It was a cold-blooded crime.

Reptile breeder Brian Gundy had just given a talk and animal presentation Saturday at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in downtown San Jose. While going to get his car parked on the second level of the Fourth and San Fernando Street garage about 4:30 p.m., he left his his snakes and lizards in boxes and a bag in a no-parking zone.

When he returned for his critters, he made a grim discovery.

"As I was loading up my gear, I realized the bag that had my four pythons and blue skink lizard inside was gone and they were just there seconds ago," Gundy told KTVU Fox 2.

Gundy had seen several people walk by his equipment, so he ran after them but couldn't catch up. He told KTVU he doesn't think they knew what was inside.

If the thieves were surprised by the contents of the bag, Gundy worries that the pythons — three ball pythons and a baby albino caramel Burmese python — and the blue-tongue skink could have been tossed into a dumpster or otherwise abandoned.

"It's very upsetting for me because — even though there is quite a bit of money involved in this loss — my biggest concern is the safety of these animals," Gundy says in a video he uploaded to YouTube. He notes that the thieves probably have no idea how to care for a snake.

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The stolen animals were worth approximately $5,000, according to the reptile breeder. A box containing a tegu lizard and an ice chest with a 13-foot Burmese python inside were not taken.

Gundy filed a police report and hopes that the garage's surveillance video will help identify the thieves. He told KTVU that he isn't looking to press charges.

He just wants his snakes and lizard back — no questions asked.

Gundy, who breeds and sells snakes through his For Goodness Snakes website, asked that anyone with information about pythons being sold or dumped locally notify him and/or police.

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Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate.