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Posted by chikkensht on November 10, 2002 at 19:07:33:
In Reply to: Sat. Morning adventure. The tale of a lost snake. (Long) posted by markgaj on November 10, 2002 at 17:51:23:
That was quite a thrilling recreation of events!! I'm glad you got her safely! At least it's the wall that got the beat end, not the snake!! OK, Im gonna keep this short and sweet so you can get some work done ;oD!! GREAT JOB!
:Early yesterday morning I woke with an urge to check on my animals. It was my day to sleep in but for some reason I had this overwhelming need to check on the animals. So I dragged myself out of bed into the living room and checked the Rubbermaid container that I had just transferred my BP to the night before. I had previously been keeping her in an aquarim which is far to small for her (she is growing so fast). I am in the process of building a larger cage for her but Fri. night I decided to move her into this rubbermaid container temporarily until her large enclosure was finished. Anyway half asleep looking into this clear piece of plastic I could not see any snake. Well needless to say that woke me up immediately! The lid was still on top of the container however but no longer tightly closed. I couldn't believe this could happen to me. I have seen posts about people having escaped snakes posting for advice on how to locate them. I never would have guessed that I would ever find myself in this situation. I found myself lifting out an obviously empty hide checking uderneath a single layer of papertowel substrate and finally holding an empty rubbermaid container upside down desprately hoping that somehow she was there and I had just missed her. No such luck. I then sat down and took a minute to regroup and get organized. Okay, what have I read on the forums? lay plastic bags, toothpics or flower along the walls and at entrances to rooms. No thats no good its first thing in the morning, by now she has found a nice little spot to hide and if she does decide to come out it won't be until tonight.... WHat else??? leave out a Rat for her to eat... ha! thats a laugh, wasn't interested in food for the last two weeks why would she be now? even so this wouldn't work until tonight either. Hmmm turn off the heat and leave her favorite hide out on top of a heat pad? Possibly but again probably won't work until at least tonight. Sounds like all methods I can think of are to be done at night. I can't wait that long! so I decided to start an active Idea instead of all these passive approaches where I have to sit and wait. I would conduct a search starting in the room she went missing. At this point I'm getting increasingly worried thinking about all the reprocussions of this little disaster. If I don't find her I have to start all over raising another female for breeding. Will she be able to survive if I don't find her? And worst of all, after all the work it took to convince the folks at the appartment I live to let me keep snakes, what will happen if she turns up in someone elses suite? I'm now half expecting to hear a scream from the other side of a wall, floor or celing.
:Okay stay focussed. I began my search of the room (living room). I first did a visual inspection. Afterall, perhaps she only made her break just recently and is sitting out somewhere in plin view. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. But the quick visual search wasn't completely without point. I found an "electricity lamp" on the floor which was definately not there last night since it usually sits on a speaker beside my TV. It seems little abby had come out of the rubbermaid container which was on the right hand side of my TV, then climbed over the Tv and onto the left speaker. From there she would have no where to go so I can only assume that she grabbed ahold of the lamp and peered over the edge of the speaker. When she leaned to far over she must have fallen pulling the lamp with her. (Unfortuanately that didn't wake me from my sleep). So I began a detailed search. I looked under and around my other cages. Inside my entertainment unit behind all my stereo equipment and movies, inside the VCR etc. I removed the drivers from my speakers and stuck my head inside. At this point I had all but given up hope. I was just looking everywhere incase by some chance (however unlikely) I could find her. I proceeded to check inside all of my furniture, couches, chairs. Carefully opening up the Hide-a-bed and looking in every crevace and the same with the recliner. No luck. Before long the room was a mess. With everything pulled away from the walls, the backs removed from the furniture stereo equipment disassembled and cushions and shelf contents scattered thruought the room. Okay next I decided to check the radiators that run along the baseboards. I figured this was my best chance so I began feeling along the base of the wall all the way around the room. Was it possible that she could have fit through where the water pipe goes through the wall to the next room? Probably not so continued my search.
:THe living room is oppened up to the kitchen so I began searching along the base of the cupboards and behind the fridge and stove, inside the stove etc. With every new location I searched the chances of finding her were getting more and more slim. I decided to go ahead and check the room adjacent to the living room where the water pipe runs through, on the off chance that Abby did fit through. This room is my "Rat Room". Where I breed rats and also use for general storage. This room is much easier to search since there is not too much stuff in there. I first check in and around all the Rat racks, but no luck. I move the cages I have been working on and check behind them as well. Still nothing. I check along the base of the wall behind the radiatior feeling my way along from the side opposite to the livingroom back. I make my way back to the wall shared by the living room and notice the hole in the wall here is slightly larger and a little more accessible so I am able to reach my finger inside. Wait, whats that?! I think I feel scales? Could it be abby? What else could possibly be back there with that texture and feel? its not moving. But am I grasping at straws since I can only feel it with the tip of my finger? I reach in again and feel it retract. Yes! it is her!
:Now how do I get her out? If this was my house I probably would have ran for a sledge hammer but its not... I'm renting at this appartment. Would she come out at night? I doubt it but where is she going to go right? What if the holes for the electrical wire are large enough for her to fit through and she starts moving from stud to stud? I have no choice, I go for a knife. and very carefully cut a hole as small as possible that I will still be able to pull her out of. As I cut I worry about the knife hitting her on the other side, I worry about....What if that isn't abby? It took for ever but I finally got the hole cut and removed a piece of drywall. There she was, I could see her now. Now to grab her before she moves and get a good hold of her so I don't lose her. So I grab her and pull her tail half out, but wait, she's stuck! My hand won't fit through the small hole I cut. I can feel her body moving in waves as she trys to crall back into the hole and her body is slowly slipping through my fingers. I call for my girlfriend who is in bed now but had gotten up to assist in the search as much as possible. I didn't want her to do any lifting etc. as she had just returned from the hospital where she had received surgery. It didn't take her long to piece to gether the situation and she immediately came to my aid. Her hands are much smaller than mine and she said she would be all right to reach in there. "I've got her she said". I asked if I could let go of her then and she said yes (as if I had a choce by this time I was only holding the tip of her tail). But abby had a grip on something and was still pulling away with enough strength to pull my gf's arm further into the hole in the wall. ultimately she had to let go but told me she was climbing up. We needed to cut another hole but where. Amanda (my gf) indicated where it seemed abby was going but I could see that she was pointing to the other side of the stud. That can't be?! So I picked a spot about 3' high on the same side of the stud as the previous hole and began cutting. I made this hole a little bigger as I was unsure of exactly where she was and figured I may have to reach my arm in to grab her. I pulled the piece of dry wall away to find her head resting on the newly cut drywall and her body wraped around some electrical wire. I began trying to get her out when, without warning, she fell back to the bottom. So I looked back at the bottom hole and realized I would have to make it larger in order to get her out so. I began cutting some more. When I was satisfied the hole was large enough I tried once again to remove her. but I could feel that she had much of her body wrapped around some electrical wire. So at this point I got amanda to reach her arm in again. By this time I was no longer worried as to whether or not we would get her out but was finally able to see some humor in the situation. So I decided to run and get the camera. Looking back I should have taken more pictures to document the hole ordeal but that was not on my mind at the time. As I returned to the room with the camera Amanda had just freed abby from her grip and was able to pull her out of the wall. Here is the picture where you can see the 2 holes and amanda.
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:Once we got her out we gave her a bath and returned her to the aquarium until her new enclosure is ready.
:Well I just felt like writing a little story about this. I hope you enjoyed reading it and learned a little in the process. I think hearing these types of stories can come in handy sometimes. Even if you think it could never happen to you as I did. Remember..... The moral of the story is.... Always keep your animals secure. It only takes a few minutes for a snake to get away; don't take the risk.
:Now if you will excuse me..... I have a wall to patch up :)
:mark
