baby snakes in air-con - how to fumigate?

[cliveshep]

Found a shed skin hanging down the back of the lounge aircon - maybe 10-12 cm (4 - 5 inches) long, maybe 3-4mm diameter (about 3/16"). Haven't seen the owner but worried about what is could be - if it is a cobra even babies are dangerous in the extreme we've been told. They carry venom but no controls. Don't know how it got in the aircon, there is mosquito mesh tied over the condensate drain, maybe a tiny hole in the wall around the pipe and cables allowed it to get in? I need to check that. 

 

So, it might be a green tree snake, we do have those, and they tend to clear off quickly but OUTSIDE the house is for wildlife, inside is for my family and the dogs. We tolerate house geckos, but nothing else is welcome including frogs, cockroaches, water monitors, skinks, iguanas and of course snakes. So - given that baby snakes will feast on baby geckos (we have loads of those) and grow bigger, how can I fumigate the air-con and kill the buggers now? I'm Christian, not Buddhist, no qualms about killing snakes in the home no matter what age.

 

Is there anything sold in aerosol cans I can fumigate the aircon with? Don't want to do the whole house, at least not yet, cost being one reason and where to put 4 dogs, 3 of which are half-feral soi rescue dogs that won't take to being moved too well the other. Even inoculations have to come to them, we cannot get them to the vet. We can lock them in an outside compound for a while. 

 

Anyone shed any light on this please?

Edited February 23, 2019 by cliveshep

[mick220675]

The only way any thing can get from the outside to the inside is thru a hole in the wall. 

 

Fill any hole around the pipes or cable with silicone or a cement mix. If the drain pipe is short extend it, but I don't think a snake could get up a ac drain pipe.

 

I have my AC units cleaned inside/serviced once a year ( 500 baht for 2), The man always tells me it is impossible for any insect to get into the house from the outside via the ac unit.

 

Cliveshep you are a good man for looking after the dogs.

 

 

[cliveshep]

Thanks for the compliment on dogs Mick. They do get in via the condensate drains - an English compatriot living just up the road twice had baby cobras in his air-con, discovered when the fan made an awful noise he said, took off the cover and found the snakes. As the unit is sealed with the only hole being the drain that's where he thought they had come from.

 

BUT you bet I'm going to check inside the cable and pipe conduit because I know the guy who fitted all of these units - we have six of them, drilled a 2 1/2" 65mm hole with a diamond hole-cutter for pipes and wires and as I only found out the other day he didn't fill the holes in on one we had removed last Thursday so I'm guessing he didn't fill any of them properly.

 

So it's out with double extension ladder and roof crawling boards tomorrow and open them all up to cement them in if not done properly.

 

BUT how to fumigate what I've still got is the pressing question?

[cliveshep]

Nice idea but cannot fit that inside a Mitsubishi inverter air-con. Glue trap? I'll have to google that one but I really want to spray inside the unit to fumigate all the nooks and crannies.

 

Zyklon B anyone? (Kidding).

 

[kannot]

4 hours ago, cliveshep said:

I'm Christian

You have my condolences........."Thou shall not  kill"

[kannot]

Why not try some mosquito  killer in those  green spray  cans,  just spray masses  in............seriously, I saw off a  tarantula with that once and it kills  jing joks easily too

[chickenslegs]

We found baby rats in one of our larger aircons, also found a shedded snakeskin in another (that one was in an outbuilding).

 

I paid for a thorough dismantling and cleaning of all our aircon units - only cost about 500B each - and then used expanding foam to seal the holes where the pipes enter the house and around the gaps at the top of the ceiling-mounted units.

 

This was about 5 years ago and no further problems.

[sometimewoodworker]

9 hours ago, Arjen said:

Not sure if that works, we catch on regular base by accident snakes on those "glue traps" for rats.

It is quite messy.

 

I think a UV lamp will kill also snakes, (special when they are young) Advantage from light is that there is no dirt, and no residu poison...

 

I have one of those and it does seem to reduce geckos.

 

Be careful how it is used, ours is on a remote controlled socket that is set to turn it off after 10~30 minutes so we are never in the room when it is on.

[sammieuk1]

Personally speaking I would take the fast approach and move my crocs are always on standby????

[Old Croc]

A while back, my wife was talking with a neighbor when they noticed a small cobra go into a hole under some concrete steps to the neighbors gate. She is terrified of these snakes and wanted it gone from her property. 

After failing to get it out by poking at it with sticks they sprayed the hole with copious amounts of insect spray.  It resurfaced and was dispatched by my lady.

 

[cliveshep]

I'm leaning towards the spraying with the stinky Red Chaindrite too, it drives US away so should be fine with baby snakes. 

 

Then if I can get up to them, take off all the outside casing over pipes and cables and make sure the holes are properly sealed.

 

[fredob43]

On ‎2‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 8:56 AM, cliveshep said:

I'm leaning towards the spraying with the stinky Red Chaindrite too, it drives US away so should be fine with baby snakes. 

 

Then if I can get up to them, take off all the outside casing over pipes and cables and make sure the holes are properly sealed.

 

That's what the Wife uses to get rid of any insects, also snakes don't like it they bugger off sharpish if they get sprayed with that stuff. Has a pipe a bit like WD40 so easy to direct. Only thing it does smell.