The Great Escapes

[Turnip]

So, i was going through some old posts and saw some stories of escapiee's!
Please share you stories about when they escape!

 

[cheeseball705]

i had a tang escape from her tub while i was feeding them i turned to get the tub of mealies and then made step back and accidently stepped on her,thankfully i didnt put my full weight down. picked her up she bit me then jumped out of my hand after i caught her agian and put her in the tub she hasnt liked me much since. poor girl guess i would not be happy either. least she ok physically thought.

 

[Gecko Ranch]

I've heard a lot of good ones, usually it happens when folks have a "ramp" up to the top of their terrarium and leos muscle the top off! Folks are shocked when I tell them they can find them three weeks later and they'll be fine. The things to remember are:

Look for them at night with a flashlight - overhead lights scare them into hiding. Look under the fridge, it is warm there and they like warm spots like that! Don't forget to look up high if they can climb up things like curtains. They have little claws, and they use them! Block off rooms with a bath towel so the little buggers can't go exploring!

 

[SleepyDee]

usually it happens when folks have a "ramp" up to the top of their terrarium and leos muscle the top off! Folks are shocked when I tell them they can find them three weeks later and they'll be fine. The things to remember are:

:main_yes: I put a group of juvvies in a spare RUB while I cleaned their viv only to find that they'd worked together to push the top off and escape. luckily none had got far but they still try it every time when I'm cleaning out .... now I put a heavy weight on the top

 

[cassadaga]

A few years ago I had my brother taking care of my reptiles while I was out of town. When I got back he told me two were missing. I don't quite remember the details of how they got away, but it was a male blizzard and a female tang, and both lived in seperate cages. At the time I kept all my reptiles in a "green house" my father had built for me in our backyard. I thought they were lost forever, probably killed by a cat or wild animal after they left the safety of they green house. Probably a month or even two later, while my dad was doing some yard work, he pulled out the lawn mower from our garage, and both geckos were together hiding underneath. Both were still fat as ever, and healthy, the only thing wrong being the female had lost her tail. I obviously don't know what made her drop it, but she seemed fine, and both went back into their cages behaving completely normally. That's the only escape I've ever had, and I feel I got almost TOO lucky with it.

 

[david13]

i have some plexi glass over my tank and there was a inch gap from a light clipped to the side of the tank (homemade tank) and i looked in the cage and couldnt find her, then i went to school and my mom looked for her and found her in my closet. Now i took the light off and triple check to see if the there is no gaps, i was very worried because that was my fist and nicest leo i have and was so cute and $100.

 

[acpart]

Nearly all the time my geckos escape it's my fault because I leave the cage open (getting senile). They're usually under the couch. Here are 2 escapes of note:

My first gecko somehow managed to get out of the cage. It was one of those critter keepers with the top that slides out. It would have taken a real gymnastic effort for it to even get to the top, much less climb out but she managed somehow. I looked all over and couldn't find her. Four days later I saw my cat staring at a corner of the room and there she was. She had some sort of crush injury to the tip of her tail and lost her tail. She died about 3 weeks later, possibly of fatty liver disease.

My favorite male Tremper got out a year ago and for a change wasn't under the couch. I searched for a week and gave up on him (we have forced hot air heat and the duct covers aren't always on tightly). About 3 weeks later my downstairs neighbors called me to tell me they found a gecko in their linen drawer. Somehow, he must have gotten in the hole at the base of my pocket doors and ended up in the bottom drawer in the downstairs built in corner cabinet. He was a little darker in the tail and a little skinny in tail but recovered in no time and got himself up to about 113 grams last summer.

Aliza

 

[Bodon]

i never had an escape with any of my leos, or even my cresties, but my white's tree frog got away from me. i thought the lid would be heavy enough that he couldnt lift it open, big mistake. i saw his dirt tracks leading to the lid, then i saw them on the outside of the tank and leading to the edge of the desk. I looked for hours and for the next several days but never did find him. i think he was a casualty of our cat or dog. i didnt get another one but if i ever do ill make sure to make the tank as secure as fort knox.

 

[gothra]

A couple years ago, my house was under renovation and my geckos and I temporarily stayed at my parent's house. I put them in plastic tubs on the bay window along side my bed; one morning I woke up to find the top lid of one of my female's tub open (I think she pushed it open herself, strong girl!) and no gecko was in there. I freaked out, because its winter and the room I was in was filled with boxes and other stuff. But to my suprise, it just took me about 1 minute and she is found!! She didn't hide anywhere, just sat in the open area under a desk! When I go pick her up, she just stayed there and then got on my hand to go back to her tub!

I also had a male "escaped" before, but I didn't even notice he'd escaped. When I go check them out, Gel seemed to be just wandering in his glass tank, but when I look more carefully, I realised he is not INSIDE his tank, but rather, he is wandering OUTSIDE, behind his tank!

 

[Gecko Ranch]

i never had an escape with any of my leos, or even my cresties, but my white's tree frog got away from me. i thought the lid would be heavy enough that he couldnt lift it open, big mistake. i saw his dirt tracks leading to the lid, then i saw them on the outside of the tank and leading to the edge of the desk. I looked for hours and for the next several days but never did find him. i think he was a casualty of our cat or dog. i didnt get another one but if i ever do ill make sure to make the tank as secure as fort knox.

Escapee frogs are toast, must avoid if at all possible! Don't ask me how I know!

 

[acpart]

I also had a male "escaped" before, but I didn't even notice he'd escaped. When I go check them out, Gel seemed to be just wandering in his glass tank, but when I look more carefully, I realised he is not INSIDE his tank, but rather, he is wandering OUTSIDE, behind his tank!

This reminded me of my day gecko escapees, which I had forgotten about:
1. I got a phelsuma klemmeri and taped up all cracks in the exoterra as I'd been told before I put her in. I didn't see her the next day but assumed she was hiding. That afternoon my son called me to say he saw her on the floor behind the bookshelf. I had him put a cup over her and when I got home I did more crack taping and tried again. I think I checked for her every 2 hours that night.

2. I have a gold dust day gecko and the month after I got her I went away for the weekend and had a friend mist the cage. When I got back I checked her out and saw a tail hanging down from the top of the cage --from the outside,not the inside.

3. THis same gold dust disappeared from the cage one day. It's hard to tell because she hides so well, but I checked every leaf and she wasn't there, so I started looking up. I found her in about 2 minutes behind the other planted tanks and caught her with a deli cup.

Aliza

 

[98XJSport]

I don't have a gecko story, but I do have a rat story. We bought a new baby and a ferret cage at the same time. Since rats are "squishy", I fenced off the walls of the cage with a smaller mesh but ran out before I got to the top. So, I trapped them with a book down in the lower half of the cage, and went to bed. Guess who was snuggling into my chest at 2:00 in the morning? Im amazed she didn't run and hide, her and her sisters have been absolutely wonderful pets. RIP Pepper :sad2:

 

[mmsi1002]

Of my 5 only one is an escapee. My oldest & 1st gecko, a male tang, jungle, rainwater escaped & i found him sleeping in my bed, then in the closet a few times. He has since retired from escaping........mating has his attention now!

 

[shadowx362]

well I had a little baby that just HAD HAched about two weeks ago(at the time) . I took it out of its cage for some pictures and I soon as i lifted hi out he jumped and ran like crazy. He fell down and crawl thought some furniture in the closet and there was a small hole at the bottom of the closet. He went in and I couldnt get him out so I grabbed a knife and cut out a big enough hole to stick the vacuum hose in. I garbed the vacuum hose and sticked a piece of mess so it would get cough but It dint hold up and I later found him in the canister were all the junk goes safe with no injuries. He later found a home and lives a happy life with them. I DON'T RECOMMEND ANYONE DOING THIS AS IT COULD OF HURT THE GECKO!

 

[thegeckoguy]

ive never had my geckos escape but i do have 2 snake stories....

1. I have a male amelanistic corn. The first time he escaped, he was in a 10 gal. The lid had corners that didnt fit all the way down. He escaped and later that night we found him in the closet. The seond time he was in a pile of cloths. The third time he was crawling up the stairs. The fourth time i said dont even bother looking because he will just pop up. Sure enough, a few days later, he just 'popped up' on the living room floor. I have since fixed his lid and he hasnt gotten out since.

2. I also have a ball python. The first time she got out was my fault. I forgot to tape her lid down(we had to tape the lid because we had no clamps). About 15 mins later i found her in a box in the closet. The second time was a complete mystery as to how she got out. I wasnt worried. I knew she would be in the closet because it was dark. So right after i discovered she was gone, i looked in the closet box and there she was. She hasnt gotten out since either.