The Wrong Cage

I don't understand it.
I don't understand it at all.

Perhaps there really is a worm hole or something in my reptile cages.
Because reptiles are disappearing...and then popping up where they aren't supposed to be....

Did I mention the Chinese Water Dragon before?
If not.
We had a Chinese Water Dragon disappear from it's cage while I was cleaning it.
Like it was there one moment,
Then it disappeared -while the cage was locked and closed-
And was nowhere to be found -I tore that cage apart looking-
Only for it to show up like a day and a half later.
O.o

No one saw it leave.
No one saw it come back.


In any case.

Today.
As I was opening the reptile cages -you know checking water levels, and giving food.

I happened to glance in our Bearded Dragon cage.
And saw something odd.
It was a red rope looking thing curled up under the rock cave we have in there.

Which....why would there be a red rope in the cage?

I closer glance.
And I realized.

That was no rope.

It. Was. A.

SNAKE.

Our Milksnake to be exact.

AND IT WAS IN THE BEARDED DRAGON CAGE!!!!
AHHHH!!!

I couldn't get into that cage fast enough to pull out the snake and stick him back in his proper home in the cage above the bearded dragon cage.

Before I turned my attention back to the bearded dragons.

...There were only two in the cage.
But I'd been sure that yesterday that there was more than two.

And I'd realized, as I placed the milksnake back in its cage, that he had a bulge along his stomach.
Meaning....he'd eaten recently.

:S
So I dashed to the back of the store to grab a scan gun so that I could check the inventory count of our bearded dragons.
Hoping that the others had been sold.
And the milksnake was just feeding on a mouse.

Bad luck.
The Inventory showed we should have had one more bearded dragon.
But we didn't.

I only had two in the cage.

Which...as I checked to see if one had died, or if one had been sold without being purchased.....
And didn't see anything....

Made it only the more obvious.

The snake had eaten one of the bearded dragons.

Of course, its possible that the snake didn't.
But everything is pointing that way.

Y_Y Poor Bearded Dragon.

Now the question is....
How did the snake get into the cage?

The obvious explanation is that one of my coworkers last night had taken the snake out of its cage....and for some reason, put it back in the wrong cage.

I mean its possible to do.
People have put snakes in the wrong cages before.
But usually its the cage of another snake.
Not of a totally different reptile.

If the snake had been fed last night, and if the people closing were in a hurry to put the snake back before leaving for the night,
It could be possible that by accident, they shoved the snake into the wrong cage.
As the snake's cage is right above the bearded dragon cage.

Still....
How could anyone be that unobservant....as to not realize they were opening a larger cage.
That the decorations inside the cage were all wrong.
That there were other creatures inside.

How could any of my coworkers be so clueless?
The three closers last night didn't strike me as the sort.
I mean, with two of them...its possible.
But unlikely.
They've all been in the dept long enough to not make that mistake....

I asked one of the coworkers when they came in, if they'd done anything with the snake.
The coworker denied it, and said they hadn't seen anyone handling the snake.....

I asked another coworker that worked last night but not in the dept and they too hadn't seen anyone handling the snake.

So...that left two coworkers....and no answers.

When I informed my manager.
He seemed to think that the snake had managed to escape its cage on it's own, and made its way into the bearded dragon cage for a late night snack.

O.o
But that snake has been in that cage for months...with no escape before.
I checked the cage. There weren't any openings for the snake to escape from.

The Bearded Dragon cage...slightly more understandable. There are small gaps if the lid isn't closed correctly as the lid is slightly loose.
But again....
The cage is below the snake's....
So if the snake got out, somehow came out of the front of the cage, and swung down below into the next cage....

I still don't see it being possible.

Did the snake escape?
Did a coworker put the snake in the wrong place?
Was it a worm hole?

Who knows.
Who knows......

Maybe if I see my other coworkers I'll get to the bottom of it.
But it may end up being a mystery that doesn't gets solved.....

Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi