The more I think about how dehydrated she was, I think it's most likely that the pet store treated her (& probably all their snakes) for mites. She was likely over-exposed to whatever chemical they used and it took a while for symptoms to manifest. Your initial photos aren't showing up but it would be EASY for anyone new to snakes not to realize how dehydrated a new snake is...and btw, that's why snakes die from mites. Mites dehydrate them (suck out their blood) & when they're so numerous (their numbers can explode exponentially)snakes (esp. small ones) can easily die- from dehydration, heart/organ failure & shock.
Obviously she survived, but not without damage: I'm just guessing at what makes sense to me, but the first few weeks you had her & she wouldn't eat, it was because she was feeling poorly from the mites & treatment, & without you really pushing fluids on her she just languished & became more dehydrated + weak from not eating or drinking. (Their warm cage temps. also contribute to dehydration if they don't drink water or eat.) If she was a human, she should have been in the hospital ICU, but because she's a pet snake, she was sold to you, an unsuspecting pet-buyer.Anyway, that's my very best guess as to what happened...but what I cannot tell you is whether or not she'll improve after all this, but your "TLC" should give her the best life possible.
BTW....![]()