Collection on Lockdown

[Jay_Bunny]

I really don't know what to do here. In August, I moved to a new apartment. That month, one of my male corn snakes died unexpectedly. We have no idea how old he was as we bought him as an adult in 2008 from a pet store.

In September we lost a 2011 normal female that we hatched out. I figured this wasn't that surprising because of what happened to that clutch. Around day 36, the egg box was pulled out of the incubator. One egg died from a ruptured umbilicus. He bled out in the egg. Another egg actually split open. I was able to repair the tear by supergluing some plastic wrap over the hole (I have pictures of this if anyone is interested in seeing it. It worked amazingly). She hatched just fine and was eating. Then one day I went in and found her deceased.

In October I had a 2011 female spinner. Her and her clutchmates were not eating. They had not eaten in a month so I decided to assist feed them (just put the pinky mouse in their mouth. All of her clutchmates did fine and ate (and are still alive and well, with the exception of two that still won't eat) After the assist feeding she passed away. She hatched out small (under 50g) so I figured she was just a failure to thrive baby or she was too stressed from the assist feed.

Since then, everything has been fine. The snakes have been eating (with the exception of 2 2011 hatchlings that won't eat on their own. I was breeding one pair of snakes, a normal female and a normal 100% het pied male. He was breeding well with her (locking up every single time I put him in with her). His last feeding was on December 24th and his last weigh in was 830g. (He is a 2007 and very small for his age because he was such a trouble feeder. Over the past year he has doubled in size) He did not look malnourished and showed no signs of illness. On February 4th, we found him deceased.

I'm not sure what to make of this. I don't have the money for a necropsy, but I'm wondering if I should be worried. I am already but does anyone think there could actually be something wrong in my collection. At the moment, everyone is eating (again with the exception of the 2 hatchlings and one adult male pastel who has been off feed since late November. He has lost only 10g.) There are no signs of illness. Temperatures are around 90 (it fluctuates between 88-90, with the room temp being 75. I can't make the room temp warmer at this time because I also house my ferrets in the same room and they overheat easily). Everyone has access to fresh water, is housed on Aspen bedding, no signs of mites or illness.

The only thing that is different with my collection is that I added two carpet pythons. They are currently in QT and I'm very careful with that. The carpets appear healthy and are eating well.

For now, my collection is on lock down and I'm not breeding any of my snakes. It sucks because I have two females ready to go but I'm terrified of pairing my snakes and have another snake die. Not a single snake appears unhealthy. All have good weight. I can't imagine why he died. The only thing I can think of is maybe he had some kind of genetic problem. He's only ever fathered one clutch of 6 eggs. 4 of those eggs died during incubation. One baby went full term but died in the egg shortly before hatching. It had major deformities and would not have survived outside the egg. The one that did hatch had several kinks and died 3 months later because it could not physically swallow prey items.

I'm just not sure what to do at this point. Should I worry there is something going on with my collection or are these isolated deaths that are not related? I just don't know.

And before anyone says "Go get a necropsy done!", he's been in a freezer since 2/4. I am told that there is almost no point in doing a necropsy once the body has been frozen. It has been recommended to me to have fecals done just to rule out internal parasites, though I doubt this is the problem.

For those of you who read my post before about the pinstripe with the neurological problem (she has a wobble like a spider), I now believe that to be due to malnutrition. She is still not eating on her own but is getting regular assist feedings. She is gaining weight (now about 60g) and her wobble is almost non-existant.