I think you are right on Justin. While the snake appears to be lacking the scales to make the pits I ASSUME that the snake still has heat sensing ability. A high powered flashlight might be useful in finding out if the derma in question can sense heat.
From the looks of other scaleless snakes that have been proven to be genetic the amount of missing scales can vary quite a bit.......it makes me wonder if some of the dermas will have scales to create the pits. I imagine they will but we will have to wait...(that is of course assuming that the derma does prove to be genetic).
I was only aware of two...now three....hmmm