Unexpected death now Im beating myself up.

Walked into my room this morning to find my ball python dead and not moving at all, even when I picked him up he was just totally limp. Balled my eyes out for a good 45 minutes telling myself I could have prevented it and how I wish I would have paid closer attention to him after he was being fussy about eating. I feel like I failed as a reptile owner. I know it sounds dramatic but I put a lot of time and money into this creature and it was my first snake. It crushed me and im being very hard on myself to the point where ive felt depressed all day.

How do you all get over the loss of a snake? Especially your first and only? Im almost afraid to buy another reptile :'(

I'm not sure why your snake died or what could have been done to prevent it but what was meant to be will be. If you still love snakes and made some mistakes with your first obe then learn from those mistakes, correct them, and try again. I'm sorry for your loss.

Thank you, getting advice from people who are much more experienced than I am makes me feel better. All my friends who have been keeping snakes for over 15 years have told me the same. "It happens, dont take it personal". I think a good night sleep will help me. I still love snakes and I will definitely be buying another in the future. C'est la vie.

Sorry dude, that really sucks :(

Only way to know for sure how the snake died is to pay a vet for a necropsy, which can be expensive. If you want to get another snake, and you're worried it's either something that you did as a husbandry error or if it's something the snake had that might be contagious, that's really your only option for knowing for sure. Sudden death can be very hard. We always look back and think about the maybess or might-have-beens, trying to find a way to have prevented it, but most times, short of being the Son of God yourself, there's not much you could have done, and nature simply happens.

Really sorry to hear about this..

I'm really sorry to hear about your loss. If even when they are "just" breeder snakes it is hard, when they are seen 100% as a pet (as yours seems to have been) the emotional attachment can make the loss truly overwhelming.
If you have the money to do it, I would do a necropsy, it might give you some peace of mind to know what truly happened.