Rescue situation, newer keeper

[Bogertophis]

I had a theory on this: I don’t know that this guy used a thermostat and Sunny has wobble
of the corkscrew variety. (He had since he was bought from the breeder 5 years ago). I wondered if just maybe he pretzeled himself kind of upside down on the heat pad and burned himself.

but… it doesn’t explain the random brown dead looking scale here or there either.

Just to be clear, excessive heat (from not using a t-stat) can cause not only burns to the skin, but even neurological damage (including wobbles). Not saying that's what happened- & you'll never know for sure- with a rescue, all you can do is go forward, & do what you can for the snake. I've personally taken in rescues from inexperienced keepers who honestly never understood much less admitted what they did wrong. It hardly matters- it's your snake now to make the best of.