Update: Snake - Is this a plumbing or pest control situation?

[Rezdent]

This morning DH opened the lid to the toilet and found a rather large snake inside the bowl.  Both of them panicked - snake went into the lower pipe and DH flushed, slammed lid and ran.
When I looked I saw no snake - meaning it either went on down the pipe, or is hiding in the base of the toilet.

So now I'm kind of skeeved, okay?
I've got two issues here, I think.
1. How did snake get in, and how to fix that to prevent more
2. Where is snake now, and is that going to be okay?

Hubby keeps wondering out loud about how a snake could come UP through a closed system?  Not possible, right?  So snake came in through a hole somewhere or system isn't closed.  Oh man, this is the worst house to crawl under of all the houses I've ever lived in :(
Could snake have come in from an opening and then wiggled itself from the floor and crawled in under the lid?  Snake was somewhere around 2-3 foot in length and about two? inches thick in the widest part.

Snake is either in base of toilet, or moved on down the pipe.  Not much I can do about that other than wait it out, right?  I've shut the bathroom door and jammed a towel under the bottom space, hoping snake comes back up so that I can catch and relocate.

I'm pro-snake, even though they make me nervous.  I don't want to hurt the snake.  I am hoping it is a common rat snake, and not a cottonmouth, but DH didn't take time to identify it.  I want to remove this one if possible and prevent future occurrences.

Google didn't bring up much useful information (just horrifying stories) so I'm hoping you guys can help.  Your thoughts/suggestions welcome.

[dandarc]

Sewer pipe isn't typically filled with water - if it is, that's actually a problem, so the only water the snake would have to push past is the trap in the toilet - not much really.  Could have gained access any number of places - including the vent on your roof.  Our plumbing vents are just open pipes sticking out the top of our house - could see lots of things getting in there.

So yeah, drain-plumbing is typically not actually a closed system.

[Spork]

He likely came down the vent.  It's actually pretty common.  They sense water ... and climb down the pipe to get it.  Often they get stuck.

We had a squirrel do the same, but it didn't go up the toilet.  It went down the soil stack and got wedged.  It caused toilet and bath to back up.  When the plumber was running the auger, his head popped up in the window (behind the toilet) and told my wife "you're not going to believe this!"

If you don't develop a leak/backup, you're probably okay.  If you really want to prevent it, take some very fine screen and some zip ties or baling wire and cover the top of all the vent stacks.

[Rezdent]

Ah.
I didn't even consider the vents - you guys are right, that's probably how it got in.
Guess all I can do now is hope it doesn't cause problems downstream of the toilet.
Thanks!

[dandarc]

So, hijacking a bit - we actually did have a sewer clog Saturday night into Sunday morning - main problem was no working toilets in the house - no amount of plunging / toilet augering was helping at all.  Plumber came out and ran an auger or something down our vents and out towards the street, and was able to clear it.  He recommended having someone come and run a camera to check for potential issues.

Should we have the camera inspection, or are we wasting money here?

[robartsd]

So, hijacking a bit - we actually did have a sewer clog Saturday night into Sunday morning - main problem was no working toilets in the house - no amount of plunging / toilet augering was helping at all.  Plumber came out and ran an auger or something down our vents and out towards the street, and was able to clear it.  He recommended having someone come and run a camera to check for potential issues.

Should we have the camera inspection, or are we wasting money here?

If the backup was simply something that got stuck going down, you may have no further issues as the plummer cleared it. However, if your sewer line is old, there is a good chance tree roots are getting into it and the problem will return (and become worse/more frequent with time). The camera inspection will verify. The inspection could save you money if it helps you address a problem before it gets to the point where the sewer line needs complete replacement.

[dandarc]

So, hijacking a bit - we actually did have a sewer clog Saturday night into Sunday morning - main problem was no working toilets in the house - no amount of plunging / toilet augering was helping at all.  Plumber came out and ran an auger or something down our vents and out towards the street, and was able to clear it.  He recommended having someone come and run a camera to check for potential issues.

Should we have the camera inspection, or are we wasting money here?

If the backup was simply something that got stuck going down, you may have no further issues as the plummer cleared it. However, if your sewer line is old, there is a good chance tree roots are getting into it and the problem will return (and become worse/more frequent with time). The camera inspection will verify. The inspection could save you money if it helps you address a problem before it gets to the point where the sewer line needs complete replacement.

Yeah - going to call them today.  They were supposed to call me yesterday because apparently the camera-guy handles his own scheduling, but he never did.  Suppose even if the camera finds nothing amiss, indicating maybe it was a dead snake (tying back to original thread) or something of that nature causing the clog, the peace of mind is worth a non-zero amount of money.

[HipGnosis]

Yeah - going to call them today.  They were supposed to call me yesterday because apparently the camera-guy handles his own scheduling, but he never did.  Suppose even if the camera finds nothing amiss, indicating maybe it was a dead snake (tying back to original thread) or something of that nature causing the clog, the peace of mind is worth a non-zero amount of money.

Actually, that's not a bad idea for the OP
Have a plumber/drain guy with a sewer camera come 'see' that the snake is gone - the piece of mind would be worth the cost to me.
First I'd fill a couple 5 gal buckets with water and pour it down that toilet as fast as it will take it to 'flush' the snake way down the line.

[CmFtns]

So, hijacking a bit - we actually did have a sewer clog Saturday night into Sunday morning - main problem was no working toilets in the house - no amount of plunging / toilet augering was helping at all.  Plumber came out and ran an auger or something down our vents and out towards the street, and was able to clear it.  He recommended having someone come and run a camera to check for potential issues.

Should we have the camera inspection, or are we wasting money here?

Just something to think about... depending on how adventurous you are:

I was absolutely shocked at how cheap a basic usb camera snake is. I'm going to buy one as soon as I find a need for one such as your situation and I think they would be fun to play around with for a variety of uses not related to plumbing as well.

For example:
https://www.amazon.com/ZHOL%C2%AE-Waterproof-Pipeline-Inspection-Camera/dp/B004ADETZ0/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1469045232&sr=1-1&keywords=camera+snake

[Rezdent]

Yeah - going to call them today.  They were supposed to call me yesterday because apparently the camera-guy handles his own scheduling, but he never did.  Suppose even if the camera finds nothing amiss, indicating maybe it was a dead snake (tying back to original thread) or something of that nature causing the clog, the peace of mind is worth a non-zero amount of money.

Actually, that's not a bad idea for the OP
Have a plumber/drain guy with a sewer camera come 'see' that the snake is gone - the piece of mind would be worth the cost to me.
First I'd fill a couple 5 gal buckets with water and pour it down that toilet as fast as it will take it to 'flush' the snake way down the line.

Ha, yes we put a lot of water down that way.
We are rural, so technically it is a line to the septic tank.  DH opened a clean out valve to further encourage snake to leave.

Plumber would be very expensive because of our remote location so we'll only go that route as a last resort IF our system shows real signs of trouble.
It's just the idea of a snake lurking in our toilet that creeps me out.  Google "snake in toilet" for some rather gruesome stories with pictures.  I wish I had asked here first and never saw those pictures.

[alberteh]

So, hijacking a bit - we actually did have a sewer clog Saturday night into Sunday morning - main problem was no working toilets in the house - no amount of plunging / toilet augering was helping at all.  Plumber came out and ran an auger or something down our vents and out towards the street, and was able to clear it.  He recommended having someone come and run a camera to check for potential issues.

Should we have the camera inspection, or are we wasting money here?

If the backup was simply something that got stuck going down, you may have no further issues as the plummer cleared it. However, if your sewer line is old, there is a good chance tree roots are getting into it and the problem will return (and become worse/more frequent with time). The camera inspection will verify. The inspection could save you money if it helps you address a problem before it gets to the point where the sewer line needs complete replacement.

Yeah - going to call them today.  They were supposed to call me yesterday because apparently the camera-guy handles his own scheduling, but he never did.  Suppose even if the camera finds nothing amiss, indicating maybe it was a dead snake (tying back to original thread) or something of that nature causing the clog, the peace of mind is worth a non-zero amount of money.

There is a lot of variables to whether or not to camera a line. I'm a Plumber, Gasfitter, HVAC Technician and also run my own sewer camera. Things like, how old is the line? What is it made of? Where are you located (warmer climates have much more root infiltration issues)? have you recently done any excavating or possibly replaced your sewer tank (recent home construction or a new tank may cause settling which then breaks off or bows the sewer line)?

I usually recommend not to camera a line after i clear it with the snake as it is pretty expensive to do so (lots of wear and tear on a expensive and fragile piece of equipment). I tell my customers that if the problem recurs within a month or so then it's time to camera the line as we do a very thorough job clearing the line and if the problem recurs there is most likely a bigger problem to deal with.

[Rezdent]

Just wanted to give a quick update.

Its been over six weeks.
We haven't seen the snake again.
We didn't do much of anything but wait and see.  We did open the cleanout plug for a few hours just hoping the snake would head out that way.  Not sure if that made any difference.
Plumbing is doing okay.  Glad I held off on calling the plumber.
Thanks everyone for the help!

The only thing is that I now really think every time I raise the lid on a toilet.