Scaleless Ball Python???

[Starbuck]

i can't speak for all scaleless snakes, but one of the papers posted on the other scaleless thread said that the snakes were lacking some type of keratin, causing the scaleless phenotype. the way i understood it, the snakes still had all the components/layers of their skin, it just wasn't coalescing/forming the scales themselves. In this way, the snakes still have a layer of skin over their eyes; the skin doesnt involute to form the heat pits, etc etc, but all the components are still there.
Im not sure if all scaleless phenotypes have the same genetic mutation, but if the above is true, it is highly unlikely that the snake will 'rip and die', at least more so than any other baby snake.
I do think it is interesting to think about how this affects their abilities to thermoregulate etc.
I also would like to know if DESPITE the orefices for heat pits being absent, are the nerve endings and structures etc still there, that perhaps the snake CAN still sense heat etc from prey, but in a reduced capacity. I personally need to evaluate this snake on the basis of more than just conjecture and a few photos before i start calling it an abomination etc.