The severe burn that we saw (The entire snake was like one of those jelly-filled stress balls. Almost the entire dorsal and lateral surfaces were a single giant blister) included signs of sepsis and 'bruising'-type color changes. The owner had no money for medications and did not want to euthanise, and elected to take the snake home. It died that night.

She had a relatively shallow tank for her snake and a dome lamp for heat. The snake couldn't escape the heat source.

Could other things have been compounding? Absolutely, considering the snake was 6 years old and barely bigger than a new hatchling. He weighed all of 120 grams.