why did my corn snake die?

Question
QUESTION: Hi, i have had a corn snake for about 6 months now and she was perfectly healthy a week ago. she is now 4 years old and living in a scapcious terrarium. She eats, drinks, defecates, and sheds just fine. But a few days ago i returned from a trip with my family and during that trip the house sitter called and said my snake was biting its water bowl. I figured it would be fine and i was returning home in 1 day anyway. When i returned i found my snake lying dead in its terrarium and its mouth was much further open than usual when ever she opened it. it was red and bloody but that was the only problem. I dont know what might have happened. Was it because her was biting her water bowl or something deadly caused her to do so? Please help im so confused.

ANSWER: Hi Allegra,
  Wow, this is a tough one. I have seen this happen before for a number of reasons. It could be that the snake got hold of some bad food or something else toxic. It is also possible that the snake ingested some substrate that caused internal bleeding. I am guessing that the blood came from inside of the snake rather than actual bleeding from the mouth. To be honest, I am just guessing the most likely scenarios. The only way to be sure is to take it's body to a vet. That will cost money and since you appear to be a snake lover, I'd put that money toward a new snake to enjoy. Make sure your husbandry is correct (it must be if your other snake lived for 6 months and was just fine) and go get a new friend.

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QUESTION: Thank you that was very helpful, but i still have a few questions. I am very serious about her mouth being extremely farther open than normal, and i have had her for months and know what normal is. Could she have forced her mouth open too far and broken something or split her neck somehow? from what it looked like and the scenario i doubt it was from internal bleeding, but i have no idea if this was from internal bleeding or direct injury. Is it possible for a snake to injure itself in one of these ways by forcing its mouth too far open?

Answer
Hi Allegra,
   I have never seen a snake cause damage to itself by forcing it's mouth open. The muscles used to open it's mouth are very weak when compared to the muscles used to bite down. I doubt that we will ever really know what caused her death.