Unexpected death

[Malevolus]

I had my Cali. King from May of 08 through about 5 minutes ago.
He never gave me a problem eating.
Never fell or injured himself.
Had one escape attempt I caught him in the middle of.
He was probably around 10" when I got him, and as of tonight was 15.5".
Warm side of the tank is in the mid to upper 80's, low side is in the low to mid 70's during the day and it drops about 8-12 degrees at night.
Bedding was aspen shavings.

I fed him, my Ball Python, and my RTB yesterday, let them sit a few hours after feeding, then put them back in their living quarters. My BP and RTB have no issues and are happily coiled up digesting their meals. My King seemed restless today and was non stop moving around his tank. I thought nothing of it since he'd do that a few days a week.

I looked over when I saw him thrashing around like a fire hose that someone turned on, but nobody manned. He was flipping and flopping around and coiling around himself. All the while, his mouth was open, I thought this ver weird and watched, thinking he might regurgitate(never seen one, but figured this might be normal behavior). He thrashed around like that for a good minute or two and the lump from his meal did not move. He finally flipped half his body over, and up into the air, and his head was upside down with mouth wide open. Then he stopped moving. I waited a minute or two before I reached in and lightly touched him, but nothing. He passed.

I'm curious now what could have caused this when everything was and seemed fine. Looking at him externally, the only strange thing I see is along his spine, from just in front of his cloaca, and running for about an inch and a half to two inches, he seems 'deflated' for lack of a better word. It's like the skin has pulled away from the body and has formed ridge along the upper edges of his body and along his spine but I didn't notice that until I was looking over the body.

Anybody encounter anything like this?

[wilomn]

Sounds like he choked. He may have a small piece of something in his trachea.

The thing near his vent might be the muscles contracting after the bladder was emptied.

Bummer.

[grammie]

I'm so sorry for your loss, that must have been so hard to see.

[Kryptonian]

I had a corn die unexpectantly and found him much the same way. I never saw the flaling about, just found him stiff as a board, mouth open, dead. He had nothing to choke on and like yours was healthy and a good eater. I was later told it was most likely a heart attack or stroke.

[missi182]

As much as my King is an evil girl, if she passed I would terribly upset, as I was when my first King escaped and was never found (how he did it I still have no clue). Stay positive and perhaps you can take a look for a new cali king friend when you are ready.