Sounds like a good next step. Hopefully it will be the thing that turns the trick for Ember!
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Better yet, along with the dirty stinky bedding go ahead and put a frozen thawed rodent in the middle of the bedding. But don’t let the bedding touch the rodent because otherwise the rodent will dry up……. 
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Not sure if y’all saw my other post about feeder mice, but I did get a little bit of bedding with the mice, and the original Ziploc smelled quite strongly of mice. I put the bedding in the bottle trap and the Ziploc itself in her enclosure on the floor. Set up my motion camera right in front to try to catch her but unfortunately no luck. I checked this morning and there’s nothing on the camera, and no Ember in the bottle trap. I can try to put a f/t mouse in there tonight though, along with the bedding
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Dang it! I keep hopng she’ll appear for you. Are you moving the trap around? She may have traveled around inside and be doing her cruising in a different area within the house.
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Omg I feel like a complete idiot but no, I haven’t been moving it. In my head I know she could be anywhere and I’ve been looking absolutely everywhere in this apartment, but for some reason I haven’t been moving the trap around. I have water dishes throughout the apartment not sure why this didn’t translate 
I’ll try moving it tonight! I don’t want my dog messing with it while I’m at work, so it’ll have to wait until I’m home
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Hope this works out for you.
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You’re not an idiot. It’s both amazing and embarrassing to think back on all the things I’ve done or not done which didn’t work when there was something obvious and different I just didn’t see. Don’t be hard on yourself for being human. 
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Just got some more soiled mouse bedding from the local pet store. I put a little bit in the bottle trap, and I put some in her enclosure along with a pinky under her hide. Fingers crossed this works. I also plan on making a second bottle trap and I’ll leave them in different locations. I have enough bedding that I can repeat as needed for at least a few days
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Sounds good. Multiple traps is a good idea, too. Fingers crossed that it works!
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Don’t give up @anon5387911! She’ll come around sooner or later! 
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No luck with the bedding and pinky 
I’ll keep trying though
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Small update: Since my last post, I have 3 bottle traps with a bit of soiled mouse bedding in them, each in a different location. I’ve been moving them around and replacing the bedding with “fresh” soiled bedding every couple days to keep them smelly. Unfortunately this hasn’t worked and Ember is still missing. I’m also running out of bedding at this point. I’ve also tried leaving f/t pinkies in the bottles with the bedding and no luck with that either. I don’t want to be pessimistic, but realistically, how long can a 1 year old corn snake survive without food? I suppose there’s a chance she got into the walls or the pipes and somehow found a food source, but I’m not sure. When she first escaped, I did a thorough check of the apartment and blocked off any vents, holes, etc that I thought she could escape through, but it’s possible I missed something. What I do know is she hasn’t eaten any of the food I’ve left out for her, and on the 10th it’ll be 3 months since she escaped. I know others have commented that they found their snake 6, 12, even 18 months later. But I guess I’m just feeling hopeless right now, and I feel like I’ve failed Ember. I’m not sure what else to do at this point, and maybe there’s nothing else I can do but wait
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Hey @anon5387911. I can hear the sadness in your voice and I don’t blame you. I think we might have given you some false hope with all of our “this will work” advice because for some of us it did work to help find our lost noodles, but so far not for you. But you have to make an effort because if you didn’t you would regret it later which I am sure you already realize.
That being said, there is still a change Ember will show up. I would suggest though, that you cease putting out the traps because they have not worked and every time you see them you are disappointed and heartbroken all over again. Not that these were not good ideas! They were excellent ideas but unfortunately haven’t worked because either Ember has been around and avoided them or she just hasn’t been around.
So here is what I would do if I were you. I would concentrate on your new baby for now. Give her lots of love and attention and try to turn your sad heart into a glad heart. You did not fail Ember in any way shape or form and no one here is going to tell you that you did! You tried your very best to find her! And of course she may still show up so keep that tucked away in your mind. For now you have to move on and most of all you have to make peace with yourself and above all forgive yourself @anon5387911! No one here holds you responsible so quit doing that to yourself!
And if and/or when she may show up we will all hold you up spiritually and rejoice with you!
God bless you sweet child! 
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@caron thank you so much for your kind words! I might cry! (in a good way). In a roundabout way I was asking if I should move on. You’re right, all of this effort was important and I needed to exhaust all of my options. I feel like I’ve done everything I can for Ember, and at this point I feel like continuing to search and put out the traps is just hurting me more. I need to grieve and while I have in some ways, I haven’t really moved on yet. I think I’m ready to though. Nova is amazing and I love her so much already. I think it will help to focus my attention on her. I will update this post if Ember does end up returning.
Thank you again for everything. I truly appreciate the support from you and everyone here! 
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I’m so sorry about all this, this must be such a hard situation. When a pet passes it’s horrible, but at least there is closure, the story has finished that chapter. With this, there won’t be closure unless you make your own.
I agree that if continuing to put out and check the traps is causing you mental distress and preventing that closure, stopping might be for the best. If Ember shows back up in 3 months, amazing! But spending the next 3 months wringing yourself dry over it will be so harmful to you, and by proxy the other animals you need to care for.
Again you have all the best wishes from me, I can’t imagine being in this situation, and I’m sorry it happened
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@cmills you hit the nail on the head. I don’t have closure and that’s what’s been bothering me the most. With each passing week, reality set in a little more that she’s gone, but I still had that voice saying “she could still turn up” and “there’s still x thing to try.” I kept beating myself up for the failures, though I know that’s not fair to myself. While yes, she could still turn up, I’m out of things to try and I need to create my own closure. If she shows up, great! But if not, unless I find her body, I’m going to choose to believe she’s out living her best wild snake life. I’m not too far outside a corn snake’s natural range so… Who knows. I’m glad I have Nova though. She’s not a replacement by any means, but it’s nice to have another snake to care for. I love her to death, the same way I loved Ember. And I’m going to take what I’ve learned and make sure Nova stays safe
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I totally get needing to move on. Of course, sometimes the best way to find something is to stop looking for it, so it’s entirely possible you’ll still find her lurking behind the toilet one night when you get up for a midnight pee, but I agree it’s probably time to stop actively searching and to just focus on caring for your new baby now.
And congrats on the new baby!
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You’ve done your best, @anon5387911 . It’s okay to stop doing things, stop putting out traps. It’s true, sometimes they go and they’re simply gone and we never know where and it always hurts. Create your own closure as it seems best to you. We support you fully.
I will add, you may still be pleasantly surprised. I had a lost baby reappear after many months on the lam, looking surprisingly healthy. I had given up long before he showed up in the bathroom floor. It can happen. It may not, but again, it still may. In any case,
Wise words, indeed.
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Yep @anon5387911 your little Ember could very well show up several months down the road looking like she did when she nosed her way out. The milk snake I had escaped 3 times and the 3rd time it showed up in the same room it escaped in after about 6 months. After that I gifted it to a friend of mine! lol! I was done! Lol!
So time will tell! 
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I also had my corn escape in November. I know how he got out. Stupid mistake on my part. I talk to ziggy every day and still say goodnight to his empy enclosure. I still have it all set up. I think he may have gotten under the house in the crawl space but there is a lot of insulation under the floor so i cant find him. I understand talking about him as if hes still here. I mkss him desperately.
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