OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) - A North County snake rescuer is pleading for the return of four ball pythons stolen near the Oceanside Pier after a thief took a bag containing the snakes.
Joseph Barrios had spent four hours at the pier doing snake education two Sundays ago before the theft. He had brought four of his five ball pythons — Cheesecake, Luna, Bumblebee and Twinkie — locked inside plastic enclosures stored in a black Puma duffel bag.
Around 8 p.m., Barrios walked back to his car, parked a few blocks away, and realized he had lost the fob to his newly purchased car. The cost of an emergency locksmith was too high, so he decided to wait until morning. Around midnight, he dozed off leaning against the car with the bag beside him. When he woke up about 30 minutes later, the bag was gone.
"I went a little crazy, I was looking all over, searching everywhere," Barrios said. "Where are they. Where are my babies?"
Barrios searched the area and found no sign of the snakes before filing a police report.
Barrios, who started rescuing snakes more than two years ago, uses them as teaching tools and says the animals had become a popular sight for beachgoers at the pier.
"I just try to change the mindset of people, not to be so afraid of them," Barrios said.
His greatest fear is that the thief panicked and abandoned the snakes.
"That they got dumped somewhere — the gentleman might have gotten scared and just dumped them anywhere, or maybe still in the bag and they just can't get out," Barrios said.
Barrios says he also worries about the impact of cooler nighttime temperatures on the snakes if they were released. Snake experts say the non-native snakes could survive months if they avoid predators.
Back home, the empty enclosures serve as a daily reminder of what was taken.
"All the enclosures at home are empty, reminders every day. It's sad. It sucks. I just want them back," Barrios said.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Barrios replace the snakes.
Anyone with information is asked to call Oceanside Police at 760-435-4900.
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