Dead Viper Gecko, why??

Hello, Im new to these forums but was hoping someone could help me. Last night, when I went to turn off my geckos lights and to check on them, my female Viper gecko was dead I have only had them (a pair) for a month or so and I'm so gutted as I have waited since June to get them. There was no obvious marks on her. No bite marks or anything. The male looks ok, got a nice stomach on him and ate like a pig last night. Can anyone tell me what went wrong? They were in a smaller then prefered set up (12 x 8 inches (L x W)), but it was only temporary. They were on corncob sand with cork bark as hides. They were both eating everytime I fed them. I am wondering if they were too hot?? Thats the only thing I can think of. They had a heat tape under one end, along with a spot light.

Thanks,

Claire

corncob sand? is this a substrate made from corncobs? if so i would suspect that to be a possible cause. that stuff expands when wet, so if she ate some it could expand inside of her...

do you know what your temps were? how were you measuring the temps too?

Sand - big no no!


CK