Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yesterday, I went over to a guy's house, supposedly to view a "breeding pair" of ball pythons he had for sale. What I saw there was anything but that. He had three BPs together in a 55g long tank, with no hidedspots and only one heatpad. Needless to say, all 3 snakes were coiled together above the heat.
I didn't begin to go into husbandry issues with him; I know how people are, and I did not want to "set him off" and lose my chance to get these snakes out of there. So I am going back today to pick them up.
Anyhow, when I was examining the big "female," I was shocked to see her one eye; it is completely dented in, pretty much concave, and it appears that there's a retained eyecap. Her other eye looks perfect though. Is this enough info to rule out dehydration as the cause of the eye's dimpliness? The tank had your standard screen lid, and I would bet the humidity was lower than it'd be in the driest desert.
Is there any hope of saving that eye, or is it going to be a losing battle?
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2.1 Ball pythons
1.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator
0.1 albino Cranwell's horned frog
1.0 bearded dragon
1.0 Tiger salamander
1.1 breeding Clawed frogs
1.0 black kittycat
3.1 Oscar cichlids
0.1 Paint horse mare

Sure, she will probably be fine. Just get her set up with alot of humidity and keep her that way through the next shed. The eye may un-dimple some, but you probably will not see a full recovery until she sheds again. I'd keep her enclosure fairly wet during that shed. Also, I have had some luck loosening up eyecaps by a daily application of a dab of vaseline up until the animal sheds. You probably know this but don't try to remove the eyecap until she sheds (although with the moisture and vaseline it may loosen on it's own).

Good luck, Christy

Thanks for the fast reply.
I guess that the only good thing that came out of their dry living conditions, is that none of them have any belly rot. I see many peoiple who rescue BPs, and that seems like something worse to deal with. No signs of RI either. I just can't wait to get them home and saturate them with humidity though.

One more question. They have been kept on pine shavings. I was wondering if this could have any longterm negative effects. I use cypress for my snakes, but I will be using newspaper for these guys so I can monitor for mites/ticks.
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2.1 Ball pythons
1.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator
0.1 albino Cranwell's horned frog
1.0 bearded dragon
1.0 Tiger salamander
1.1 breeding Clawed frogs
1.0 black kittycat
3.1 Oscar cichlids
0.1 Paint horse mare