Last night without much warning we lost little Teagan the lovely striped 06 hatchling we just purchased on the 12th from the Taylor, MI show. We weren't able to get her to eat for us but we weren't worrying quite yet. She seemed fine but suddenly last night seemed to develop a very dark, almost black area visible through the skin of her belly. Very quickly it seemed to worsen, she began to twist as if in pain and then suddenly died in Mike's hands. She didn't suffer long which is some comfort. It was a truly awful experience and one I hope we never face again but unfortunately with these young snakes I guess sometimes things just happen you can't foresee. Doesn't make it any easier to accept or less heartbreaking but part of the life and death cycle I guess. We'll all miss this little lovely snake that was with us such a short time.