Snake in the house

[SteveMcluuf]

Today I was leaving the house and to my surprise, a snake slithered in! I only got a quick look at it (it had red and black bands and some yellow ... I don't know if it is a Coral or King snake) and man was it fast. It went into the other room and I pursued it but did not see it. I checked behind all the furniture with no avail. My question is, is there any type of snake trap or bait I can lay out to catch it? I fear it may have gotten into the duct system and is using that for transport. I really need to get this out of here before my wife comes home because she will freak out.

[Just_A_Guy]

Google, and ye shall find.

[pam]

I would say with the $250k you received you could hire someone to come in and take care of it for you.

[havejoy]

When my son was about 14 I made the mistake of going into his bedroom. He had a few aquariums and they each had at least one snake in them.

I told him to put them in our garden but they couldn't stay in the house.

When he went back to get them one had gotten out. That son recently turned 32 and we still don't know where that snake went.

[ryanh]

If you are in Chicago, neither species is native there. So, it is likely an escaped pet. Corals are rarely, if ever, kept as pets.

Given the speed you describe, it is most likely a milksnake of one of the various subspecies. Honduran or Nelsons being the most common pets. (yes, they look like corals and kings too)

If your aim is to kill it, there are some methods that work for trapping. I'm not sure I want to details those being I'm a snake-lover.

But no, there is no good way to expect to be able to find and/or get rid of it in a timely manner - even with lethal methods. Capturing a loose snake is a game of patience, frequent checking, and a lot of luck.

Not sure what else to tell you. Good luck?

[Lbybug]

Let me google that for you

[hordak]

Google, and ye shall find.

[Gwen]

are you sure it was a snake? it's pretty cold right now. i think they would be hiding somewhere. i have a hard time thinking one was just waiting to slither in your house or that it would be moving very quickly in the cold temperatures.

on the other hand snakes in the house can be great fun. especially when you find them with company over. of course they don't usually come back after that.

[pam]

Was it a real snake or was it a ghost snake? Just making sure I totally understand the story here.

[beefche]

on the other hand snakes in the house can be great fun. especially when you find them with company over. of course they don't usually come back after that.

The company or the snake?

[Gwen]

lol the company.... the snake could care less.... at least from my experiences anyway

[john doe]

12 gauge shotgun should take care of that problem in no time. Try to aim for the head, but it's not absolutely necessary.

If you want a less violent way to get him out, just go out and buy a clarinet and play various Pakistani/Indian tunes and he should be docile enough to pick up and take outside.

[Honor]

on the other hand snakes in the house can be great fun. especially when you find them with company over. of course they don't usually come back after that.

So throw a house party and invite everyone you hate!

[Iggy]

Rent a mongoose- I have heard that they are great at hunting down and catching snakes. Or you can use white mice as bait.

[svanneck]

I just wanted to say to Gwen, I love the quotes in your signature!

[Mahone]

lol the company.... the snake could care less.... at least from my experiences anyway

http://www.lds.net/forums/general-discussion/23369-words-phrases-you-dislike-23.html#post470963

Sorry, just had to

[Blackmarch]

Today I was leaving the house and to my surprise, a snake slithered in! I only got a quick look at it (it had red and black bands and some yellow ... I don't know if it is a Coral or King snake) and man was it fast. It went into the other room and I pursued it but did not see it. I checked behind all the furniture with no avail. My question is, is there any type of snake trap or bait I can lay out to catch it? I fear it may have gotten into the duct system and is using that for transport. I really need to get this out of here before my wife comes home because she will freak out.

MAke sure there isn't any holes in the wall or open vents for it to get into the air ducts.... otherwise you might ahve a very fun time on your hands (just kidding).

if the coloring goes red-black, it's not venomous, otherwide if it's red-yellow, it probably is.

And generally in my experience snakes don't like to rest out in the open.

[john doe]

MAke sure there isn't any holes in the wall or open vents for it to get into the air ducts.... otherwise you might ahve a very fun time on your hands (just kidding).

if the coloring goes red-black, it's not venomous, otherwide if it's red-yellow, it probably is.

And generally in my experience snakes don't like to rest out in the open.

Now, is that from the head or from the tail?

[pam]

I'm just interested in what the next saga will be.

[mnn727]

Thats the elusive red and black banded snow snake, you realize its a federal crime to kill those as they are an extremly rare form of snake only active during the long cold nights of February. In fact I am forwarding your post to the Federal Department of Fish, Game and Wildlife who will no doubt have your home declared a protected environment and force you to move out until such time as the snake decides to leave on its own (if ever) please don't forget to pay your mortgage and the gas and electric bills during this period as you are required to maintain its current habitat. Also tossing in a couple of white rats every week would be a nice gesture on your part.

Edited February 16, 2010 by mnn727

[Blackmarch]

Now, is that from the head or from the tail?

should be the same either way.

[Wisc]

buy a young mouse.... its gotta be young. Tie a string to it and tie other end of string to something fixed. Leave mouse.... snake finds mouse--- eats mouse--- cant slither away because meal is tied to a chair and now down its throat. Snake cant bite you with a full mouth anchored down by a meal on a string. Either kill snake at that point or capture snake then cut string.... take out side and throw it either across the street (alive) or in dumpster (dead)

[Guest]

This is a scarlet kingsnake common in Florida. This is one is still a baby - it is my kids' pet. They normally eat skinks not rats - so they need to be "conditioned" to eat rat if you want them to eat one. They are small snakes - shorter than 2 feet generally - so rat can be too big for them.

The off-white band would turn yellowish as they mature. If you notice, the black stripe is the "separating color". That is, the white/yellow and red bands are the main bands and are separated by a thin black band. This is how you know it is a kingsnake.

The coral snake has the yellow stripe as the "separating color". That is, the red and black bands are the main bands separated by a thin yellow band. That's the venomous coral snake.

It's fairly difficult to find the snake once it gets inside your house. I mean - if this pretty pet of ours would ever find its way outside of his vivarium we would be lucky if we can find him again! We had one of our ball pythons get out of his vivarium once. Those guys are bigger and slower and they don't travel far. It still took us 3 days to find her. Now, our vivariums are in the office and the doors are always closed to that room (it's where I work, and kids have been told they need permission to enter that room because of all my sensitive work stuff). So, when the snake got out, we only had to look for her within a 12x13 space. We found her in the bottom drawer of my office desk underneath all my stacks of paper.

So, to find a kingsnake - look for him buried under a stack of papers/clothes/junk or in a very small crevice where it is warm.

[Gwen]

http://www.lds.net/forums/general-discussion/23369-words-phrases-you-dislike-23.html#post470963

Sorry, just had to

how do you know i didn't say exactly what i meant? the snake cares just less than the company does. lol

[MorningStar]

I have a snake in my house too! It looks exactly like the guy who played Mr. Belvedere! Also, its real mother is a celebrity snake. That's what it told me anyway.