Deformed Corn Snake

Question
Hi Jenna!
I am writing in regard to a deformed corn snake that was given to us by someone who breeds snakes.  It is a baby corn born October 18 2007.  The corn has a kink in it's vertebrae about halfway down his body.  The kink is L-shaped. We have only had him for about 6 days.  He is eating, but what concerns me is the fact that his lower body does not seem to really move in alignment with the upper portion of his body.  We let him slither on the bed just to see how he moves and his upper body goes back and forth rapidly, but the lower portion almost seems paralyzed.  We currently are housing him in a critter keeper type enclosure with water and a hide and we are keeping his temperature around 72 degrees.  My heart just about breaks when I watch him try to move around.  He can make it to his water bowl and when he tries to burrow, he only gets his front half buried.

The woman who gave him to us said she didn't have the heart to put him down as long as he was eating. I guess he was a late birth compared to the other baby snakes in the bunch. I am just wondering what the lifespan of this snake will be and if he can live with only half of his body really moving.  I have held him in my hand and he does the usual snake thing where he tries to wrap himself around my wrist.  He does seem to have some muscle movement near the tail (which also has a little kink in it).  Any thoughts?  We named him "Kink."   My son has some limited snake knowledge.  He currently is raising a zigzag corn and also a jungle python in addition to a yellow het leopard gecko.  Thanks for any suggestions you may have!  
Susan

Answer
Hey Susan

If he is eating, and acting like a normal snake, then you can possibly expect a full lifespan. With the deformity, its possible that there might be other internal deformities that will not know about. It sounds like with the limited movement in the bottom part of the body that the muscles are restricted by the vertebrae. He might after awhile learn to use them, but this will be awhile down the road. Since he is a baby, then this will be a prime time to just let him move as much as possible.