The Great Handsome Escape

These last two weeks I have been snake-sitting for Jeni and Matt while they are in LA for Christmas. Yes, I said snake-sitting. They have two pretty cornsnakes, Handsome and Chloe. Chloe is a gorgeous red and orange, and Handsome is woodchip color. My job has been to make sure they're alive and well, and refill their water. It's really an easy job.

So yesterday I went over to their house to fulfill my duties. I went and said hello to Chloe first because she was in the front of her cage moving around. I filled up her water, talked to her for a little bit (you know, told her about my day, told her how pretty she is), and closed her cage again, fastening it with a twist tie. Then I turned to Handsome. I couldn't see him, per se, but I saw a snake-shaped lump in the woodchips. So, I opened his cage, filled up his water, then moved some woodchips to make sure he was still alive.

He wasn't there.

I panicked. He had pushed himself through a teeny hole in his net cage. On my watch, Handome escaped, overcome by loneliness and boredom. I had not a clue where a snake would hide. So, I called Jeni. No answer. I called Matt. He answered. I prepared myself to tell them that I LOST THEIR CHILD. Before I could say anything, I see a little pink tongue flitting in and out from under their table. He had crawled (slithered? climbed? fallen?) a total of 2 feet from his cage to a box underneath his cage. Relief flooded my soul and I told Matt the story. Handsome is now sharing a cage with Chloe. He did not want to get in the cage. Chloe did not want him in her cage. They slithered around looking super-irritated for a while. I think Chloe was pleading with me, actually. But they didn't look like they'd kill each other, so I left.

Yikes. Disaster averted. Handsome is now safe and sound. Unless Chloe eats him.