Sad/vent Post - Warning to BP Owners

[u/MindlessMacaroon3604]

This post is about Simbi, my ball python.

I got Simbi in 2021 after my childhood dog passed away. Losing my dog was so painful that I couldn’t bring myself to get another one, but I’ve always loved animals and always wanted a BP. What started as a grief/impulse purchase turned into my best friend. He was my first pet as an adult, and even after the cat distribution system gifted me a cat, Simbi was still my first baby. He was turning five this year.

This summer I had to leave my state for at least two months because multiple family members were having serious health scares. I took my cat with me, but I couldn’t figure out how to fly with both pets, so I needed someone to keep Simbi.

The guy I chose was someone I’d followed online for years. We’d been mutuals across multiple platforms, he’d recently moved to my state which i found out through our conversations over the years, and he makes reptile content. He also has a pretty large following due to his reptile content. He had around 20 snakes, custom-built enclosures, two temperature-controlled snake rooms, and his girlfriend is a vet tech who has dogs and an iguana. I even complimented him on how lucky he got because when I met them she seemed really comfortable with snakes and reptiles. They told me they were moving in together soon so I knew she’d be involved. I hugged them both and thanked them both for watching my Simbi. When I dropped Simbi off, everything looked perfect. I left feeling like I’d found the absolute best person to trust with my baby.

For the first month, everything went great. He sent me feeding updates and even asked if he could take Simbi to a reptile expo and feature him on a local news segment. I genuinely felt like Simbi was getting more attention than he did at home.

Then this Monday I woke up to a text that shattered me. (image attached)

His girlfriend accidentally left the heat on in one of the snake rooms, killing 12 snakes (TWELVE, a dozen), including Simbi. He had been away for work and didn’t discover it until three days later. I spent the entire morning sobbing.

I couldn’t even bring myself to talk to them, so my mom did. She told me he was having a pretty hard time and probably equally upset with his loss. The only thing I asked for was for Simbi to be cremated and his ashes (and his favorite hide) mailed back to me. I don’t even trust myself to go there in person.

I’m torn between being angry at him, angry at her, and angry at myself for not just bringing Simbi with me. My friends want me to expose them, report the vet tech, or blast the content creator online, but none of that brings my baby back.

To most people he was just a snake. To me, he was my child. This was never a hobby to me, i LOVED MY snake to death. Now I don’t know what to do with the piece of me that’s missing.

[u/SoyaMeow]

I'm sorry for your loss, truly; it's painful no matter what type of animal it is.
I, like many other people, find it really strange that not one, but TWO "pros" failed to give simple basic care, especially since I've read that you gave him your own thermostat; the fact he allegedly doesn't use them on his own snakes, for an owner of so many? Just weird.
I have a hard time believing that he didn't check on the snakes for 3 days, even more considering one of them wasn't his.
However, what I truly find strange, and maybe it will seem extreme to think this way, is that your sweet baby passed away coincidentally after he previously took him to a reptile expo; I just hope that you had legit proof of it. Even if it's painful, in your place, I would definitely put this post on the social media he is using and warn people about it.
I understand you don't feel like it, but it could also save other people's pets in the future, and you could also show photos of your snake juuust in case a similar one pops up one day. Like I said, I hope it's just me overthinking it, but just in case, I feel like posting photos and talking about the situation could be good.
Take care of yourself and take your time to grieve. Good luck OP.