I’ve never had a snake, but I adore my pets too so I sympathize! This may be an ignorant question but . . . do snakes have a smell? What about hiring a “sniffer” dog? I saw a video about a guy who trained his beagle to be a sniffer for bedbugs (of all things!) so I’m thinking maybe a dog could find a snake as well. Best of luck!!!
That’s actually not a bad idea (assuming someone nearby has a bloodhound).
Let the dog sniff the cage bedding and then see where he goes.
My Ibizans and Portuguese Podengo sniff the black snake’s trail beside the house with “hunting tails” going all the time and they’ve shown no interest in anything inside the house at all.
[maybe I could rent a muzzled Mongoose]
;]