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 #1777068


AdmYrrek
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 Ali Lost in the House

So I just recently got my Northern Ali Steve a nice new heating/uv lamp, and it has apparently been my undoing. Steve is gone.

I haven’t seen him out and about in his cage lately, but I didn’t think much about that as he frequently buries himself. But when I saw a lizard dropping on the kitchen counter (his tank is on the mini-bar attached to the kitchen counters) I thought about it quite a bit, as well as digging through his cage. I’m not entirely sure when he got out, but, considering I cleaned the kitchen yesterday at about 1pm, my roommate (a neat freak) was in yesterday afternoon ’til about 5pm, and the dropping was dried, I’m guessing sometime yesterday in the evening. But I’m not sure. Also, other than the dropping on the kitchen counter, I have no idea where he might be.

So, any tips on places Alis like hiding around the house, specifically near the kitchen? Also, tips on catching them would be handy. I’ve got enough random spiders in my house that I’m not concerned for him starving to death, and, despite the fact I have a house cat, Sabre is such a lump he would only serve as an extra set of eyes and ears rather than any real danger to Steve. But, understandably, I’d really like to get him back.
06/28/08  10:09pm

 #1777282


Aliceinwl
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   Message To: AdmYrrek   In reference to Message Id: 1777068


 Ali Lost in the House

When we had one of our als get loose in the herp room I took care of in college, I looked for droppings and potential hiding places. I set up a water bowl, a little clear cage full of crickets and some loosely stacked paper grocery bags in a dark place near a crack in the wall where I’d found the droppings. I lifted the bags daily to see if he’d taken refuge in or under them and after about a week he showed up under the bags. I’d also recommend checking under refrigerators, sofas etc, with a flashlight and doing sweeps underneath with a yard stick to try and ferret him out.
06/29/08  02:02am

 #1777318


PrinceSushi
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   Message To: AdmYrrek   In reference to Message Id: 1777068


 Ali Lost in the House

Did you completely look through all of the bedding? I nearly had a heart attack when I though my allie got out, (he did it once before, but since his cage is high off the ground he simply hid under a plastic bad I had on the counter). After 2 days of searching, I went to clean the cage and scared myself when I unearthed a very unhappy allie.

If he is high up off the ground, you can only hope he hasn’t jumped. Check you toaster, cereal boxes, under bread, and what ever else may be on the counter. If you still can’t find him, check all appliances that give off heat such as your stove or refrigerator. Check clothes, blankets and rugs. If you still have no luck, put down some water and a glass jar with a few crickets in it in the general area you think he may be hiding. I had a legless lizard get out once and the water and cricket method brought her out within 15 minutes.



06/29/08  03:51am

 #1777347


AdmYrrek
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   Message To: PrinceSushi   In reference to Message Id: 1777318


 Ali Lost in the House

The first thing I did was completely clear off my counter and examine everything that was on the counter. Nothing. I do hope he didn’t try to jump off, but, considering how barren the counter was even with stuff on it, there are almost no suitable places he could have gone besides (and this scares me) behind the stove.

So far I have set up a trap on the floor of the kitchen near some of the appliances he might be hiding under. The trap consists of a smallish box with a hole in it with some leaves from his cage scattered in front of the box. I took his basking rock out of his cage and set that near the box and focused his new light on said rock. Also, I’ve turned the AC in the house a bit lower. Hopefully this will work. If he’s still not back in a few days I’ll try the cricket thing as I just fed him a load of crickets the day before yesterday.
06/29/08  06:02am


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