How Long Can A Snake Live Lost In A House? 7 Facts To Know
If you have a snake as a pet, you need to take good care of it so you don’t lose it. How long can a snake that got out of its tank live in a house? Snakes are very good at getting away.
So, if you have a pet snake, the best way to keep it from running around the house or getting lost is to get a tank or cage that doesn’t have any holes. Snakes often get out of their tanks to find food, warmth, or somewhere to sleep.
How long can a snake live loose in the house?
If your pet snake gets lost in your house, don’t worry. It may not eat for 4 to 5 weeks, and some can go for 2 months.
How long a snake stays in your house depends on the type of snake, the temperature and humidity of the house, and if there are rodents or insects in the house. If there are rodents or insects, the snake may stay for a long time.
If you want the snake to move around your house freely, make sure it has everything it needs to live. But keep in mind that leaving it out in the open puts you at risk because snakes are predators and only eat meat.
Because of this, if they get hungry, they may bite you, your family, or your pets. Because of this, it would be best if you tried to find the snake and put it back in its tank.
What A Snake Needs To Survive In A House
Snakes are very advanced in terms of their biology. There is even evidence that some snakes got legs but then lost them because they were no longer useful. They don’t need much, though, to stay alive and live for a long time.
Here’s what a snake needs to stay alive:
- Food: Snakes are carnivores, so they need a way to get meat. Because they eat whatever they can find, they don’t need a specific source of meat. Snakes that are smaller can eat insects, but snakes that are bigger can eat mice, rats, or even other snakes.
Water: Snakes don’t drink a lot of water, especially desert snakes. Some snakes can go months without drinking anything. They do need a way to get a drink, though, when they are thirsty. Treehugger says that snakes drink by using the bottom of their mouths like sponges to soak up what they need. This means that their water source can be a pretty shallow puddle. - Shelter: A snake will have all the protection it needs from the house itself. But it’s unlikely that many species will find a good place to mate in a human home. Even if two snakes of the same species but different sexes lived in the same house, it is unlikely that they would have healthy pups.
- Heat: Since snakes have cold blood, they need the sun to keep them warm in the wild. Tanks often use hot rocks or other man-made sources of heat. In the same way, snakes can find warmth in a house that is occupied and has heaters, a fireplace, hot water pipes, or any other source of heat that they can wrap themselves up close to.
How to Find an Escaped Pet Snake
We’ll show you a four-step plan for finding a pet snake that got out.
Thoroughly Check the Vivarium
It’s easy to get scared when you can’t see your snake in its cage. There is a chance that a small pet snake is hiding in its vivarium, though. Snakes are very good at hiding and can squeeze into very small spaces.
This could be the case if your baby ball python or corn snake has gone missing. You should check in these places:
- Hide boxes. Snakes stay curled up in their hide boxes for a long time. Your snake will not be hurt if you lift the hide box to see if the snake is inside.
- Substrate (bedding). Some snakes, like hognose snakes, like to dig holes in their beds and can cover themselves completely.
- Underneath and behind decorations. Look in your vivarium under the water dish and around any logs, branches, plants, stones, or other decorations.
Search the Immediate Area
If your snake got out of its cage, it’s likely that it found a safe place to stay nearby. It probably hasn’t left the room where its vivarium is kept.
Most of the time, snakes stay on the ground. Your snake will usually stay low to the ground because it takes energy to climb walls, stairs, or furniture.
Check everything—inside, outside, and from the bottom up. Snakes like to hide in places that are quiet, dark, and not often visited. They can fit into small spaces, so check even if you think your snake won’t fit anywhere.
- Inside, behind, and under furniture, especially if it is pushed up against a wall.
- Inside couches, mattresses, and chairs, there are cracks and folds.
- Floors with rugs
- Cabinets, storage boxes, bags, laundry baskets, and piles of clothes
Pay close attention to places in the room that are warm. Ectothermic snakes need to find warm places to sunbathe and warm up in order to stay alive.
Searching the Rest of the House
Moving up is a lot harder and takes a lot more energy for snakes than moving down. This means that if your snake runs away from the ground floor, it probably won’t bother to climb your stairs.
Start your search on the same floor as the snake’s vivarium, then go to any lower floors before going higher.
If there are cracks or holes in your walls or floors, your snake may have gotten in through there or under the floorboards.
How to Lure a Snake Out of Hiding
You can do a few things to get your snake to come out of its hiding place. You can also set up two kinds of harmless traps.
Snake Lures
- Hide Boxes: Put these against the walls of rooms where your snake likes to hang out. Your snake might go inside because it’s dark and warm there. You can also put heat pads on top of the hides to make them look even better.
- Water Bowls: You should always have water bowls around the house for your snake to drink from.
- Basking Spots: To make “basking spots” around the house, use heat lamps or heating pads. Snakes like warm places because they use the heat around them to keep their bodies at the right temperature.
- Thawed Rodents: Some people say that you can get snakes out of hiding by using thawed rodents that have already been killed. Remember that your snake won’t be able to smell the rodent until it’s close.
After setting up your snake’s lures, you should check on them often. Most snakes are more active at night, so keep an eye out for them.
Snake Traps
These methods can help you figure out where your snake has been:
- Scrunched-Up Plastic Bags: Plastic bags that have been crumpled up Put these around the room’s edges, behind and under furniture. When your snake moves over them, you will hear a crinkling sound.
- Flour Traps: Use all-purpose flour or baby powder to make a thick line across any doorways in your house. If your snake moves from one room to another, you’ll see marks in the flour.
We don’t like “humane” traps that use glue to keep the snake from getting out. Even though these traps don’t kill the snake, they can scare and hurt it if it tries to get away.
Places You Can Find a Lost Snake in Your House
Dark Places
Snakes like dark places, so if your pet snake goes missing, look for it in all the dark places in your house. This includes the bottoms of your furniture, home decor, and other big things with spaces on the bottom.
You should also look for cracks or holes in the walls of your rooms. The bowl of the toilet is the least noticeable place. Snakes have been found in toilet bowls, so you should check before you sit down, especially at night.
House Ceiling
Snakes can squeeze through very small spaces. So, if you had an attic, your pet snake could have climbed up there and hidden. Snakes might also hide in the decorations on your tree.
House Ceiling
Since the kitchen is always warm, the snake could be hiding in the cabinets. Check behind the oven and in all the cupboards. Snakes like to burrow, and your closets and dirty clothes baskets are perfect places for them to do that.
You should also look in these other places:
- Rafters
- Door and window frames
- Water pipes
- Septic tanks
- Air ducts
- Baseboard heaters
- Newspapers
- On top of your curtain rod
- Drawers
- Warm appliances such as the furnace, computers, refrigerators, and gaming consoles
- Bookcases
- Under the bed
- Firewood piles
- Fireplaces
Things To Do To Lure Out A Lost Pet Snake In A House
If your pet snake got out of its tank and you haven’t been able to find it, you could try using snacks to get it to come out of hiding.
You can use the following methods:
Place Flour on the Floor
Snakes love flour, and giving it to your pet snake could be one of the easiest ways to get it to come out of hiding. Spread flour on the floor so that it can be seen.
Make a path to the snake’s tank out of flour. You can combine this method with others to get it back in the tank.
Make sure the snake can’t get out of the trap on the floor and that it stays away from people. You can also leave food and water along the path, but make sure they are not out in the open because snakes like to hide. Make sure your traps work well, and you’ll be able to catch the snake in no time.
Create a Warm Environment in a Single Room in your House
Snakes like to sleep in places that are warm, quiet, and comfortable. Snakes are ectothermic animals.
This means they can’t live without heat. So, if you want to get your pet snake out of the house, turn down the heat everywhere except for one room where your snake can be comfortable.
If you lower the temperature, your snake will come out of its hiding place to look for warmth. Make sure the room you choose is the right temperature and that all the windows and doors are shut. And the places where your snake can hide are in the open, which makes it easier to look for it.
Use Dominoes
You can try different things at the same time, and one of them might work. Snakes are said to be attracted to dominoes, which makes it easier to get them out.
Set up your dominoes in a smart way. You could, for example, put them in two lines next to each other in the middle.
In a chain reaction, this can make your snake fall out of the tank. As it moves on the dominoes, the sound and feel of the dominoes will be so interesting to it that it won’t even notice going into its tank.
Make sure no pets or people in your family are nearby because snakes can bite if they feel threatened. You can use dominoes along with the flour.
Pennies
Set up some pennies in a line, like dominoes, where you think your snake can go as it explores your house.
And as it moves through them, they will bump into each other, making noise that will let you know where it is. Follow the falling pennies to find where your snake is hiding.
Tape
Traps
Place traps around the house and put warm things, food, and water in them. Snakes like to hide in holes, so use traps with holes and bait to get them to go into the trap. The best way is to make a flour trail or a path of dominoes that leads to the traps.
Once you’ve found it, make sure the snake can’t get back out by making sure the tank has no holes it can get through. Keep the snake comfortable by giving it sand and rocks to burrow in, fake trees to climb, food, water, and a warm place to sleep.
How Long Can A Corn Snake Live Lost In A House
If a new corn snake is left alone in a house, it might not last long. Young snakes might only live for a month or two before they die of hunger or get too big to eat small things like cockroaches and other insects they can find in walls or other hidden places.
Also, the baby snake will die if it tries to eat something too big and gets stuck, or if the snake gets too cold while it is digesting. The odds are better for older, more experienced snakes.
Depending on how old it is when it leaves or goes into a habitat, it has a good chance of living the rest of its life as long as it gets heat, food, and water.
How Long Can A Ball Python Live Lost In A House
Ball pythons that live in cages are more likely to be found again than other species. Even though they are fast, strong, and smart enough to travel far and live for a long time, this species usually stays closer to “home.”
If you can’t find your pet ball python in the house, look within ten to twenty feet of where it usually stays.
Not every ball python stays in one place. If a member of this species gets lost and moves into a house, it can live there for the rest of its life as long as nothing goes wrong.
Ball pythons can live up to 30 years, so I think it could stay there for that long.
Ball pythons are also the smallest members of their family, reaching a maximum length of about 182 cm, or 71 inches.
That’s just under six feet long, which is big but still small enough to hide in cellars, walls, heating ducts, and other awkward places.
Helpful Tips To Know How Long A Snake Can Live In A House
There are many reasons why snakes get loose in homes. Some follow the food inside or look for shelter and a place to sleep or hibernate.
Here are some good ways to figure out how long a snake can live in a house.
- A snake’s chances of living in a house depend on how old it is, how healthy it is, and what it eats. For example, a snake that is hurt or sick is less likely to do well, but a typical, healthy, young adult snake won’t mind living alone in a house as long as it has everything it needs.
- An empty house might be a great place for a snake to hunt, but it’s not a good place for it to live long-term because it’s not likely to be warm.
- Snakes sometimes go into cellars or even walls to sleep through the winter. If you think a snake that doesn’t bite has moved into your house, don’t go near it. If the snake isn’t a lost pet that you know, you should either call a professional or leave it alone.
Final Thoughts
Snakes are survivors. When there is a famine, they can stop moving and live for months without food. Most people don’t know that these smart reptiles can move much faster and fit into much smaller spaces than they think.
They are also great hunters who take advantage of every chance and have a good sense of smell. A snake that is trying to get out of or into a house doesn’t need much to stay alive for a long time.
Even though hot rocks and frozen mice work great, there are many other ways to get rid of mice and rats in the house.
Worst of all, it’s hard at best to get snakes out of places you can’t reach if they get inside.
I have been working in animal shelter for the past six years and I have been raising the puppies of different breeds. I have had experience in training the puppies in obedience, agility, and other dog sports.
My main objective is to train the puppies to become good family pets. They should be well-behaved and trained to be loving, loyal, and obedient.
Contact me:
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Phone: (912) 634-3631
Address: 102 Village Way Crk Saint Simons Island, Georgia(GA), 31522
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