Illness/Sickness: Zena died!

Hi Y'all, My female axie up and died last week!
I have a white female, who, we were sure was gravid, she seemed perfectly healthy, but had been getting fatter and fatter for weeks, she was quite happy to eat and move around, The male black hercules is fine.
I've been working away all week and don't get home til tomorrow, then we shall have a full funeral service...
But how long do they stay gravid for? I was expecting her to lay any day, she'd been like that a month or maybe 2, I pulled her out once and she was soft, not hard swollen, and she seemed to be in perfect health...
Their tank is about 18-20deg C and I bean feeding them live fish, guppies and tetras, when that gets expensive I scavenge worms from the garden, ox heart, and lately I've had a chunk of liver I been shaving off and giving to them.
She was found on her side at the bottom of the tank by a friend who looks after my stuff while I'm away. and she was pooping okay.
Did she die from childbirth complications? was she eggbound? Posted a photo, from a few weeks back...

I think it's likely that she had rocks in her belly. If you've discarded the carcass, there is no way to know for sure. But I can say for sure that she could have ingested the stones in the tank, and this could certainly cause death. If you don't believe this, see:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-beg...ted-belly.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-beg...ock-belly.html

For anyone else who posts on this thread, please go easy on Dexter, there's no point making him feel any worse. We all make mistakes. And maybe the rocks weren't the cause of death, there's no telling.

I'm sorry for your loss and I hope that you don't give up on your other axi or on breeding them.

I am really sorry for your loss:-(