Onyx, a 2-foot python found by a terrified hotel housekeeper, was reunited with its owner today (July 8) after an overnight stay at the Festus animal control facility and exposure to social media fame.
The snake’s owner, Sawyer Largent, 19, of Crystal City, had stayed at the La Quinta Inn and Suites while waiting to move into a new residence. When Largent left the hotel with his belongings, his pet snake, Onyx, was accidentally left behind.
“He’s an escape artist,” said Largent. “He’s come out of his cage before.”
The 6 1/2 month old snake is a mixture of a ball python and a clown python.
After Largent traveled to his new home and started unpacking things, he found that Onyx’s cage was empty.
“I figured he must be out in the truck,” Largent said.
It was then that Largent’s search began.
Not long after that, friends started texting Largent telling him that his snake had been found at the hotel on Wednesday (July 7th) and was famous on social media.
The snake was discovered by a housekeeper cleaning the hotel room, said Tamara Martin, manager of the LaQuinta Inn, 1001 Veterans Boulevard.
“That was a big surprise,” said Martin. “She picked up the mattress and screamed.”
Her scream drew Martin and another housekeeper into the room. Onyx had slipped between the mattress and the box spring beds. The first housekeeper spotted the snake lifting the mattress as part of routine housekeeping.
The second housekeeper picked up the line and carried it to Martin’s office.
“It was very friendly,” said Martin.
She said the hotel was the only pet friendly hotel in the area.
“We knew he had a dog. He didn’t tell us anything about the snake, ”said Martin.
She said she knew Largent lived in the room, but the hotel staff didn’t have a good phone number to reach him.
“We searched the room to make sure there was nothing else,” said Martin.
She called Festus Animal Control, and one of the agency’s staff, Jason Allen, came to take over the line.
“He’s a beautiful snake, very friendly,” said Allen.
“Pythons are escape artists,” he said. “They are known to flee. They are strong snakes and can come out. But he was really friendly, so it wasn’t that dangerous. “
Allen said he had collected many wild snakes from homes and yards in Festus, but this was the first python, the first pet snake, and the first snake to stay in the animal control facility overnight.
Allen bought a tank to house onyx in the animal control facility.
In hopes of finding Largent, Allen shared a photo of Onyx on social media Wednesday afternoon.
As of this afternoon (July 8th), the Festus Animal Control Facebook post had more than 140 comments and 690 shares.
“I was really surprised at how many shares it got,” said Allen. “I knew it was going to be shared, but that’s a lot. I was just hoping to find the right owner. “
Largent said he was shocked at how much attention the photo got.
“I was even more surprised at how many people tried to claim it,” he said.
Allen said at least nine other people claimed they owned the snake.
When Largent called the Festus Animal Control Bureau it was closed for the day, but he and Allen touched the base this morning and the line was brought back in the early afternoon.
“I’ve loved reptiles since I was a kid,” said Largent. “I find it fascinating.”
