Have you sssss-een him? Giant 20-foot Burmese python dubbed 'SS Wraps' is on the loose in Missouri after it escaped its owner's home

  • Ben Trexel III last saw his pet serpent on May 18, after a branch crashed through his roof during a storm
  • Trexel, a pizza deliveryman, has been raising the python for nine years, since it was a six-inch-long hatchling 
  • The snake is not hungry because it had just eaten its monthly meal of two chickens 
  • The owner is worried for snake's safety because its body temperature must stay above 50 degrees 
  • 'SS' in the name stands for 'Super Snake,' and 'Wraps' refers to its impressive length  
  • Trexel, 30, who has four young children, says SS Wraps means a lot to his family and he does not want him harmed 

By SNEJANA FARBEROV FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Published: | Updated:

Somewhere in the Missouri Ozarks, there is a 20-foot Burmese python on the loose, and its owner desperately wants his slithery pet back. 

The hulking brown and tan python, nicknamed SS Wraps, escaped from its cage near Rogersville a week ago.

Its owner, Ben Trexel III, says he last saw his pet serpent last Thursday, when a branch crashed through his roof during a storm, apparently allowing the snake to escape its enclosure.

Christian County law enforcement is not involved in the search and does not have an animal control officer. But anyone who sees the python should call police, who likely will call Trexel to help with a capture.

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Ben Trexel III, of Missouri, is desperately searching for his beloved 20-foot pet python, which escaped his home on May 18

Ben Trexel III, of Missouri, is desperately searching for his beloved 20-foot pet python, which escaped his home on May 18

Slipped out: The nine-year-old Burmese python called 'SS Wraps' slithered out of its cage after a tree branch crashed through its' owner's roof

Slipped out: The nine-year-old Burmese python called 'SS Wraps' slithered out of its cage after a tree branch crashed through its' owner's roof

Trexel, who works as a pizza deliveryman and lives with his girlfriend and their four young children off of County Line and Cypress roads, says friends helped him search throughout the weekend, but to no avail.

He tells Inside Edition his animal has shown no aggression in the nine years Trexel's owned him, and he is concerned for the python's safety and well-being because its body temperature must stay above 50 degrees, and nights have been cold in the area lately. 

'He could be curled up in a tree somewhere, or he could have gotten into the creek that’s near here,' he tells OzarksFirst.com. 'And if he got in the creek with the cold water, he’d probably stiffed up and get washed down. He couldn’t survive long.'

Trexel says the snake is not out looking for food because he had only recently wolfed down his monthly meal consisting of two chickens.  

Speaking to the Springfield News-Leader last week, Trexel explained that the 'SS' in his pet's name stands for 'Super Snake,' and 'Wraps' refers to he python's impressive length.

Trexel and his friends have been scouring the area around Rogersville in the Missouri Ozarks for a week
The owner is concerned for the snake's safety

Snakes alive! Trexel and his friends have been scouring the area around Rogersville in the Missouri Ozarks for a week. The owner is concerned for the snake's safety  

Trexel works as a pizza deliveryman and lives with his girlfriend and their four young children (pictured together). He says SS Wraps means a lot to his family 

Trexel works as a pizza deliveryman and lives with his girlfriend and their four young children (pictured together). He says SS Wraps means a lot to his family 

Courtesy of KSPR 

Trexel has been raising the python from the time it was a six-inch-long hatchling.

'He means a lot to my family,' Trexel said. 'I don't want anybody harmed and I don't want him harmed.'

Trexel is asking anyone who comes across the 20-foot python, as thick as a football, to call him any time of day or night at 417-983-4430. 

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