Ky-Lin, who was in Jack's old 10 gallon All-Glass Critter Cage with the locking top, has managed to something Jack never did and was gone last night when I went to feed her. Apparently there was a teeny space where the left front edge had warped up ever so slightly...so slightly that I couldn't see it at all until I got eye level with the tiny tiny crack. She was there yesterday morning, I know, because I checked her temps and saw her. Sometime between then and when I went to feed her about 6 o'clock, she fled the scene. I put a pinky in a bottle trap under a lamp last night, but no luck. I've torn up the house, slit open the sofa bottom, cut the Christmas tree one limb at a time (yes it was still up because my son likes it to stay up for his January birthday....sort of an extended Christmas for him, I guess), checked under, in, around, and behind everything I can think of and no luck. There's one place I can't get to, and it's pretty close to where her cage is....it's a ceiling high bookshelf (I checked behind all the books already) which has a space underneath but which is blocked from view by a panel across the front. There's a crack between the side panel and the baseboard big enough for her to get through, so maybe she's in there. It's dark and isolated after all....Today I put a pinky in front of the "entryway" to that part of the bookshelf, and I'm hoping it'll disappear. If it does, I'll know she's there and can get my husband to unscrew the anchors from the wall to move the shelf. He had a fit last night because I was actually moving things to look for her and he thought it a futile effort, so he won't take the bookshelf down at this point. The bottletrap is near the pinky with the lamp over it in the hopes that if she eats, she'll want somewhere warm to hole up. I've also put a water dish out thinking she might be drawn to water... I'm SO sad, and my daughter is so distraught that she went into hysterics last night and made herself sick with it. I don't know what else I can do....if she got out of the house, then there'll be no finding her...and it's going to get very cold out there tonight, I'm told.

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~Juliane~

That's such a shame. Keep your chin up, she may find her way home.

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Answers are great. But I prefer questions!

Visit me at www.jaysreptiles.com

Check behind the fridge,,,they get attracted to the heat

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

The pinky needs to be inside the bottle trap, then she will go in for it, im so sorry you lost your baby, I sure hope she turns up, keep us posted, fingers crossed, look in all the warmer places, don't think she will make her way outside if its cold, hope not anyway. good luck.....

Thats too bad but don't give up yet. I have heard numerous stories of snakes disappearing and then turning up weeks or even months later and doing fine. I would concentrate the search on the area close to the cage. Maybe sprinkle some flour or cornstarch along the edges of the wall to see if you can see tracks. Good luck, I hope you find her!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Thank you for the encouragement...I'm still hoping. I put the pinky back in the bottle trap. I'm praying she'll come to it....she's got to be hungry because last night was feeding time.


She wasn't behind the refrigerator, and I didn't see any tracks in the dust, so I don't think she's been there at all....*sigh* This is so hard....

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~Juliane~

I'm sorry to hear about your escapee. Don't lose hope, Blackjack had a snake when we were younger and it escaped and actually went into a crack in a cupboard. It was weeks later that we saw him coming out for water and we were able to catch him again. Keep up the food and water stations. The flour is a good idea - they like to slink along the baseboards so you might see tracks. Good luck - keep us posted. Don't lose heart.
Baxter

My son found her! I was in the shower, and my kids started shouting outside the bathroom door that he'd found Ky-Lin! I got dressed as fast as I could, opened the door, and lo and behold, there was Ky-Lin in my son's hand, wriggling and just fine. He'd been looking out the living room window when he felt something cold touch his bare foot, and it was Ky-Lin. Judging from the tracks in the flour, she was under the bookshelf I thought she must be under, worked her way around the baseboard, and then was drawn to the warmth of my son's bare foot. I am so relieved! I gave her a fresh warm thawed pinky, and she snapped it up right away. My husband suspects that maybe instead of squeezing out some tiny hole, she may have been wedged inside the lip of the tank lid when I took it off last night . If she was, she must have gone wandering when I set the lid on the floor. Just to be safe though (in case she did squeeze out somewhere), there is now masking tape all around the lid of the tank.

However, she and her fat pinky-full belly are now dangling from the digital thermometer cord where she's squeezed the front half of her body back into the crack between the tank and the lid. Her belly won't fit, so she's just keeping her back end wrapped around the cord. *sigh* Tomorrow, I'm buying a 20 long tank, and as soon as I can I'm getting a CORDLESS thermometer gun or whatever it's called... Oh yeah, and every time I remove the lid, I'll be checking it carefully unless I can see her elsewhere in the tank...

I just want to thank everyone who responded to my post for your kind words and encouragement. It really helped me keep my head on straight while I was trying to find her.

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~Juliane~

I'm so glad you found her!!
As far as how she got out: play it safe!
I've had to discover the hard way that snakes will go to the one place that they're not supposed to go!! Whether it's the crack you've been meaning to close or the heat lamp you think is too high up and "they won't climb" or the one I have to take care of soon: the sliding glass doors that she "probably" wouldn't try to slide open even though size and body weight would make it easy to do.
You've given me an extra reason to take care of that today!!

Congratulations again! I'm so happy for you and your family!!!

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Andrea

Awww, I am sooo glad you found her Julian, phew I am relieved for you,