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Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

Eye Problem?

colorfulcollecti Oct 18, 2011 09:24 PM

Im posting for a friend in Cali...Is this a retained eye cap, or damage of some sort..Whay do you think?

Replies (3)

amcroyals Oct 18, 2011 10:15 PM

>>Im posting for a friend in Cali...Is this a retained eye cap, or damage of some sort..Whay do you think?
>>
>>

The image is a little blurry. If it's a retained eyecap you can hold a moistened cloth on the eye for 15 minutes to soften it. Then Gently rub from nose to back of head and see if it will come off.

Sometimes it will come off the next time he sheds, granted, it has proper humidity.

A trip to a reptile vet is never a bad idea in any case.
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Best regards,
AlanColesReptiles

viper99 Oct 21, 2011 03:43 PM

It looks like a retained eye cap to me. I have these from time to time and have NEVER attempted to remove one, I just dont like to mess with the eyes over a harmless issue if I can solve the problem less invasively. I have had this happen around a dozen times. Depending on amount of retained shed I will either let it come off with the next shed, or I will put water up to the depth of 1/2 the diameter of the snake into a bin on my rack and after it reaches the rack temperature I will let the snake soak for an hour or so, after that the retained shed will almost fall off the snake. If I choose not to soak the snake I try and add extra moisture to the snakes bin the next time it goes into shed, this helps to guarantee a good shed and in my case has always remedied the retained eyecap. Once I rescued an adult ball python that must have had over 8 layers of retained shed on both eyes, I just left it alone and kept her very moist for the next shed and she shed perfect, eyecaps and all.
If the snake is a pet and causes distress to see this, it would be fine to remove, but really be sure to soak the snake good in warm water so as to have the eyecap really ready to be removed and not endanger the eye by needing to pry off the cap.
Good Luck with this,

Mark Martinek

colorfulcollecti Oct 21, 2011 05:00 PM

Thanks I will fill her in on all your suggestions!

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