Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know this is a BRB site but I trust you guys and need your help. My baby Rosy didn't shed her eyecaps. One looks like it isn't as thick as the other but they are both still on her. What do I do?

Thanks

Jeff

Jeff,

Removing stuck eyecaps can be tricky. Especially on a snake as small as a baby rosy.

I've had luck with two methods:

1) This is the safest of the two. Get a small container of water and a few Q-tips. Saturate the head of the Q-tip with water. Hold the snake firmly. Gently, rub the wet Q-tip back and forth across the stuck eyecap. The water will losen the cap and it should come off after a few minutes.

2) This is a little riskier. Using a very fine-tipped pair of tweezers, try to find a small flap of the eycap and just pull it off. Don't do any digging with the tweezers. If there is no flap of shed skin or eyecao to take hold of, abandon this method.

If you have access to someone locally who has experience doing this, you may want to bring the animal to them to see how it's done. It's much easier to demonstrate on a live animal that to explain in text.

Your other alternative is to just wait for the next shed cycle. When the animal turns blue, keep it a little more humid than normal. The eyecaps should come off with the next shed

Good luck,
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

I don't know where I heard it from or saw but I think I may have heard about it on t.v. should I go further lol but I heard that scotch tape can be used being that is not that sticky and won't pull the skin much at all but should remove the loose eyecap. I like the q-tip method myself but what is your thoughts on this method?
Bob

Hmmmmm... that's a new one to me. But, it sounds like it just might work. Maybe Jeff will give it a try and let us know how it comes out.
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com