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Cloudy eyes

Posted By:

mytwoloves

In Relation To:

Goldie Girl

I just got a Ball Python today and the person who gave her to me was giving her away cause her eyes hadn't shed the last couple of sheddings and he didn't know what to do...I was wondering if there was something i could try before taking her to a vet?


Points:	150
Topics:	Eyes , Skin
Tags:	Eyecaps, Eyes, Python, Regius, Shedding
Species:	Pythons > Pythons > Python regius
Administrative:	Show/Hide

Member Comment

11/15/2009 10:57:43 PM

little_windmill829

Have you tried giving her a bath? That helps with shedding sometimes. Some people say you can use a wet/ qtip and gently dab at them as well.

Member Comment

11/15/2009 11:25:53 PM

jenerallizationn

I know there is also a tape method for retained eye caps by gently pressing it on the eye and pulling the caps off, but something about sticking tape to eyes really scares me...I would try gently rubbing with the wet Q-tip, and make sure you have a good hold on the head

Member Comment

11/16/2009 12:22:59 AM

Katie M

if you've never dealt with eyecaps before, I would have a vet do it - I'm only comfortable doing it after a ton of help and instruction from a herp vet, and even still I get nervous

Member Comment

11/16/2009 12:53:11 AM

Ucowboy

Wet the eyes thoroughly during a bath. After bath gently rub downward across the lens of the eye and usually the cap will slip down a bit where you can pull it off. If not rewet and try again or take to a vet. Either way stuck eyecaps can be a pain and takes a steady hand to remove.

Assisted Answer

11/16/2009 12:59:34 AM

bweber

Listen, it is not very hard, I have had to do it a number of times... They come off with almost no effort - so long as they have had ample time to soak in the bath tub. Since there are most likely a number of eye caps on its eye, it may take a little bit more persistence but it is still no big deal. After you have given your snake a bath just wash and rinse your hands very thoroughly. Hold the snake's head with the hand on the same side as the eye cap you are trying to remove. Using the outside of your thumb, gently rub backwards on the eye cap with a small amount of pressure. As soon as it starts to come off, you may gently pinch it and ease it all the way off. If it does not come off within a couple of tries try soaking the snake for a longer period of time. Remember this is not a five minute soak, for bad, tough sheds you will need to soak for quite a while. If you still have no luck after the second soak, just make sure you are spraying the cage down once or twice a day, and it should come off in the next shed. Best of Luck

Assisted Answer

11/16/2009 8:28:32 AM

Mintsiez

put her in a big rubber made top with some holes drilled in the top and put a lil bit of water in the bottom not to much that there is a chance she can drown and just let her soak for like an hr or so and try and really gently rub them off

Accepted Answer

11/16/2009 9:05:11 AM

JohnJohn

If the snake is having issues with shedding, your first priority should be to make sure ALL your husbandry and conditions are good. Make sure the temps are good. Keep the enclosure dry but keep some humidity. Misting is good sometimes but too much humidity is not good if the temps are off (could lead to respiratory problems). Also, make sure the snake always has fresh water. Internal hydration is also important to good shedding.

Also, keep in mind, that it's not terribly unusual for a ball python to have wrinkly dry looking eye caps at times, especially if the conditions have not been the best. It might very well be that he just needs another good shed and some TLC and proper conditions and then will be fine. I would not try removing anything from the eyes if you are new to all this. If you think it has a problem, see a vet. But, If it were me I would just focus on giving him perfect conditions for a while and see how he looks after the next shed or two. Most likely he will improve and do just fine. I've seen my share of wrinkly looking BP eyes, and I've never had to manually remove an eye cap. Better just to focus on providing good conditions and be patient and wait for a few good sheds.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Member Comment

11/16/2009 9:31:18 AM

sparky

Haven't tried it yet, but I have heard that you can fill a 5 gal. bucket with warm, damp towels and they will cruise around in them till stuck shed is all gone. I am going to try this on one of my chrondros tonight.

Assisted Answer

11/16/2009 9:34:52 AM

shellboa

Soaking helps as long as you do it for long enough. My vet told me if you only put them in there for 5 minutes it can make it worse, kind of like pruny fingers. If you only get your hands wet a little bit for a lot of times they get chapped, but if they get pruny then they feel soft. Also dab a little bit of mineral oil on the stuck caps and let it sit overnight before you try gently rubbing. If you try all of this and they don't come off easily then see the vet because it is easy to damage their lens covers and you want that stuff off before it starts an infection.

Member Comment

11/16/2009 11:25:18 AM

Redtailboa101

a good possible answer to your clowdy eye question is, that when a snake sheds, the skin over the eyes is more often than not the last part of the endoderm to go. so since ur snake still has clowdy eyes. try soaking the snake in luke warm water for about 20 mins or so. and after that take the softest thing you can find, (Q-tip) and gently move it across the eyes, still though if that doesnt work, my second opinion would be to take the snake to the vet for a second opinion...

Assisted Answer

11/16/2009 3:32:05 PM

Skelegirl

My woma python came to me with what appeared to be years' worth of eyecaps. I took him to the vet, and she applied an ointment to his eyes to soften up the eyecaps, meanwhile digging a bunch of "gunk" out from around his eyes. She tried for a good 30 minutes to get those eyecaps off, but they just wouldn't budge. She sent me home with an ocular ointment to apply every day until he shed...all of the eyecaps came off with the next shed. She said that's practically unheard of, so I guess we got really lucky.

A word of caution: I've heard of other vets in my area who were so persistent in trying to get the eyecaps off that they actually pulled out the snakes' eyeball. So, make sure you take your snake to a qualified herp vet...preferably someone who has been recommended to you by a local herp society or the like.

Member Comment

11/16/2009 5:58:01 PM

hupababy83

When that happens to Yoda my Ball I let her soak in the bath tub. she loves it.

Member Comment

11/16/2009 10:55:06 PM

ajard

A warm bath and shed ease in the water has always helped me out

Assisted Answer

11/17/2009 3:59:21 PM

iashia

Ive had a few bad eye cap sheds from the rescue balls ive had. anything that can be said, has been said. the only thing i could add is to calm her down, take a warm hand-towel and if she will let you, wrap the warm towel around the back of her head, around her eyes. make sure that her nose is sticking out, so you dont suffocate her, and sit there for a while. watch tv and just chill with her. it wont work for all bps, because some are really head shy. this worked well for one of my outgoing ones, the caps came right off with a bit of rubbing

good luck, and if you feel even a bit nervous about trying ANY of these techniques, dont do it. contact a vet, and if you cant afford a vet, still call them and see if you can talk to an exotics professional. its not the end of the world that her eye caps arent comming off, its pretty common that it happens. dont worry too much, and dont try to rip them off, youll hurt your snake. dont use tweezers, no matter how close you are to think you might be to getting the cap off, and dont dig with your finger nails.

your tools are warm and wet to get that cap off, dont use anything else. ive tried tape, its never worked for me. but if you feel that you need to, DONT USE DUCT TAPE! ask any iherper, and they will show you a awful awful AWFUL reptile/duct tape story that they have experienced, or a friend has. use scotch tape. if you think its too sticky, stick it to your finger and take ti back off to remove some of the (glue? im not sure what they use)

Good luck, and remember, its not hurting your snake, it might just be annoying to her, if you see any irratic behavior, or the caps dont come off after her next few sheds, bring her into the vet

Assisted Answer

11/17/2009 5:53:33 PM

Aimee

before anything like tape, there's another easy non-harmful method. a couple of times a week, carefully dab mineral oil over the eye with a Q-tip. if you can, once a day when she's close to shedding. within a couple sheds it will probably take care of itself, assuming it's not very bad and only a couple of layers. I've fostered a ton of ball pythons for the herp society here and this method, aside from proper humidity, has been effective in almost every case. good luck!

Member Comment

11/18/2009 9:49:55 PM

Jason79

I have used the tape method without any problems soak the snake first . But you need to be sure that there is an unshed eye cap or you could damage the eye.

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