Escape Again!!!

My wild-caught speckled king has found her way out of a cage that appears to be secure. It was one of my new sliding door cages. The doors were shut tightly, and the screen top was clamped very firmly. I even tried bending the top up to the width of the snake and I couldn't do it. I'm pretty sure that I'm stronger than that little 2' kingsnake, and I can't for the life of me figure out how she did it. The same thing happened with my prairie king a while back, but from a different kind of cage, and she was not alive when we finally found her, months later.
I have already ripped the house apart looking for this one, as I did with the prairie, and she isn't anywhere visible to me. The prairie somehow found her way inside the walls, and I assume that is what this one will do as well.
On the slim chance that she comes out and I find here anytime soon, she will be free to a good home. I am never getting another kingsnake or wild-caught reptile. The wild-caught reptiles just never seem to get used to captivity and constantly seem to be trying to escape. My captive-born stuff is perfectly content hanging out in their cages and being handled. Neither of those wild-caught kingsnakes ever calmed down, and they constantly tried to escape.

Michael,

I'm really sorry to hear that.

I hope you find her........alive.

Compared to captive bred, WC herps do have their problems.

Don't swear off kings Just get a CBB one next time.

Good luck finding her, alive and well.

Paul White wrote:Don't swear off kings Just get a CBB one next time.

Good luck finding her, alive and well.

I kind of already said I wasn't going to get kings anymore before this even happened. I just like the rat snake, pituophis and boid personalities better. I know each snake is different, but I have not had good experiences with kings.

It's very frustrating and worrisome when a critter escapes. Sorry about that.

Don't give up hope too fast! They hear you coming and keep on the move, you know. Good luck!

Found her tonight, and she is still in good health. A little dehydrated, but a good soak and drink in her water dish will take care of that. I have her temporarilly double-caged, since she is such a little escape artist. We were really happy to find her alive and well.

So glad you found her, Michael! Where was she hiding? Double-caging sounds like a good plan with this one! I'd love to see a picture of her sometime--speckled king snakes are one of my favorites! We used to have a speckled king, long years ago . . .

Chu'Wuti wrote:So glad you found her, Michael! Where was she hiding? Double-caging sounds like a good plan with this one! I'd love to see a picture of her sometime--speckled king snakes are one of my favorites! We used to have a speckled king, long years ago . . .

She has always liked to soak in her water dish, so I put her dish down on a towel on the floor in the herp room. I've been checking it daily, and yesterday, I found her just sitting on the towel. She saw me, looked up at me, and just sat there and let me pick her up. She even ate a mouse for me last night.

I'm impressed! I thought you said she was WC; sure doesn't sound like it with that kind of behavior!

Smart tactic you used to get her to come out of hiding!