Sorry to say, I had many of those failures. A good one was way back, 1962-3 I believe. I lived in SoCal, and kept and bred snakes in a carport. Parents you know. Well I made this wooden cage, and put a lite in it. I have a Mexican boa in there.

Well the dang lite burned a hole in the top of the cage and the snake got away. One of my neighbors spotted a big brown snake in a tree, a few houses down. A few days later, I found the boa coiled on top the cage. Hmmmmmmmmmm a beginers lesson. Cheers