To prevent this from happening to you, make sure the lid is securely on the tank!  Use clips, tape, or even a heavy book to keep the nosy corn snake from lifting the lid.

Important things to consider:
The number one thing to do FIRST when a baby or small juvenile is lost: COVER THE VENTS!!!!!!!! (yes, the slots are big enough... he got out of the tank, didn't he?) A snake may be attracted to the heat coming from them and crawl in, and be lost forever. If it has been a few days and you have left the vents uncovered, do not despair. There is only a small chance the snake has gone in.

If your snake is a baby or young juvenile, then you must concentrate your search from the floor to about 3 or 4 feet up. The snake most likely will not climb stairs, but they may go down stairs, so keep that in mind.

If you have lost a large juvenile (30+ inches) or adult, then you must look from the floor up (on top of dressers, closets, etc). They are avid climbers and may travel upstairs. Also, the vents are not that important because the larger snakes won't risk getting stuck in those little slots. But, if you don't want to risk it, cover them anyway.


Ok. Start Searching!
I know this may sound stupid, but check in the cage one more time, and this time remove bedding, and any other things that are in the cage. Just in case... you never know!

On the day of the escape, start looking with a flashlight, no matter what part of the day it is. When mine escaped, I did this and found her in about 5 or 6 hours. Remember to look in places not once or twice, but at least three times. They are expert hiders and will occasionally switch hiding spots while you are searching.

Places to look:

If you don't find your snake during the day, don't give up. There are other techniques to use in order to find your snake at night, or while you are gone. Make sure the rooms are undisturbed at night or while you are trying to capture your snake.

1. Put an inch-wide line of cornstarch or flour across the openings of every doorway overnight. Then, in the morning, if he crawled through any doorways, you will know which way and will be able to restrict your search area (the cornstarch can be vacuumed right up).

2. If you are willing to loose a night of sleep, then you can use this method. Put plastic bags along the corners of each wall as well as scattered throughout, and if and when your snake crawls  onto a plastic bag, you will be able to hear him and then go get him. In the meantime, you would just have to wait until you hear something. I found a baby corn this way.  This also works for escaped tree frogs... which is where I got the idea.

3. Another method is to set up a heat lamp in a room with food near it (if he hasn't eaten in a while). Don't put it in the middle of the room, put it near the wall of one side. Close the door. Do this during the night and if the pinky is gone, you will know which room to look in. If it is still there, put the lamp in a different room for another night. (you should be careful about pets eating the mice... it won't hurt them, but it won't help your search either)

4. Something else to do is to make one room warmer than all of the others, and your snake may migrate to that room. Use the other techniques listed once you have narrowed your search to a single room.

5. A technique that I recently became aware of is to cut the top 1/3 off a 2 liter soda bottle and turn it inward and tape it there. Then, poke holes in the bottle and put a nice, warm pinky in. You can even put it on top of a heat pad or put a heat lamp near it (not too close; don't melt the bottle). Lay it in a room overnight and your snake may crawl in to eat. The setup of the trap will discourage it from crawling out.

Some may work, some might not. It all depends. If you can't find your snake after days, don't give up. Snakes can live in a house for a surprisingly long time. Some older snakes have been said to live for 1 year or more inside a house (they had to have found food somewhere...)!