So we contacted the breeder, just to update him. He was very appreciative we did that & that we weren't yelling at him. (I can't believe people are rude enough to to that.) Anyway, he said he loved dealing w/us, each time we've purchased a snake from him, that he'd be willing to send us another snake. We explained that's not why we were calling, but he insisted on checking his inventory. He also said, in his experience, he's had a few snakes have similar occurrences. Just a random incident where they're doing well, don't eat at the next feeding & are dead in a week. What a crappy situation.