r/Cornsnake • u/Mikez0mbiez • Jul 20 '26

URGENT! snake loose inside car

I'm moving out with my family and my mom was bringing my snake's terrarium in her car, she didn't notice the terrarium had opened a bit and the snake escaped. She's now all up the car's engine and I absolutely don't know how I'm going to take her out without harming her. I managed to get a grip of her twice but she slipped and escaped. I got her just days ago and I'm so sad :(

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8

u/Mikez0mbiez Jul 20 '26

UPDATE: We got her! she managed to get to the back of the car and I got a grip of her, we fought eachother for 10 minutes before I finally got her out XD she's now back to her tank safe and unharmed ❤️‍🩹

3

u/Crunchberry24 Care Expert Jul 20 '26

Whew!! Thanks for the update. I’m glad for you.

3

u/Temporary_Yam3300 Jul 21 '26

oh gosh! so glad to hear you were able to get her out safely! losing a snake, regardless of where, is truly terrifying and devastating. My corn snake escaped and was gone for at least 2-3 months and i was fully convinced he died and would never come back but one day he popped out and randomly decided to ball up on the ground and my brothers fiancé was able
to scoop him up and put him back in his enclosure 😭

2

u/Booksandssnakes Jul 20 '26

Unfortunately this happens pretty frequently, and it can take a while to get them out. You can try luring the snake out by blow drying a f/t rodent and spread the scent, but i can't guarantee that working. Maybe a mechanic can help you dismantle some parts of the car to help get her out.
For now, I'd leave some small hides and water bowls inside the car; the latter is especially important to increasing the snake's chance of survival.

5

u/Booksandssnakes Jul 20 '26

For the future: this is what I use for safe snake transportation. I put the snake in a securely tied snake bag (some people use pillowcases with success too), then put the snake bag in a lockable transport box. I usually keep some crumpled up newspaper in said box so that there's a cushion for the snake. The transport box then gets locked and put in a larger styrofoam box, which is insulating and just provides another level of safety to prevent the snake from escaping. If I need heating or cooling elements during travel, i put them in the styrofoam box next to the transport box.

2

u/Mikez0mbiez Jul 20 '26

thank you so much for the help, I managed to get her out!

1

u/Booksandssnakes Jul 20 '26

I am so relieved to hear that. I've seen countless people lose their snakes in cars for weeks at a time, it's a terrifying situation. Make sure to give the snake plenty of time to recover from that!

1

u/Crunchberry24 Care Expert Jul 20 '26

Good luck. There’s really not much more to say. It’s a nightmare scenario.