Dead Babies

[CrypticGamma]

Back in August my pregnant DeKay's Brown Snake (the father is in the tank too) gave birth to 5 little babies, they've all been doing well so far. Last night I saw what appeared to be a mutilated baby snake, there was no blood or anything but I think I saw the spine. I took it out and it was just too thick and had too much color to be a shed skin. Now today, I just came home from school and found another, this time it was just the head missing a chunk and again no blood, but if I moved the tail right the muscles would spasm and the tail would move on it's own a little. So now I'm almost certain that two of my snakes have died, and I don't know why. What could cause this? The only thing I could possibly think of is there are two crickets inside the tank too and I wonder if maybe they would attack them for food if plants ran low. This is upsetting and concerning, will more die? Could it be bacterial/viral? Please help.

EDIT: I feel awful for this, it must have been the crickets and this is my fault for being negligent, I will promptly remove them.

[Albert Clark]

Well, congrats on the births of the babies but I am so sorry for your losses. Very hard to speculate on the exact cause of this situation bc it's so many possibilities. Live crickets in the enclosure is certainly possible that they fed on the snakes. I don't believe baby Dekays typically eat crickets. They are more soft bodied invertebrate feeders. Worms, slugs, and small fish larvae are more like it. I would remove all of them and use paper towels in a different enclosure until I deep clean the existing enclosure and start there. Good luck and I hope this helped.

[guidofatherof5]

It is the crickets. Get them out of there. Neonates are too small to defend themselves.

[Eddie]

Crickets and snakes do not mix. Sorry for your loss