Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I took my Ball out today and noticed his eyes look... weird... but not in a shedding sort of way. There looks like there might be scratches or something on the eyes. Is that possible? He is acting fine and he is doesn't seem to be showing any signs of illness or anything. But his eyes look a little odd. Is that what retained eye caps look like? I doubt that is what it is -- he finished shedding nearly two weeks ago and nothing looked odd.

And sorry for not posting this in the health/diet forum, but that doesn't look very active...

Actually, both of my adult snakes have that look to their eyes. I couldn't tell you what it is, but I took in my male as an adult and he came with the scratchy lookin eyes and my female has had that look to her eyes as long as I can remember. My baby, however, has totally smooth eyeballs. Maybe it's a grownup thing?

Sorry I can't tell you exactly what's going on, but at least I can say it's not that big a deal. If anyone who DOES know could put in some input, that'd be wonderful.

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (tetris)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

If it looks cracked or dimpled it could be a sign of dehydration. Two of my ball pythons have eyes like that.Hope this helps!!

Sounds like retained eye caps to me. When shedding, the skin over the eyes is shed as well, but, if it is too dry, they can't get it off and it can end up being several layers of shed that gets retained. Retained eye caps can lead to blindness if not addressed. I hesitate to suggest that you remove the eye caps yourself if you're new to reptiles. If you are inexperienced, I would suggest you seek an old reptile pro or vet in your area. Maybe the first thing you should try is to raise the humidity in your enclosures so that they may be able to get a full shed next time and resolve the problem naturally. Good luck.

***If I'm wrong about something, correction is welcomed. I'd be pretty stupid if I never learned from my mistakes!***

All of the above post may be right but if you arnt 100% sure take it to a vet or a breeder that has the exp. to look at it and tell for sure , if it is not a retained eye cap and you try to pull it off you will blined you snake .Good Luck David

You could try the moistened snake sack trick...Put it in a snake bag that is wet but not supersaturated,and then put it all back in the cage.If it is retained eyecaps,then maybe he/she will rub them off on the bag.
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Charles