A man chopped the head off one of his pet snakes and nearly cut another one in half.
And a court heard Jonathan Clegg then called police in what his solicitor termed “a cry for help”.
Clegg was found at his Shepley home still holding the eight-inch knife he had used to kill the reptiles.
His solicitor told Kirklees magistrates that the 30-year old had ‘lost it’ and killed the snakes in a desperate state.
Clegg pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal by inflicting blunt force trauma and fatal wounds.
Clegg was given a community order with 100 hours unpaid work as direct alternative to custody. He was also banned from keeping all animals except dogs for three years and ordered to pay £500 costs.
The Huddersfield court heard that police went to his home in Abbey Road on September 11.
Andrew Davidson, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said: “Mr Clegg called them in a state of distress and indicated he’d killed both these snakes.
“Police were met by Mr Clegg who had a knife with an eight-inch blade in his hand.”
The officers searched the house and found the bodies of the black and gold-coloured king snake and a corn snake, inside a black bag.
Mr Davidson said: "The head had been severed from one of the snakes.
“The vet examining it described it as a ragged incision with two further slash wounds down the body.
“The second had a large wound a quarter of the way down the body down from the head, a wound which nearly severed the snake.
“As a consequence that second snake bled to death.
“The vet was very clear that they would have suffered as a consequence of their injuries.
“It’s a worrying set of circumstances.”
Bob Carr, mitigating, described Clegg as an unusual client who called police after he suffered a complete breakdown.
The court heard that Clegg went off the rails following the breakdown of his relationship and turned to drugs.
Mr Carr explained that following the incident he was taken to hospital and detained under the mental health act.
Mr Carr added that Clegg, a self-employed bricklayer, was an animal lover and had a rescue dog he adored.
He said: “This is wholly out of character - these actions were a desperate cry for help. He assaulted the nearest objects to him which were these two snakes.
“When you see a man clearly crying out for help, looking at punishment should be not be the primary concern.”
