Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my ball python started shedding today and is having problems doing so i got most of the shed off but now i believe she has a retained eyecap... i can barely see the pupil and it has a metallic-ish look to it and appears to have air trapped underneath it... i tried to get a pic but its difficult to get one that shows it and to keep her still...lol...now before people tell me to go to a vet is there anything i can do at home for her??
thanks in adavance
Katie

her a few weeks ago

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1.0 Boa
1.1.1 Corn Snake
2.3 Bearded Dragon
0.1 Ball Python
2.2 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Marbled Gecko
1.0 Crested Gecko
1.0 Russian Tortoise
0.0.2 Fire Belly Toad
1.0 White's Tree Frog
0.0.1 Pacman
0.0.1 Sudan Plated Lizard
0.1 Banana Cali. King
0.0.2 Egyptian Toads
0.0.1 Bullfrog Tadpole
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa
2.1 Canine
1.0 Dwarf Hamster

This is not life threatening. It happens.
Then acroll down in the past posts for this week.
I believe there are several threads with solutions already posted.
Also You can try this web site if the other suggestions don't work.

http://www.joecompelreptiles.com/ball_bits/retained_cap/index.asp
Good luck!
AVD
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"There is a fine line between a hobby and mental illness"
COLD BLOOD.........WARM HEART

Katie:

I was reading something yesterday in the boa forum about a boa that was not shedding very well. It was noticed from a photo of the snake that it had not shed it's eye cap. There were some ideas passed around that might help you.

The heading read " My snake has been like this for three days.

Good luck.

Brian Gundy
Brian Gundy www.For-Goodness-Snakes.com

What I do is: I get a pair of tweezers, holding the snake at the base of his neck, applying very steady, gentle force to it, and gently tried to scrape the eye cap of near the edge. Once you some loose part, you can use the tweezers to grab it and pull it off gently. It works for me everytime. You use a tiny bit of baby oil and rub it on the eye caps befor doing this. Take care you only use a little and not get in the snake nose, mouth and heat pits. I hope this help!

This, IMHO is dangerous and extremely uneccessary given many other, less intrusive options. If for any reason the snake flinches, you lose your grip or anything else, you run the risk of blinding or killing an animal.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Thanks for all the help...im going to try soaking her and then placing her in a pillow case...i also heard somewhere that u can tap the eye cap with scotch tape to remove it is it true???
if anybody has any ideas feel frww to post and ill keep ya updated!
~katie
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1.0 Boa
1.1.1 Corn Snake
2.3 Bearded Dragon
0.1 Ball Python
2.2 Leopard Gecko
0.0.1 Marbled Gecko
1.0 Crested Gecko
1.0 Russian Tortoise
0.0.2 Fire Belly Toad
1.0 White's Tree Frog
0.0.1 Pacman
0.0.1 Sudan Plated Lizard
0.1 Banana Cali. King
0.0.2 Egyptian Toads
0.0.1 Bullfrog Tadpole
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa
2.1 Canine
1.0 Dwarf Hamster