall look at tips on how to get back your pet snake.
Check the Snake’s Habitat
Your snake has a preferred habit where he loves coiling whenever you aren’t holding him in your arms. The habitat could be behind the furniture or other objects in your house.
Thus, it would help if you start by checking whether your snake has hidden in these spaces. Start with checking the walls once you discover your pet snake is missing. Search for your pet snake under your baseboard heating elements if you have any in your house.
Some snake pets are most likely to hide in toilets. But check everywhere where your snake preferred to live while it was under your care. It could be behind the curtains or under the tanks.
Check Your Furniture
Upholstered furniture, for instance, could have holes that your estranged snake could use as its hiding. Thus, check between your furniture, especially under the cushions. Furthermore, check through all the shelves and bookshelves. Remember to check for your snake pet behind the items on your shelves.
Check Through the Cabinets
Pet snakes love hiding in cabinets at times. Hence, it would help if you checked through your cupboards to find out whether your lovely pet snake is hiding in there.
Snakes can open cabinet doors, and therefore you need to check behind the cabinet doors. Check your cabinets for any holes that your snake could have used to escape through.
Inspect all Hollow Spaces in Your Home
Snakes love hiding in hollow spaces. Your snake could not have escaped, but it could be hiding in open areas. Some of the hollow spaces where your snake pet could be hiding include tissue boxes, hampers, garbage cans, and bags.
What To Do If You Can’t Find Your Snake?
You can check for your lost pet snake in various places. But that doesn’t mean you will find your pet. However, these are some of the things you should do if you can’t find your pet snake.
– Wait Until Nighttime
Your pet snake could be hiding somewhere, ready to ambush prey. Or, the snake could be hiding somewhere due to its safety, and thus it will only come out in the nighttime when it knows it is safe.
Snakes usually like to operate under the cover of darkness, and thus they are most active during nighttime. Hence use, flashlights to explore all the spaces that your snake could be hiding in. It is easier to find your lost snake during the night than in the daytime.
– Don’t Scare Your Snake
You could explore all the spaces in your home and luckily find your lovely snake pet. First, don’t act in a way that will make the snake panic. If you scare your lost snake upon seeing it, the reptile might get frightened and opt for ways to run away from you.
Ways to Find Your Snake
Snakes master the art of escaping. They are perfect escapers of all the pets. However, there are some things you can use to find your missing pet snake.
– Use a Camera
Install a camera in your snake’s enclosure to monitor its movements. Camera footage will help you know when the snake escapes. It is like the CCTV you install at your business or home to watch everyone coming in and out of your home. Installing a camera will save you from the difficult work of finding your lost snake since the camera will enable you to see where the snake is hiding.
– Use Crumpled Newspapers
Spread out some crumbled newspapers in your home, especially in specific spots that your pet snakes preferred to live. The snake may crawl on the newspapers making enough noise to show you that the snake is around.
– Use Flour
Facilitate the process of finding your lots pet snake by pouring flour all over the doorway. Leave the flour overnight. Check for signs of disturbed flour that show trails of your snake. Even if the flour doesn’t show you exactly where your snake pet is hiding, the flour should at least facilitate the process of tracking down your lost pet.
– Use Tape
Using tape and foil can be a great way of finding your lost pet snake. You can tape all over the floor to encourage the snake to crawl under the tape without the snake noticing you want to catch it.
– Lure with Food
Snakes love feasting on smaller creatures such as rodents. You can lure your snake back into your possession by using bait such as mice. You can place the bait inside a box or cage.
Make sure the area where you place your bait is warm. Warm temperatures help emit the scents that the bait produces. Putting food at a warm temperature will help lure your lost snake pet.
The best thing about using live bait is that it encourages the lost snake to hunt for the bait. However, place the bait in a faintly lit spot to give your pet an impression that the bait you are using is natural and that it has the opportunity to devour its “prey.”
Make sure the bait is large enough for your snake. Snakes take time to digest their prey upon eating them. Hence, your pet snake will remain at the same spot upon eating the food you used as bait.
Whatever food you use to lure your lost pet snake, please make sure the snake won’t detect you using the bait to trap him. Otherwise, your pet snake will not fall for your trap, and it might choose to ignore the bait.
Wrap Up
Pet snakes are lovely and cute pets to have around. However, pet snakes can escape easily, especially when they detect that they live in the wrong environment. Luckily though, you can use these tips discussed in this guide to catch your lost snake pet.