Help! Snake in car air vent

[dtknow]

Due to a stupid moment of inattention on my part a small Honduran milksnake gamely squeezed itself into the airvents in a Honda Acura. Anyone ever run into this before??? :wall: I really want to get him out safe and sound. I have a little cream cheese container with a hole just big enough for him and a FT fuzzy mouse inside on the dashboard hoping to bait him out.

Anyone know anything about cars know where he might be at this point? i know their is a heater core+the fan so it seems the snake will be restricted merely to the passageways leading to the vents inside the car?

 

[8by8]

WOW. You could search for diagram on how to take the dash apart. You may be able to detach the hose he went into on the other side of the firewall, see if you can find him there. Sure is a very small snake to get lost in such big world.

 

[dtknow]

Not very mechanically inclined and it is actually my roomies car. we use it frequently.

I sure hope he's ok and wasn't injured when I got the rear half of his body. I was going to see if I could wear him out but he slid inexorably through my hands(also pooped on me...never done that before)so I let him go and down he went.

After looking on google is seems this happens fair frequently actually!

 

[Malhavoc's]

The result of man and beast, shall never cease to amaze me, I am almost left speechless at this concept, but then, I lost a snake to the upholstering of a chair during a handling lesson and not paying attention to the person I had given him to.

((snake survived, chair did not))

 

[imd12nv]

I lost my ball phyton in my car when it crawled out of its gunny sack. I found it a month later in my trunk alive and well. I found it lying on the heat that the muffler makes on the floor of the trunk.

 

[ShawnH]

A friend of mine had the same thing as this happen with a Dumeril's boa. We basicallly took the whole dash out of the truck to find the snake, it took about 3 hours.

 

[dtknow]

Either a tiny Dum, or mbig airvents! I came across a story or two of much larger snakes getting into dashboards but the mode of entry must be different than used in this case.

I'm really hoping someone with car anatomy knowledge could confirm that the snake is indeed trapped in the airvent and the only way out is into the passenger area of the car(from where he could slip into any other hole, I suppose).

The baiting failed, no surprise I have yet to find a escapee story where it worked in truth. I think I'll put out a bag with some moist coco fiber in it.

 

[jayefbe]

If you really want to get that snake out you're going to have to take apart the whole dashboard and vent system. The snake is going to travel to where there is the most heat, and that's only going to spur it further into the crevices of the car. No amount of baiting is going to lure it away.

 

[dtknow]

Considering the snake is confined within the ventilation system unless that entire thing was removed(probably need professional help here) couldn't see that working. Plus, even with it removed, you'd have to figure out a way to flush him out or something.

 

[BrettG]

Tech at Honda....What kind of Honda/Acura product is it?I bet its in the heater core already.

 

[Smitty78]

Tech at Honda....What kind of Honda/Acura product is it?I bet its in the heater core already.

Wouldn't you think it is trapped prior to the cabin air filter?

 

[dtknow]

Honda Acura 2004 3.2 TL.

Thought of putting down some glue traps...maybe one on the dashboard and maybe under the seats/in trunk? Heard a few success stories with those. O course unless the snake actually comes back out into the passenger compartment all is for not.

 

[sharpfang]

I lost my ball phyton in my car when it crawled out of its gunny sack. I found it a month later in my trunk alive and well. I found it lying on the heat that the muffler makes on the floor of the trunk.

I lost a Platinum Ball Python, the Day of Purchase {$1500} in a Vehicle, similarly......

The result of man and beast, shall never cease to amaze me, I am almost left speechless at this concept, but then, I lost a snake to the upholstering of a chair during a handling lesson and not paying attention to the person I had given him to.
((snake survived, chair did not))

I lost one {well, friend did - Milksnake} in a sofa - My sofa survived, though
Damaged.

A friend of mine had the same thing as this happen with a Dumeril's boa. We basicallly took the whole dash out of the truck to find the snake, it took about 3 hours.

Same Timeframe that it took Me and two friends, to find BP inside Upolstery of
Nissan Altima. I am a little more careful and Attentive w/ pets in cars now.

I KNOW the Feeling man, and wish you the Best of luck, Don't lose too much sleep Over it though. Basically, outta-your-control now...Labor and Stress Alone....Is costly on you......Although I'd like 2 hear that snake shows up under seat, Or something - Jason

 

[snakemaster1]

You could try taking a hair dryer and adding heat into the vent to make it too warm for him then he will exit on his own maybe . Hair dryer on low.

 

[dtknow]

snakemaster: We did turn on the heat briefly almost immediately after he went in. Nothing. I think it would have a bad affect of dehydrating him if for whatever reason he did not want to come out so we turned it off. Better for him to survive longer and give us more chances of finding him. Also if you used a hairdryer it would likely cause him to go farther back into the car.

sharpfang: Thanks for that! I really do hope this has a happy ending. The only sign of him since he escaped is the smear of urates he left as he went in so that I know it indeed did happen. :/

 

[arachi american]

good luck...

the snake will come out when it's good and ready, just be thankful it isnt something spicy. i got tagged by a sidewinder a couple months ago and i didnt perfectly secure the bucket i put the little she-demon in. she got loose in the trunk on my way to the ER and i didnt find for over a week. turned up on the ROOF on the car, in the garage. only thing that maybe got her on the move was having the underside of the car powerwashed. how she got from the trunk to the roof tho...

 

[dtknow]

Hope so.

Is their a possibility he is actually trapped?(as in, fell in, and can not get out?) I would doubt it but if the air vent passageways are very steep, wide, and smooth...it seems a possibility.

 

[billopelma]

As already mentioned the car probably has a filter between the inside/outside, check the owners manual to see if it's 'owner servicable' for replacement. The likely place to find it is under the hood close to the windshield. Might be a possible access point into the system. You could also switch the vent system to 'recirculate' which further closes off the outside access but could be a bit late for that.
Try putting a heatpack in with the bag of coco fiber and then turn on the a/c, though maybe turning on the fan isn't such a good idea...

If it dies in there, you'll be smelling it for a long time.

Bill

 

[8by8]

Go to auto-zone and buy a Hanes book on your model car. They cost about $20 dollors, but tell you how to break down and re build everything in your car. And once you find your snake the book is still extremly valuable.

 

[BrettG]

Wouldn't you think it is trapped prior to the cabin air filter?

Not all Hondas have those filters. they MOSTLY started in the 04 model year.