My daughter's boyfriend has a roommate who makes - maybe not the greatest choices sometimes. The latest adventure is snake-related, and this seemed like a good place to ask for advice.

Said roommate is mildly afraid of snakes. So he decides to overcome his fear by purchasing a pet snake. What I was told was "white and black king snake".

Anyway, after dropping around a hundred bucks, the guy owns the snake for maybe an hour or two. In that time, he manages to get it wrapped around his neck, but apparently it "didn't squeeze that tight" so hey, no harm done. Anyway, he leaves and doesn't properly secure the snake. When he returns, the snake is gone.

They live in an older frame home, lots of gaps for a snake to escape. No sign of the snake for a few weeks. Everyone figures it is gone for good.

Fast forward to tonight. My daughter and her boyfriend come home to his place, and there's the snake, hanging out in the middle of the living room. They try to grab it, but it goes under the couch. They move the couch, can't find the snake, and call the other roommate, who has a major snake phobia, and who owns the couch. He tells the to cut the couch to pieces to find the snake. They shred the couch, but no sign of the snake. Then, they notice a little snake-sized hole in the wall.

The working theory is the snake is living in the walls. The one roommate wants his snake back, the other is thinking that maybe burning down the house wouldn't be a bad idea. My daughter and her boyfriend think snake trapping sounds fun, so they're game to help recover it.

So, any suggestions on how to trap a snake?

Check out MouthBQ's trap halfway down this page, https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2921838/9

Soooo... when they can't recover it... i imagine their landlord is going to love getting to advertise the included pest/rodent control.

So the roommate has a major snake phobia, buys a snake and then feels like the best solution to find a snake that went under a couch is to tear it to pieces?

He might burn the place down so be careful.

The OP sounds like a great script for a Seinfeld episode.

I caught a rat snake just yesterday. Used grabbers you can buy at harbor freight.

Thanks for the suggestions! I have passed them along (well except the shotgun one...)

Yes, they pretty much are a sitcom. :-)

I'll update if anything happens.

I've caught several snakes by accident in that nylon/plastic bird netting you buy to keep birds off your garden and fruit trees. Somehow they get twisted up in that and can't escape.

Turn the ac as low as possible and make as cold in the house as possible. Then get a heating pad or two and put them out. Snake being cold-blooded will need to thermoregulate and go for the heat source. Also the cold will make them more "sluggish" and easier to catch. Snake could head to under the fridge or similar appliance where it will also be warm.

Minnow traps work really well to catch snakes. When I was a teenager I trapped water snakes in them all the time at our lake house. Put a live frog or toad in there and place the trap near the water. Sometimes 3-4 in a single night.

I guess if you put a mouse or rat in it and sat it near the snake hole you mentioned it would work the same.

Tape plastic bags along the bottom of the walls in the room where the hole is. A lot of times they'll hug the wall as they move and you'll hear the plastic bag crinkle

howdy2u said:

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So, any suggestions on how to trap a snake?

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Find an object with an opening that will be fairly tight on the snake. May want to put some grass or similar material around the opening so it feels at home when it finds it. Keep it a little damp and warm and it should crawl in without too many hesitations. Once it's in, it's up to them if they want it to stay in or pull it out.

This is so elaborate that it had to be done.

Find a bee-removal person who owns a FLIR (I have one). We use it to locate beehives inside the walls of structures.

The snake should give off a heat signature which should be fairly easy to find if it's inside the walls. Once located, cut the sheetrock and retrieve the snake (sheetrock is an easy repair).


If it's outside, attach a FLIR to a drone and fly it at night. This worked for Troy Landry when looking for a 13' python in the bayous of Lousianna... (last episode of Swamp People).

They have a snake roommate now. Might as well get used to it. Keep a light on for your little homie on those cold nights.....

Not much progress so far. They set out a bucket with a branch but none of them have gone and gotten a mouse, so it hasn't been very effective. Traps without bait don't tend to work.

I suggested a toad - with all the recent rain, it shouldn't be hard to find one. We'll see if they do it.

I'll also pass along the additional suggestions.

This post won't resinate in the house but I'd just leave it be and not worry about it. He will eventually show up and you can catch it if it hads a food source, which means the kids have other problems like rats. Or leave if there is nothing to eat. It does take a while for snakes to get hungry but they will.

Heck if he is hanging out I'd leave it to clear up
My other problem.