04/19/2026
I knew it would happen. It’s happens before.
Today was an animal bedding reset day where I clean out everyone and feed everyone! First enclosures I open and she’s gone… a nearly 6 foot massive ball python and a 700 ft.² apartment gone. We searched all day for her checked every room, and my worst idea was that she went up the chiming or somehow managed to squeeze behind there because it’s just like a metal insert…but no! Not even 2 feet away from her enclosure is a storage closet…how she got in there I have no idea, but she got in there and was deep in a empty, trash can…freezing cold, and probably very hungry because I do not know how long she’s been gone. She was on a food strike so I hadn’t fed her and at least two weeks because ball pythons can go six months to a year without eating on a strike or during hibernation…but I was a bad reptile owner and hadn’t checked on her as much as I should. Thank goodness she’s found and warm and happy and I am beyond relieved. I don’t know  what I would have done if I couldn’t find her or worse, found her dead. She is a staple in the critter corner and has gotten me this far with the outreach program. Needless to say I need to do better as a reptile mom!
