I got an email yesterday from one of the owners of a sibling to Zeek who I have become very close friends with, his snake, a male, Epicrates died a couple days ago.
Here is some of the email he sent me with the information he gave me regarding these odd circumstances.
"Hey Jess, I just wanted to let you know that Epicrates passed away. I thought one of my snakes had gone to the bathroom because it smelled pretty bad in the rack. However, when I checked on all of them today, I found him dead and I think he has been that way for a day or so. I have no idea why. He was one of the best eaters I've ever had and I have no idea why he died. It scares the hell out of me because I don't know why he died. It makes me wonder what happened and it it's going to happen to any others. I thought he was fine because he normally sits there. I am at a loss for words."
He brought up a very valid point that it might be something genetic with the snakes that might be going wrong. I don't know enough about genetic diseases or mutations that would kill snakes randomly like this.
Zeek died about two weeks ago, followed by Epicrates. I am thinking about emailing a couple other buyers of babies from the same litter but I dont want to get them worried about their snakes if there might be anything wrong.
I still have Zeek's sister Isis and she is doing well, will eat anything (including two pet birds), and hasnt had any health issues. Their father, Noah died without any signs of illness last winter. He was a snake I rescued from a man selling him on Craigslist and I dont know exactly how old he was. The mother of the litter, Copper, was raised by me since she was a baby and has never had any health issues and is still doing great. Her second litter of babies was born this May.
The only other thing that makes me worried about something being genetically wrong with these snakes is that the litter also had one baby in it that was born without eyes, and died exactly a month after birth without having eaten.
I was very disappointed that I could not get a necropsy for Zeek, I would have liked to to find out what went wrong with him, but in all reality the money as well as the decay hindered me. Having just moved in with roommates at the end of August they are not used to having me keeping dead animals in the freezer and so I was not able to store Zeek there and he was kept at room temperature. 
I dont know if anyone would be able to help my friend and I shed some light on this mysterious case but I would greatly appreciate any ideas.
Happy New Year, may this one have less loss than the past for everyone!
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Jess
1.3 adult BRBs (Sango, Copper, Cherry, Dudette)
1.1 juvie BRBs born 6/18/06 my first litter(Zeek, Isis)
0.1 baby BRB born 5/12/08 at approx 6:10 am (Zella)
1.0 Blue Parrotlet (Willy)
1.1 african brown house snake (Nellie, Lacie)
0.2 awesome snake-friendly room mates
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Deadly Genetics?
Replies (2)
Yikes, Nothing to add except I hope not. Let us know what the other owners have to say.
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Thanks,
Dave Colling
www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com
0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)
LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders 
lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats 
Way to many unknown variables...
genetic diseases and negative mutations are always possible, but without doing research on the genome of rainbow boas, can't really say for sure.
If most of the litter ends up dying then possibly a genetic disease...which both parents are likely carriers, as most deadly genetic traits are recessive. However it could also be a disease spread from an infected animal into some or all the offspring.. IBD (I think that's the acronym) causes odd deaths but not typically sudden..it shows various symptoms such as star gazing and odd inverted body or inability to move properly.
Husbandry issues or environment factors could be the cause. Parasites too.
Also, I don't remember the histories of the snakes that died. How old they were, how were they kept, any past health issues etc. Hence why just too many variables to say if the problem is caused by any one single thing.
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PHLdyPayne
