Exotic Escapes

[Cerbera]

In a way, I agree with all those that believe that any escape is some failure on the part of the keeper, but in other ways, perhaps not. I have never had an escape myself, but then I only look after 3 spiders, and none that have ever been inclined to make a dash for it.

If you have a tank that is secure enough, and I note, I've had to up the security considerably on every tank I've made for my adult / sub adult girls, then the only danger time can be during feeding, or cleaning (assuming we don't feel the need to go in and disturb them just to handle them etc etc)

And here's where my ideas conflict. In all the time i have known Ginny, my seemanni 2 yr old, she has never once made an attempt to bolt, or behave in any way other than wonderfully, even when I am removing stuff right next to her. So - one side of my head thinks i might know my spiders personality, and make an informed decision as to the level of security options I need in place before I open her tank. But on the other side of the fence, familiarity breeds complacency, and therefore, to counter that, I make sure I remain as 'on my guard' with her now as I would be with a brand new, 'unknown' spider, and therefore, I should be taking the safer option, and covering all possibilities...

And then the argument gets settled. Ginny will suddenly do something i have never seen her do before, usually that involves some lightning blast of speed, and that will remind me that no matter how well I might think I know her, she is totally unpredictable, and I can't. Simple as that...

And that was the JW 2p's worth of the day...

 

[Apocalypstick]

Before I ever owned a tarantula (knew very little real facts),
I was driving up a steep hill on the street where I lived...
it was hilly in places.
So I come up and over this blind hill and ran
right over the biggest, hair-covered spider I had ever imagined.
I stopped the car and went to look at it and
was horrified to see it still alive because I had
only smashed one side set of legs
with two of them mashed completely off.
I was scared to death of the 'monster', which
had a body the size of a baseball and
orange stripes (probably a smitty or emilia).

I guess I stood there staring a long time,
realizing it had to be a pet and what should I do,
when a teenage guy came out on his porch
and asked what it was... I told him 'a huge spider'.
He came racing to where I stood and said
it was 'Lola' and she had beeen out of her
cage two days...
he had been searching the house frantically.

I felt so bad but the kid was relieved and so happy
she was found and "okay".
LOL...I was like...ummm, look closer...
he did and said it she was fine.
I was dumb-struck coz her legs on that side
were mashed right off her body
<----- me when he said she had 'one leg on that side.
She was fine'.

He scooped her up, put her on his shoulder and
started up to his house. He looked back at me and
said something like 'Lola owes ya'.

Next day in my mailbox, there was a rolled up poster
of a big beautiful T with orange striped legs.
The picture was hand signed: "Love Lola" .

 

[bistrobob85]

I've been working in a petstore for three years now and i've had both vertebrates and invertebrates escapes... I recently found a C.Fasciatum that was declared sold something like six months ago... The poor T didnt look so well, i'm actually keeping her in the backstore to put back some weight into her before i put her for sale... As for vertebrates, my monitor got out a few months ago and i found it resting confortably on a cough in the basement!!

 

[CedrikG]

I voted NO but last day i've got one for the first time ... my H gigas escaped from a 1/4 inch ??crack?? ... found her back in my cloths, thats an adult H gigas female, about 5-6 inch ... could'nt beleive she maked her way in such a small space i've learn a bit lesson

 

[Kugellager]

The main thing is anticipating any possible openings they might escape from and being diligent at remembering to close the top/lid.

I never forget to close the lid because I have a great memory. Its like a...like a...like a....um...whats the word? I forget. :}

John
];')

 

[galeogirl]

I had an H. gigas escape never to be found in my last house.

Several years ago I woke up to my 16 foot python crawling into bed with my boyfriend and I. My first thought was "Crap! Where's the cat?" Got the snake back in her cage, found the wide-eyed cat on the top shelf of the closet, and spent a few hours trying to figure out how she got out. The only thing that we could figure out is that the cat had been chin-rubbing against the latch on the cage and undid it. We changed the latching mechanism on the cage the next day.

 

[wicked]

;')

A rusty trap? Err... I mean a steel trap.
No need to thank me, I just LOVE to be helpful

 

[Beardo]

I had an H. gigas escape never to be found in my last house.

Several years ago I woke up to my 16 foot python crawling into bed with my boyfriend and I. My first thought was "Crap! Where's the cat?" Got the snake back in her cage, found the wide-eyed cat on the top shelf of the closet, and spent a few hours trying to figure out how she got out. The only thing that we could figure out is that the cat had been chin-rubbing against the latch on the cage and undid it. We changed the latching mechanism on the cage the next day.

LOL. Was it a Burmese?

I've had a few snakes escape....most were found, the only one I never found was a sub-adult female Yellow Ratsnake that got out last year at my old house.

 

[Botar]

Well for the amusement of anyone who has seen one of my big female A. geniculata that I take to shows for display... she's AWOL now. I had her in a 10" short display cup and she managed to pop the top. I'm not certain how she was able to get off the table without fatally wounding herself, but apparently she did. You think it would be easy to find a 7"+ A. genic female with an abdomen the size of a raquetball, but it isn't. I'm hoping she survives. If Murphy's Law is accurate, she'll be found tomorrow... while my mother-in-law is here.

Botar

 

[fyrefly]

Luckily she was caught in time, but my rosie had played a little escape trick. She had slipped out of her tank [homemade design, and the small crack where the door closes was quickly fixed when I realized it was her escape route].

My roommate is terrified of spiders. He sees a house spider and will announce there is a "wolf spider" in the house and promptly kill it. He had no idea I had a tarantula in my room, never even asked about the crickets chirping.

The day of Beastie's escape, was the day my roommate came to my room to ask me about something. All I heard from behind me was "tarantula!" I turned, and there she was, calmly walking down the shelf. I waited until she reached the floor and scooped her up gently and put her back into the tank.

I still have the same roommate, though he stays clear of my room

She hasn't escaped again, thankfully.

 

[Arachnobrian]

After 25 votes in this poll 72% of the people that took the time to vote answered that they have had an exotic animal escape at least one time.

Am I surprised at this percentage? Yes.

In my opinion an escape represents carelessness that could have and should have been prevented. Due diligence before you purchase an exotic pet should be done to prevent escapes and insure proper enclosures and proper feeding and cleaning techniques.

How many of you use transfer enclosures while you are cleaning primary enclosures? How many of you transfer centipedes using a bathtub as a "safety net". How many of you know you can't let a centipede reach a screen top or they can "chew through"? How many of you knew your enclosure was too small to safely lift the lid for the given size and species, but did it anyway?

Is this a big deal?

In my opinion it could be a very big deal.

Do we want government to tell us what we can and can't keep, or how many we CAN keep?

NYC will tell you you can't own Ts or many other exotics. In Florida there are restrictions and a Florida Arthropod Permit is required. Your area could be next. Ironically, you allow your exotic animal freedom, that could result in all of us losing some of our freedom.

Perhaps, your poll should include other variables such as "years in the hobby", " # of escapes", " # of pets".

 

[Code Monkey]

I've had two escapes, both recovered.

Once was when I was probably about 12 and a P. cancerides escaped from a terribly designed cage I put it in. It spent a couple of months wandering about my parents home and showed up one day moving out from under a dresser.

The second time was a couple of years ago when a subadult A. geniculata I'd been meaning to get around to rehousing was able to push the top off of the beanie baby case I had it in and go AWOL for a little less than a week. I found it in the closet in a box not 4 feet from where it escaped.

 

[Code Monkey]

Perhaps, your poll should include other variables such as "years in the hobby", " # of escapes", " # of pets".

Exactly, I've had two escapes over some 22 years of keeping, both recovered in my home, neither anything more dangerous a house spider.

In my opinion an escape represents carelessness that could have and should have been prevented. Due diligence before you purchase an exotic pet should be done to prevent escapes and insure proper enclosures and proper feeding and cleaning techniques.

Stuff like this makes it sound like it's a big deal, and that's a serious leap for a poll that was answered primarily by people frequenting the T-forum where there isn't a single species that's unambiguously dangerous.

Because this...

NYC will tell you you can't own Ts or many other exotics. In Florida there are restrictions and a Florida Arthropod Permit is required. Your area could be next. Ironically, you allow your exotic animal freedom, that could result in all of us losing some of our freedom.

... assumes that any of the restrictions or bans have had an objective basis, and they haven't. Since the vast majority of keepers who are here and participating *are* informed and *do* practice a sliding scale of precautions (I was much more careful with my pedes than with any tarantula) based upon both the risk of escape as well as the risk from escape, your sanctimonious attitude seems a bit misplaced. You've basically done exactly what you fear the "opposition" doing, gathered a sensational statistic out of context and tried to draw broader conclusions from it that are not supported.

 

[Botar]

The big female A. genic I mentioned before has been located alive and well. I was somewhat surprised to find her in the open rafters of the ceiling of my spider room. I knew she was too big to get out of the room, but I was expecting to find her on the floor... not in the ceiling. Other than being a bit dehydrated, she's in fine shape and I hope to breed her soon.

Botar

 

[YouLosePayUp]

Sneaky Corn Snake

I had a 36 Gallon tank? 3ft X 1ft X 18 inches I made a wooden frame around the outside edge with a mesh top. It fit fairly tight so I thought all was well. About a week later he was gone. I found that there was a spot that if pushed properly left a 3/8 inch opening. So being that I had 2 other corns in the Tank I quickly made a lid that sat on the landings (aka inner edge of upper lip of tank) and that held them. We searched hign and Low for a week (even in the ductwork) no luck finding him. We thought all hope was lost. My wife went downstairs to get the big lobster pot. I heard a scream and came running, turn out it was wrapped around the handle of the pot and all was well after that.

So not all escapes end with a sad story

 

[lpw]

I once had a cascading jailbreak. It all started with an 8' African Rock Python whose strength I apparently underestimated. As it turned out, the python had a knack for climbing shelves. Shelves housing T enclosures, in particular. Ever try to capture an extremely ill-tempered P. sebae whilst trying not to trample your rampant Ts? A valuable lesson indeed.

EDIT: All escapees were recaptured and none was harmed. But this was just dumb luck...

 

[harrymaculata]

ive had one T for fourteen years and it escaped once and in the past year i have collected 14 and had one escape.

first escape was a 13yr old B.albopilosum fem about 6 inches i had a party when my parents were away and a naughty couple were screwing about in my bedroom, and got more than they bargined for when they knocked the lid of my tank in the evening i was awaken in the morning by the couple screaming whilst the girl had a 6 inch pissed off curly on her chest (ahh justice). the t was fine but the girl was in shock for 3 weeks he he.

and my other escapey was a 2 inch OBT i was doing cage transfer and it run up the forceps onto my hand and when i tried to cup it it tagged me twice my fault tho but thats it which i think is good considering i own:
S.calceatum, 3 maculatas, OBT, irminia, c.schioedei x3, poecs etc all very fast.
i don't like all ppl saying its bad to have escapees if you own these animals theres a chance, like the lottery you can't win if ya not in it like you can't have escapes if ya don't own T's

 

[Schlyne]

I have not had any T's escape YET.

I have only had one snake escape (and she did it twice, she's an irian jaya carpet python). Her thermostat cable combined made sure the lid didn't fit as snugly as it could have. (I thought I hadn't closed the lid the first time. I was wrong.) It was closed, but she popped the lid off in that area and got out. She was recovered both times and moved to a different caging style immediately.

Luckily, none of the T's escaped, since she made a visit to the wire shelves in the T room and knocked over my A. huriana. Everybody turned out to be fine.

So far, everybody who has escaped has been recovered. I am glad I have sold my crested geckos even though they'll be here for another couple of months. Ever try chasing down a 3" long arboreal gecko and trying to make sure it doesn't drop it's tail?