RIP Darwin...

[gardenfiend138]

Well, I got some really bad news yesterday morning while at work.
I am currently moving, so I decided to board my 2 snakes (Darwin and Diedra) at my local pet shop so they would be less stressed, and because I am not allowed to have animals in my old apartment so I had to get them out for the walk-through inspection.
Anyway, the pet shop I boarded them at is a place I spend a lot of my free time, and I am very close with the owners. He knows how much my snakes mean to me, and he wanted to do everything he could to keep them safe. I went in with my thermostat and heat tape to set up some temporary tubs for them, but he had an open locking enclosure that we both felt was a better fit to keep them safe. It is completely sealed (obviously) with the only openings being the vents, so the heat pad was out of the question. I set up my tubs in there, and my friend put in a heat bulb, and we let it set to see how the temps were. I stayed there for 2 hours checking the temps to make sure they were spot on. When I left, it was only 84 on the tub that was closer to the heat bulb.
I get a call yesterday morning saying my first snake, a wildtype ball python named Darwin, had passed. It got extremely hot in the enclosure and he cooked. If this were a letter, the pages would be soaked with tears. I had raised up his tub so he would be closer to the light (still about a foot/ foot and a half away), since the bulb was off-set in the enclosure and when he was on the ground his temps were about 74. We both had my animals' best well-being in our intentions, but unfortunately this is not always enough.
I'm sorry for the long post, but thank you to anyone who reads this. I have spent every free hour at the petshop just to have a place to be around animals, and I needed to share my story with the community here too.
My friend is just devastated, he's gone as far as offering me a male lesser, which I declined because it wasn't his fault at all and I don't want the reason I get another snake be because of this. Anyway, thank you all and RIP Darwin

[llovelace]

I'm sorry for your loss.

[Popeye]

Sorry for your loss.

[ramstralia5]

Sorry...

[Kymberli]

I'm sorry you lost him that way. I couldn't imagine getting that news.

[ramstralia5]

I recommend getting a new little buddy asap...I cant believe you are not allowed to have snakes at your place. People need to get over their snake fear and realize how awesome bp's are...

[gardenfiend138]

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and words... this is very hard for me to deal with, I take death in all forms hard. I can't get over how after all of the hard work I do to keep them healthy he went out like this...it makes me feel sick with myself... I want to wait on another snake, I need time to get over this. I am going to focus on loving Diedra and ensuring she deals with the enormous stress and is healthy and thriving before I add another, but I know where you're coming from, and thank you once again.

[gardenfiend138]

another thing that is killing me is that I don't have any pictures of him, except a few on my phone that are crappy and I don't have a cord to upload them...I feel like he is still just boarding and I will get to see him in the morning...and i hadn't been handling him that much over the past few months because we were working on getting him back on feed after the winter...at least he went out with a meal in his stomach...I just want him back...I feel like it won't hit me until I get Diedra back and realize what life is like with only her...