Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
You're right that this might have been something simple, like amoeba, but what I mostly think of when I say "failure to thrive" is some internal abnormalities that just happens with all the selective breeding being done- & this one was apparently on the small side already which raises the odds of something else being off.

I do agree that a necropsy is always a good idea if your budget can handle it, & most especially to contribute to the bigger picture of knowing what went wrong, & protecting any other snakes in the vicinity in case it's something contagious, but in this case I think it's more likely the combination of an at-risk hatchling & perhaps waiting too long for feeding intervention. For anyone intending to breed & sell snakes, for sure a necropsy should be done. My impression though is that the OP is more of a pet-keeper only, but I shouldn't assume. My bad.
I am a pet keeper right now, but I'm interested in breeding in the future, either balls or mexican kings. I've got a lot to learn so it's certainly a ways off, but I had been hoping to pair these two hatchlings once I was ready in however many years. My hope is to make friends with a breeder/s to learn from experienced hands, cuz that's how I learn best.

Sorry I keep repeating myself in my replies, but since I preserved Fireball in isopropyl, is a necropsy still in an option? Because if so I can save up for it and am willing to get one.