Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I purchased a 10 foot lab female, she's slightley under weight, and has eye caps stuck on. Her humidity is at about 70%. I've been making sure of it, I was hoping they would come off on their own.

Can somebody with expierence (not just someone that heard what to do) please give me some suggestions.

Thank you.

Take a towel or wash cloth (a clean one of course) get it wet, ring it out so its just moist/damp and then rub it back over her eyes and they should come off if they are loose enough.
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1.1 Albino Burmese
1.0 Veild Chameleon
Waiting for more reptiles of any kind

I've taken off MANY eyecaps over the years. Here's what I would recommend:

1) First, try HEAVILY misting the cage with warm water and let it sit for a day or two. Keep misting and keep the ambient humidity levels high (even if the caps don't come off during this period, you are helping to loosten them a bit)

2) cover the top third of the snake (including head) with a dampened towel and gently massage the head area. The snake won't be able to see you and shouldn't get too wigged out. I would HIGHLY recommend having at least one other person on hand; one can give gentle pressure on the body to keep it somewhat in place. After rubbing the eyes check to see if they have either come off, or, started to peel off around the edges. If it still doesn't come off, try this:

3) Now that the eye caps are relatively hydrated (moist), you will have to resort to slightly more drastic measures that will most likely require at least three people: two to restrain the snake and one to remove the caps. Have one person CAREFULLY restrain the snake just behind the head (be GENTLE) and the other person can try to hold the remaining body making sure the weight is distributed evenly (I would recommend keeping the snake on a table so you can more easily restrain the snake). Then, with a pair of decent blunt style tweezers, try to get a hold of an edge of the eyecap. Begin to gently peel off the stuck cap; most of the time, it slides right off. If you get resistence, moisten a q-tip and apply gentle pressure to the eye cap; this will help loosten it a bit. Keep working at seeing if it will come off. If you get resistance, stop immediately and see veterinary council.

Hope this helps. Rob Carmichael, Curator of the Wildlife Discovery Center, Lake Forest, IL

>>I purchased a 10 foot lab female, she's slightley under weight, and has eye caps stuck on. Her humidity is at about 70%. I've been making sure of it, I was hoping they would come off on their own.
>>
>>Can somebody with expierence (not just someone that heard what to do) please give me some suggestions.
>>
>>Thank you.
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Thank your for the info. Sounds good. I'm going to try it in exact order you said. I hope it doesn't get down to the last one, I only have one other friend into snakes that will help me hold down a mad 10 foot burm, lol.

I'll post if they come off, or if I have to go to the vet. I plan on taking her to the vet anyways. I was going to feed her a few times and try to get the caps off before I took her.

Wish me (mainly her) luck....