Cryptosporidium epidemic with my corns?

Hey, I hope someone can give me some good advice. I think I have a cryptosporidium outbreak and have lost several corns because of this.

Let me start at the beginning: in the last three months I have lost 5 snakes - a striped red albino, a motley red albino, a blizzard, an anethrystic and a ruby-eyed ghost. All five of these snakes were purchased within a three week period last fall, but only two of them from the same breeder. The symptoms are as follows: all snakes are voracious eaters, even up until a day or two before death, however they do not seem to grow at all. I have noticed that none of the snakes that have died have shed properly - they all seem to shed in strips and the majority of the time I end up 'helping' the shedding process with a snake bath and a paper towel. About a week before the snake(s) die, I notice they start to appear dehydrated - although, again, they do drink and do eat normally. About 42 hours before death, the snake(s) become listless and their tales appear floppy. The ruby-eyed ghost developed odd looking bulges in her stomach, giving her the appearance on having eaten when she hadn't.

I have consulted with a local vet who checked out my Blizzard and determined the snake probably had a 'genetic' problem and diagnosed 'failure to thrive' as the reason for it's illness. Because of the size of the snake at the time, no medication could be offered.

My snakes are given fresh water daily, and their terrariums are cleaned of substrate on a bi-weekly basis (visible feces removed daily), and cleaned completely with a bleach/water solution once a month. They are fed weekly, with the littlest snakes getting two pinkies each. I use Reptile Relief Tick Spray on a paper towel on a regular basis (once every two weeks) to ensure that my snakes don't have mites. Temperature ranges from mid 60s on the cool side low 80s on the warm side, with hides on both ends. Only the smallest of my snakes have been affected.

I lost three snakes the end of January / early Feb within three weeks, despite my visit to the vets. Through research, it was confirmed the two of the snakes came from the same breeder and there was a possibility that the third snake could have been bred from stock from the breeder of the other two. Based on this knowledge, I trusted the vet and chalked up the experience to a run of extremely bad luck.

About a month ago, my anethrystic snake died suddenly without warning. She had displayed none of the previous symptoms of any of my other snakes and her death was a complete shock. When I went back through my records, I realized that the four snakes who had died had all been purchased within a couple of weeks of each other. I called the vet, who basically said that it is very common for corn snake morphs to die due to inbreeding and genetic issues. However, I determined to keep an exceptionally close eye on the rest of my snakes - especially the ones purchased from end of September to end of October last year.

About three days ago, my ruby-eyed ghost started displaying symptoms of lethargy and dehydration. With the help of a friend very familiar with reptiles, we managed to get liquids into her. This morning, I noticed the distended belly. By this afternoon, she was dead.

I have two other snakes displaying symptoms of dehydration and listnessless, even though they are drinking fresh water and eating - both had a pinky this morning, as a matter of fact. I have removed all substrate from the terrariums and replaced with paper towel. All feeding containers, water bowls, hidey caves etc., have been sterilized, all pieces of wood in the terriarims have been thrown out. Everytime I touch a snake I scrub my hands and even change my clothes in order to hopefully avoid transmitting whatever this virus is they have.

A friend from Florida who I know through another forum suggest to me this afternoon that they might have Cryptospoidium and suggested a few websites for me to read - I have done this and am very fearful that he is correct in his assumption. However, none of these sites seemed to indicate how/where a snake might get this parasite from and none seemed to offer much info. in ways of getting rid of it.

I could take the snakes in question to the vet again and have called and left a message for her to let me know what she can do if this is what they have, however based on the initial assesments from this vet I don't know if I would trust any diagnosis she might give.

I am literally sick with worry - I have several corns, including the corns I was given as replacements for the ones I lost. I have been taking very good care of them, and following all recommendations. The snakes I bought initially (last spring) are growing well and appear very healthy - it's just the snakes I have purchased/received since the end of September that seem to be having problems.

Does this sound like Cryptosporidium to any of you? Do you have any suggestions as to what else I could do in order to save / prevent the death of my other snakes? Any advice would be appreciated.