From: bpb9204@tamsun.tamu.edu (Brent)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp
Subject: I took the plunge....and I am sinking.
Summary: CA Kingsnake on the loose
Date: 10 Apr 92 06:11:24 GMT
Followup-To: rec.pets.herp
Organization: Texas A&M Univ., Inc.


Hello all.  (this note expanded to a medium length, so bear with me).

  Well, after doing lots of reading of various books and the loads of
advice and comments ya'll sent me,  I decided on getting a CA kingsnake.
From all accounts, their disposition is good and almost everybody thought
that would be a good 1st snake for me.

  Last Friday I bought it from the local pet store (it turns out one
of the pet store employees owns and is now breeding snakes and lizards).
I had a 10 gal tank set up for it with a locking cover and the snake
seemed pretty curious about where it was (naturally).  Anyway, the
snake is a mere 11" long and I like it alot.  While I was handling it
a bit, it was really docile and just slinked around my fingers a bit.
It never tried to run away from my hands. (This seems to be a good sign).

  Now the bad news.  I put the snake in there and made sure everything was
snapped shut on the cover before I went out for a while that night.  I came
back a few hours later and the snake had escaped!  Now, this cover snaps
on fairly tight and it was still attached when I got back.  The cover
is designed for reptile cages and the top of the cover wraps down each side,
so that it fits close to the tank's walls.  Also before I left I placed
a smallish book (1 lb or so) on the top as added insurance.  Anyway, this
cover has about 1/8" or less clearance around the tank and somehow this
snake squeezed itself through this gap -- and it had to lift the cover up
a bit to get out.

  Well, that night I looked around my apartment and the next day
the Big Search began.  We emptied every closet, every box in those
closets, we moved the fridge, the dishwasher, the furniture and we even
sliced open the bottom of the sofa and checked in there.  I've been keeping
my eyes peeled, but I haven't seen one sign yet.
 
  The guy at the shop said to just wait it out; the snake will appear
when it's hungry.  Well, the snake has been hiding for a week (assuming it's
still in the apartment) and the last feeding was on 3/24.  I've checked
door and window seals and they are tight.  The only thing I didn't do
is move the water heater; the heater has about 1/16" of clearance between
its base and the floor, so I don't THINK it can get under that.

  The snake is about 3/8" in diameter and I just can't imagine even that
snake flattening out enough to get out of the tank, let alone climb up a
glass side that is taller than the snake's length.  This is a mystery.

  The next step is to try the dead mouse tied to the wall trick and see
if that will bring it out.  I sure hope it does because I am really happy
with this snake and I'd hate to lose it after it was my "pet for a day."
Concerning this dead mouse trick, since this snake is so small I have to
use newborn pink mice (very very newborn).  How do you go about killing
these?  

Thanks, 
-Brent (What a hell of an initiation) Burton

-- 
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Brent P. Burton, N5VMG                                    Computer Sci/Physics
bpb9204@tamsun.tamu.edu                                   Texas A&M University
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Organization: Sophomore, Social & Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA