A buddy of mine caught this poor guy on the side of the road in wood county, texas in the first of April.
What a mess; terribly thin and didn't even hiss when picked up. His nostrils where completely plugged and he always had his mouth open. He had numerous scabs and scrapes all over. He was 4’-6” nose to vent and weighed less than 500 g.
but...he ate
I’d thaw a rat, set it on the plate by his hide box and he ate it every time.
I tried to keep the meals small and frequent and by his second meal he defecated. (It’s funny when you feel glad to see snake poop.)
I soaked him for an hour or two every three or four days in between meals and after almost 3 weeks he finally started to shed. What a mess! I spent over and hour rubbing off old scales. I got off a set of eye-caps and labial scales…but the nostrils where still plugged.
4 days later he was in shed again and still eating a small rat every 3 days. After 2 weeks and a couple more soakings he shed again. This time the plugs came out of the nostrils and almost every scab came off as well. That was 10 days ago and man look at the difference in these pics.
He’s rather handsome. I may keep him and see what that red breeds into. 
