A Personal Loss

This morning I awoke to a shocking and saddening (to me) discovery- Molly, my pet ball python, had died overnight. I had spent a couple of hours Sunday afternoon with her wrapped around my arms or neck, carrying her around while I went about the day, as I often do. She enjoyed time out of the aquarium, and I had her out nearly every day. She was about to shed soon, so I had prepared a warm solution to soak her in overnight, with a warm heating pad underneath, as I have regularly done as well. This has always helped her shed old skin more readily. I'm still not completely sure what happened, but when I went to check on her this morning, I found her dead in the container I use. It shocked and saddened me. I buried her out by the back of our property, grieving over her death, and blaming myself for whatever may have gone wrong.

We've had Molly for about 9 years. I first purchased her at a reptile show, my daughter Ansley with me. She was small, about 10 inches long, and brilliantly colorful. When the breeder handed her to me, she curled up in my palm and relaxed. Ansley instantly said, "Dad, let's buy her! She's perfect!" And we did. Ansley held her on the way home, and she and Kelsey, my younger daughter, both decided on her name, Molly.

Over the years, I've shown her to friends, helped people overcome their fear of snakes by holding her, brought her to churches and classrooms as an example of God's amazing design in creation, or to illustrate various Bible stories. Molly has always been a very gentle, comfortable, compliant participant. Most often, she was simply content to wrap around my neck, flitting her tongue on my ears or crawling up through my hair while around the house.

I know snakes don't have the emotional responses to their owners that dogs or cats have. But I'm convinced they develop a familiarity with their owners/handlers, and I saw that evident every time I took her out for handling. I certainly was attached to her.

So I know Molly was "just a snake", but she was a family pet, and I'm grieving over her tonight. I'm also thankful for the years God allowed me and my family to enjoy her, as well as the countless children and students over the years who have enjoyed her as well.