It's called "hedging bets".
You gotta try really hard to kill a king snake. I'm not buying that it was a husbandry error. This wasn't some newbie greenhorn that bought this animal.
If this is something that LLL bred in house, I would ask for all feed, poop and shed records for this animal. If it isn't, then maybe LLL would be so kind as to tell you how long they have had the animal in store and what it's husbandry history was.
If this is an animal purchased from a breeder and re-purposed by LLL, get whatever you can get back, and I'll PM you a list of reputable lampropeltis breeders who can account for their babies from lock to hatch. You can start with a PM or a call to Wes. If he doesn't have an animal that suits your needs, I'm sure he can direct you to a BREEDER that does.