I've had it happen to me twice. The interesting thing is that both females were pretty large, one was approx 1600 grams and the other was even larger. Both females felt soft even though they weren't fat if you know what I mean. They didn't have that solid ball python feel. The 1600 gram female was older but was always a problem eater until about a year before I bred her. She laid 4 of her 5 eggs and the last egg was bound. I figured I'd give her a day or so to pass the egg and she was dead within 36 hours. The 4 eggs that she layed went bad mid way through incubation. The second female wasn't a problem feeder but she never felt right, always soft. I let her go an extra year just because. She died approx 35 days after her post ovulation shed without passing her eggs. It's not a large sample but the fact that they both didn't seem as muscular, or as solid as they should, seems to be the common link.

In contrast, I have a 2002 albino female that was always a problem feeder and I finally decided to breed her in 2007. She was 5 years old and approx. 1200 grams. I was concerned but she felt pretty solid and had eaten well for a couple months. She laid 2 eggs in 2008 that went bad, but became a fantastic eater afterwards. She gave me 5 good eggs in 2009.