Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I soaked the snake and came back a few hours later and tried to scotch tape. It stuck to his eye and was pulling his eye so I stopped doing it, i got nothing to come off. I tried spraying him as well and putting him in a bag. Its funny because the rest of his shed was perfect, just the part around his eye ball is crazy stuck to him. any more options?

I tried this again tonight and I am not sure what the deal is. The tape sticks good and it won't budge the skin, I am not even sure how they don't shed the eye sockets when everything else was perfect. Theres no peice of shed I can get ahold of to peel or anything. The tap just moves the eye ball around and the snake gets pissed after 4 or 5 tries and I stop. Will this get worse if I don't fix it or should I hold off till the next shed and see?

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Tim,

Try spraying his head down 3 times in a 5 minute period then place him in a wet pillow case. Leave him in his cage inside the bag for about 5 minutes.

There is another techique that involves using a pair of tweezers, but should only be done by someone that has successfully done it before.

Good luck

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Brian Gundy

www.for-goodness-snakes.com

I have did the pillow case soak twice now. Never seen this in my life, heh.

The easiest way to remove a retained eye cap is to soak the snake in luke warm water for about 20 minutes, then slowly and gently rub the eye cap from one end of the eye to the other with a Q-tip you dipped in the same water. After a few tries the cap should lift. If it doesn't don't worry, a single retained cap on the eye will not harm the snake. Just remember to mist the tank down daily the next time the snake is shedding and it should come off the next time it sheds.
Although I've had success with this technique in the past, I just went through the same thing with one of my snakes and it came off today actually when it shed.

Also remember that a daily misting of the tank is much better than a periodic soak for promoting good shedding.

I am fostering a female who came to me with multiple stuck eye caps. The method that worked best for me, and she was an extreme case, was to use a Q-tip to dab mineral oil on the stuck caps right after they cleared before shedding. For instance, I would see she has gone "gray" or cloudy. I would check her daily until she had cleared right before she would actually shed. For those 2-3 days I would wipe a Q-tip with mineral oil over the eyes, just enough to make them look shiny. This does not hurt their eyes. After 2 sheds she was clear.

So, if you are concerned about your snake retaining these eye caps or getting new ones, give this a try and modify your husbandry as others have posted.
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 Whitesided P. catenifer sayi, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

If I were you I would just leave it for time being, as stated one eye cap will not harm the animal and if it would not come off with multiple soaks and poking, prodding, or taping, I would just leave it. Sheading is a stressful process a snake to go through as is and having some one jab at its eye is just adding to it. If it really bothers you keep trying to soak, mist, but just keep in mind in everything you do in this matter precede with great care because lets face it, it is it's eye.

that is just my two cents for the day, take it or leave it.

Matt