Corn Snakes are escape artists, so...

[SuccessfulFailure]

...If you own one, you have to make their enclosure impervious to any and all holes/crevices/nooks/crannies, or they will find this chink in the armor and then they will get out! And don't even get me started on sealant/lid fitting weak spots. If they find one of those, they will try, try, try, and try again like this --> <-- until they can breach!

I brought home my baby corn snake a few of years ago, Pyros. He grew up, so I decided to get him a bigger enclosure. I got him a 20 gallon since he is now a juvenile and about 2 feet long and a pinkie finger in width. It was perfect for him; deep enough for a lot of aspen for him to tunnel in, tall enough for a bark climb, and long enough for a big hide. It had a tight-fitting lid... At least I thought it was. I came home one day to Pyros slithering down my hallway, about 10 feet from his enclosure. :shock: I scooped him up and checked his body width and then examined the still closed lid for a hole he could possibly have fit through... Sure enough (after having to hold my head upside down to see the underside of the lid) there was a tiny gap about the width of a CD case between the glass and the lid lip. I wanted to see exactly how he escaped out of this hole, since it was on the lid lip so I placed him on the climbing bark, watched and waited. I watched him stretch up to the lid's locking lip and hoist his body up into this groove (which his body is the exact width to perfectly fit inside, go figure) and inch along it like a sideways caterpillar. Sneaky little guy! Once he wiggles to the front where the gap was located, he would squeeze his head through the gap and slide down the outside of the enclosure's corner... Home free!

So, I had to figure out something quick to 'patch' the gap... Improvise!



You need:

- styrofoam strip(s)
- butter knife
- electrical tape


I received a package in the mail that contained a lot of styrofoam strips. I took a butter knife and cut a slice in one of the foam strips the width of the top of the glass so I could slip the foam over the glass how like the rails of a train fit on railroad tracks. Once I had the perfect slit in the foam to fit on the glass, I covered the foam with electrical tape since it is black and it would match the enclosure's top and so I could block any spaces with the tape hangover. With my makeshift thingy complete, I slipped it onto the glass and closed the lid and waited for Pyros to test my work... Success! No spaces/gaps remain, so no sneaky escaping snake slithering around my house. :-D

If you have styrofoam, keep it! You can use it instead of buying a new enclosure or another lid top.
Styrofoam = free
New lid = $10 - $20
New enlosure = $75 - $250
No escaped snake = :mrgreen:


× Successful Failure ×

 

[rdoyle]

I had a corn that got out once and I still dont know how he did it. I found his under his tank on his heat mat.

 

[SuccessfulFailure]

Thanks for the reply, rdoyle!

Wow, really? Hmm, I wonder... Well, I guess that is the mind game you have to play when you care for the Houdini of the snake world! Lol. Corns are sneaky little buggers!

 

[Rokka]

I built a cross-fire enclosure once for a friend of mine to house 2 cornsnakes in. Worked like a charm but had to put edging on the glass to close the gap between the 2 glass panels, the snakes tried to squeeze out through it... The next one we built was with doors instead of sliding glass.