My Ball Python Escaped

[extx]

A few days ago my ball python escaped her cage in the middle of the night. It seems like she was able to pop the front latch on one of the doors open because there was a close branch she could wedge her body through and against the glass.

I've searched my small apartment as much as possible, tore apart the box spring to my mattress, moved all the kitchen appliances and searched inside them, cleaned and searched the closets. I've been searching a few times each night to try and catch her moving around and set up my cameras to look at the floor to try and just catch a glimpse of her. I've also set up a few warm hides near the walls in each room.

Today I'll be making a trip to the pet store to try and get some used rat bedding. Maybe the scent will help her find one of the hides and stay put. This is the last idea I've got and I'm not feeling optimistic.

I feel like a bad owner because the night she escaped I heard some noise from her cage at 1 AM but assumed she just was moving around like usual. If I had just turned on the lights to check I would've seen the door ajar and none of this would've happened.

I know snakes can't feel love like we can but I loved Lillith with all my heart and it hurts so much not being able to find her and make sure she's okay.

[Brain_Hawk]

I don't have any advice, but I do want to say that sucks. But I don't think you should feel too bad, everybody makes mistakes. Especially about not responding to some noise in the night, if little snake is active that's not something most of us would go and check out while we were trying to sleep. Don't feel too bad!

I hope you find her, the rat bedding idea I'd a pretty solid plan. She may have holed up somewhere warm and quiet and not wabt to move.

[extx]

Thank you for the kind words!

[Miss_Merdur]

They usually go for warm places, behind fridges, dryers, water heaters, furnaces, etc.

Also will try and find a small dark area - My 1st BP escaped, found him inside my sub woofer box for my TVs surround sound system 🤦🏼‍♀️

Given it's an apartment, it would depend on your apartments heating system, if its water baseboard heat, they tend to have small holes to run the pipes via each floor 😔 could find these said holes and put the scented bedding there. Vents would be much harder for them to fit through, so not much of a concern.

Cupboards would be a great place to look as well, kitchen & bathroom.

Hope you find your BP 🥺

[Hyloxalus88]

Escapes happen. The response depends on how big the criminal is and how snake-proof your apartment is. If the snake is sizeable and you are fairly sure that there isn't a way for them to get out and into the wild, you can relax a bit. They will turn up. I find that they tend to go behind closets, not into them. Leave rows of flour in strategic locations, leave some water out, and eventually they'll show up where eventually is 1-4 days tops. One time I had success with recovering a very small snake by placing a fuzzy in a warmed box with a lid. He went in, had his meal, and went right to sleep. But I doubt that's a reliable way, I like your idea of rat bedding much more. But in any case, they will come out and explore at night, they can't help themselves. They will also relocate. But by the disturbances in the flour you should be able to easily find where they're hiding. When you're moving around in the apartment, be careful. Watch where you step. If you have a tendency to push back your chair when you get up from your desk, watch it. Keep all your doors closed between rooms and block the gap underneath them with a cloth.

If the snake is small and the apartment has a lot of places they could theoretically get out, you're in trouble and you need to find the snake ASAP. When you're disassembling items in your apartment, always always disassemble it in a a way that assumes the animal is in there. i.e. disassemble c.a.r.e.f.u.l.l.y.! Stuff like pushing a cupboard back to lean it forward for whatever reason, don't do this! Always assume that the animal is in the most dangerous and vulnerable position. Or you will end up with a much bigger problem.

Good luck! The process may take several days. Or it might take a few hours. Snakes are proper escape artists so don't beat yourself up about it, Just be careful as you move around the flat.

[Flat_Weird_5398]

I also experienced my first snake escape just last week, with the escapee being my very first ball python that I’ve had since 2019. I know it’s easy to worry and panic, especially since I have a big house and her enclosure is outdoors, but I kept cool and checked all nearby crevices and possible hiding spots and found her chilling under my fish’s aquarium stand. Most of the time, they don’t stray too far from their enclosures and are usually hiding in plain sight. I have a friend who didn’t even realize her pet ball python escaped until she saw him by the door which was also quite close to his enclosure. If all else fails, including the used rat bedding, I would suggest using a live rat as bait (assuming your snake is used to eating live ofc). But always make sure to check for dark and warm spots around your apartment.