Question Damped Transform causing rig to straighten out

Hello, I'm using a Generic rig on a snake-like creature with a collection of damped transforms using rotation to curve the body/tail as it moves around.

https://puu.sh/IvaBV/98cc28bb00.mp4 The damped transforms are causing my rig to straighten out, away from the authored animation. You can see the animation playing correctly at the end when the weight is zero.

This also happens when the position and rotation damping are set to zero for all components, and also when maintain aim is turned off, as shown in the videos below.
https://puu.sh/IvaxW/67e088e42d.mp4
https://puu.sh/Ivaz5/ff804fcabd.mp4

Any help with this is appreciated, thanks!

 

Any luck?