Just to add to the conversation, I'm Shayna's mom, and Rook died some time ago so it's hard to remember details, lol.

We did realize when she passed that her under tank heater was not working. And it was that time of year here where the weather was changing, still hot during the day and needing a/c, but just starting to get cooler nights. It was only a bit on the cool side in her tank the one night; people here didn't think nearly cool enough to cause a problem, but I suspect for her it somehow was. I've heard that albino checkereds can be quite inbred and maybe don't have as strong immune systems as they could have. That was part of the reasoning for getting a normal checkered this time, hopefully a bit less delicate.

Losing Rook was really traumatic for both of us. As Shayna mentioned, it's really hard to get snakes at all in Saskatchewan. I know I couldn't bear to not have one at all, so I decided we'd have to get a baby from the wild, so that's how we have our little plains garter, Jiffy. He's mainly my snake though, doesn't eat or grow that much, lol, but I like him.

It has been a long wait for Miami, we're so happy she's with us!