Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My ball's last incomplete shed was in December 08'during my school's winter break. I was surprised he shed at all, b/c he had just had a complete shed September '08. I think is eye caps are still on but I'm having a hard time telling. I soaked his whole body after his incomplete shed thinking that was going to help get rid of his skin on his head. The reason I think his eye caps are still on is the lense looks wrinkled on one eye and I can't see his pupil clearly. He is a normal so he has dark eyes and after his eyes go cloudy then clear up it's difficult to see if the caps are still on. I know in between shedding I got a little lazy about making sure he had plenty of humidity. But, I also didn't know if that short time span between shedding could be brought on by stress since he was being moved from my classroom to my house.

I have heard all kinds of ways to remove eye caps. I have heard if snakes don't shed their eye caps you can wait until the next shed to see if they remove them then.Is that correct? I have also heard horror stories about people tring to removing eye caps that were not present and damaging the snakes eye. I guess I just maybe need some tricks of the trade.

The picture I posted is from when he went blue in September.

Thanks for any help.

If you're unsure as to whether or not the eye-caps were retained, then the best advice I can offer is to bring your guy in to a reptile vet and have the doc check him out.

If it is a retained scale, the vet very well might be able to loosen it up and remove it there.

I don't want to offer any "how-to" bits because I do not feel confident enough from your description to assume he has indeed retained an eye-cap.
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"Why is the rum gone?"

Don't take a snake to the vet for an eye cap! Is the pic on your post, the snake? If it is, it hasn't shed yet! Keep it misted and it'll be fine!

The message said: "The picture I posted is from when he went blue in September."

That isn't the snake now. I second the vet check, if you're not sure.

Not to take anything away from Vets,but most of them do not keep and breed snakes.If you are sure it has a retianed eye cap soak the snake over night in warm water(just enough water to cover the snakes body)and then take scotch tape after it has soaked and press it to the eye and peel off.If this does not work after a couple of trys you will have to wait for the snake to shed again.When it clears from the blue and is about to shed it needs to be in a very damp cage so that it can absorb enough moisture for a complete shed.For future reference you should check shed skins for both eye caps.Terry

n/p
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Cheers!
• Chelsea Lynn Gardiner
(and Frank M. Wood)

Personally, I wouldn't bring it to the vet just yet. I would actually wait until his next shed cycle if you are unsure about whether the eye cap is retained or not.

Then check his discarded shed and look for eye caps on the shed. If you see two intact caps you are good to go. Don't bother looking for "extra" caps on the shed. If the head portion of the shed skin is intact and you see one cap for each eye you can be sure that any retained caps from a previous shed were also removed.

If after the shed cycle you notice a retained cap THEN I would do as Terry suggested. Tape works well, but if you are not experienced you can damage the snake's eye. I prefer to use a clean, damp micro fiber cloth. They will grab the edge of any retained skin or caps and allow them to be peeled off easily.

For retained or poor sheds I usually use a plastic shoebox with one or two warm damp dishtowels in it. Place the snake in the box under the towels for 20-30 minutes and then use your microfiber cloth to wipe off the retained shed. I works best to wipe from "front-to-back" in small sections. Don't try to wipe the skin off "backwards" it will release the best if you remove it in the same direction as nature designed.

Check and search for a post on this before. I have personally wrote very long ways of how to remove am eye cap recently on this subject.

Good luck,
Bill

If you are SURE it is a stuck eye cap you can effectively use a piece of tape, masking the blue kind that isnt too stickey works best. Do not use duct tape or a very highly adhesive brand because you can rip the snakes eye lens off.

I use a rolling motion with the tape to remove. I have found that a lint removal brush(kind with the tape not the red cloth type) works very good because it has a very low amount of sticky glue. I have sivvessfully, many times have used this for removing stuck eye caps and shed areas. This is my method, I am not saying it will be best for you and your situation. You asked so I provided one solution.

Alan

Those are excellent reference photos you posted.
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This is courage.. to bear unflinching what heaven sends. -unknown

2.0 chocolate lab (Harley) and basset (Capone)
0.1 leopard gecko (Nacho)
1.0 Normal ball python (Arwen)
1.0 pastel ball python (Merlin)
0.1 Spider ball python (Rogue)
1.4 breeder rats

n/p
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Cheers!
• Chelsea Lynn Gardiner
(and Frank M. Wood)