How to Catch an Escaped Ball Python

Native to west and central Africa, ball pythons make popular pets for snake enthusiasts. However, these compact and powerful reptiles can easily slither their way out of their enclosures if the lids aren't properly secured. Retrieving an escaped ball python requires thinking like a snake, not to mention patience.

Things You'll Need

  • Flashlight
  • Hand mirror
  • Bath towels
  • Mouse
  • Liter bottle
  • Flour or cornstarch
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Instructions

    • 1

      Look around the walls and baseboards by the python's cage first. The python will most likely seek a tight, dark hiding spot, so search under furniture, inside boxes and shoes and behind radiators, doors and curtains.

    • 2

      Search outward from the python's cage using a flashlight and hand mirror to help you. Check multilevel shelves, inside and under cabinets, on top of books, between the cushions on chairs and couches, between mattresses and between toilet tanks and walls.

    • 3

      Close doors behind you as you finish searching rooms. Place a rolled-up towel between the bottom of the door and the threshold to ensure the snake won't slip back into a room you've already searched. Work systematically throughout your whole house.

    • 4

      Lay traps made of crinkly crumpled-up plastic grocery bags. Place them between furniture and walls, then wait patiently for the snake to slither into the trap. The noise will alert you to its whereabouts.

    • 5

      Place a mouse -- alive or dead -- into an empty liter bottle with a few holes poked in it so that the snake will pick up the scent. Put the bottle someplace warm, and wait for the snake to find its way into it for a snack. Once fed, the snake will most likely be too big to sneak back out of the bottle, so you'll need to cut the top off to retrieve it.

    • 6

      If all else fails, put an inch-wide strip of flour or cornstarch across a doorway. Go to sleep, and in the morning you might see the snake's trail pointing you in the right direction.