Need Help to Identify This Morph!

Salutations!
-story time- please bare with me

I went to PetSmart today to get dog food and I came across something horrid, but...its a chain pet store, so, I shouldn't be this shocked honestly.
All of their ball pythons were covered in stuck shed, which okay, is kind of expected from any chain pet store that sells reptiles.
Then, I saw my new little guy...stuck eye cap and some shed on his head. Okay, not terrible, and it was less stuck shed then the other two. Then I saw his body and boy let me tell you was I fuming after what I saw. He he is severely (this is a little dramatic, but he is not healthy at all, and a few more weeks he might be dead, tbh) and was very dehydrated when I saw him/her. His skin is still lose and flabby after soaking him for 30 minutes, spine very visible, but he's not dry and its less. Now, before you get your panties in a twist, I don't advocate for the purchase of reptiles/amphibians/others, from any chain pet store. But, I couldn't let this little guy suffer, so yes, I made a decision and purchased the little guy. I called them out and the associate who "helped" me was the dumbest bag of rocks on the planet.

Long Story short, I made a purchase and I don't know the morph of the little one. Any help would be greatly appreciated. (Also, any guesses on the sex?)
My guesses are: Jungle Pastel OR High Yellow.

pictures below

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...psfy7xrvav.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...s5wuvdn1d.jpeg

some kind of pastel - id go slow on getting him fed up. Weigh him and try something 5%ish of his body weight for a few meals and slowly increase the size of prey. Feeding him something that a healthy snake of the same size would eat could cause a regurgitation. Looks severely underfed - probably a very young hatchling that may not have even started feeding before being shipped off to the store. It's going to take time for his system to recover and his digestion to start back up.

Also, as hard as it is, give him at least a few days to settle before offering food. Healthy ones can go a week or so while they adjust....

Get a fecal sample to a vet asap - many of their snakes are loaded with parasites - if he's got something like crypto you have very little time to medicate him before its too late.

On a side note - I only say "him" because all my reptiles are male lol - the only way to know for 100% sure is to have him probed or popped (or sometime in the next 20 years it lays eggs pythons can do this without ever being with a male, and the eggs can be fertile - this is extremely rare).

On a second side note - I suggest not going back to that Petsmart. I can guarantee they will have replaced him with another within the week -and it is likely to do just as poorly. Order your feeders from a good online store (perfect prey is my personal favorite).

I agree with Crowfingers that people should not buy sick snakes from pet stores--it gives them incentive to maintain the process.

Quarantine first--if you have other reptiles you don't want them catching anything from your new addition.

I have a different level of experience dealing with hatchlings. Given the poor body condition-personally I would give the snake 1 day to adjust to a new environment and then offer a live hopper mouse (not wider than the broadest part of the head). Definitely live only because you can't afford refusals at this point and you want to get him to eat. The photo showing the spine looks bad-if he refused the food item I would kill the prey item and then assist/force feed just to get a meal in him. I have extensive experience assist/force feeding non-eaters so it takes me 20-30 seconds to do it and minimal stress to the snake--if you have no experience: this is not a good one to start on.

Even if you get the snake to eat at this point there can be complications from starvation/dehydration which may require a Vet visit.

Any which way: Keep your receipt and good luck! :)

I have the equipment to run a fecal at home. He‘s not my first sick snake, and definitely not my first sick juvenile; I‘m not worried about getting him fed (assist or force) regurgitating, or medicating him if needed. I soaked him to rehydrate him and get the shed off, but now he‘s comfortable in the tub I set up this far. Yes, he is in quarantine for 30 days and across the house with a bearded dragon from MM.

I‘m experienced when it comes to that, just not necessarily the morphs. And i understand not buying sick snakes from chain stores, but I couldn‘t leave him there - morally it’s would have felt wrong, so I got him. :gj:

Yup, Pet chains are crappy, even working in stores that people know what they are doing you'll find sick animals from vendors or people that aren't given proper resources to take care of them. I used to work at a Petco and if you bought him from there a LOT of their BP's are force fed as hatchings at the vendor. This is often much to the dismay and infuriation of the people that work in the retail stores. But it is a fact the vendors force feed to get snakes up to weight. Some of them will never strike in their life. Keep that in mind if he's having difficulty feeding.

I would agree it looks like a pastel to me. A very pretty one at that too!

Part of me wonders if it's a super pastel. The head looks like it has some greatly reduced black and the blushing on the top of the spine would indicate it could be super pastel. I'm not sure I have seen a regular pastel have that much blushing before.