# Ball Pythons > BP Husbandry > Advanced BP Husbandry >  Stubborn eye cap, please help!

## Reakt20

My super pastel had a bad shed just recently and needed some assistance getting the rest of his skin off. I just built a rack and had some humidity issues at first; unfortunately, my SP paid the price. All excess skin has come off except for one retaining eye cap. I have been trying all week to get it off and it wont come off. I've tried soaking him, rubbing it off with my thumb and with a towel, i put him in a pillow case with a damp rag in his tub, i tried the tape around the finger technique, I've even tried the tweezer technique as shown on snakebytes,since it's got a small hole torn in it that I can VERY CAREFULLY grab with tweezers, but when I pull, it feels like I'm gonna yank his eye out of socket. His humidity is back up to 70% right now. It almost looks as if there is multiple caps which completely amazes me because he's never had a shedding problem and I've never noticed any caps on his green eyes before. I can't take a picture because my camera sucks and I cant zoom in that far without the image going blurry. I want to get the cap off asap but I definitely don't want to damage his eye. why won't the cap pull off? what's making it hold on to the eye so firmly? anybody that can help?

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## JLC

Stop stop stop. 

None of that is necessary.  You run a VERY high risk of doing serious injury to the eye...whereas a single stuck eyecap poses virtually no serious risks.  Please stop messing with it.  Just let it be.  If it doesn't come off on its own, it's sure to come off with the next shed.  If it's even really there.  I don't know how often we've had people convinced their snake had a stuck eyecap, but when they post pictures, it's clear that there is no stuck cap there.  You might very well be tugging on a membrane that is supposed to be there.

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_Reakt20_ (11-07-2011)

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## Kinra

You can try using a little bit of mineral oil, use a Q-Tip to apply it to the eye and let it sit for a while (I think the advice I got was 8 hours) and then use a damp cloth to wipe it off.  If it doesn't come off, it's not the end of the world.  If he doesn't lose it the next time he sheds then you can start to worry.  You want to be very careful with the eyes because if you accidentally remove the layer that is supposed to be there bad things can happen.

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_Reakt20_ (11-07-2011)

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## Reakt20

> I don't know how often we've had people convinced their snake had a stuck eyecap, but when they post pictures, it's clear that there is no stuck cap there.  You might very well be tugging on a membrane that is supposed to be there.


This is what I'm worried about. However, when I ripped the flake of skin off the face, I witnessed that the eye cap did not come off. It was and still is very clouded. If I did in fact damage the membrane on the eye, would that cloud up as well? I can see his eye moving around underneath it. I'm going to try and get a camera to post an image. If it is the membrane of his eye, I want to get him to a vet right away.

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## Kinra

> This is what I'm worried about. However, when I ripped the flake of skin off the face, I witnessed that the eye cap did not come off. It was and still is very clouded. If I did in fact damage the membrane on the eye, would that cloud up as well? I can see his eye moving around underneath it. I'm going to try and get a camera to post an image. If it is the membrane of his eye, I want to get him to a vet right away.


If you do end up need to take him to the vet, I can recommend a great one.

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_Reakt20_ (11-07-2011)

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## Reakt20



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## Reakt20



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## JLC

Stuck eyecaps are usually clear...with a little ragged edge around the eye.  

I'm not seeing an eyecap in those pictures.  I'd recommend a visit to the vet. 

Keep in mind, we're not vets here, and do not claim to diagnose animals based on words or pictures.  We can only give our best guesses.

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_Reakt20_ (11-07-2011)

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## Reakt20

ok. i made an appointment with a local vet that has a solid reputation in the area for dealing with reptiles. he will be able to help me out. i hope everything will be ok with my SP!! im worried!

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## JLC

I hope so, too.  They're remarkably hardy and resilient creatures, so I'm pretty confident he'll be fine.  :Smile:

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_Reakt20_ (11-07-2011)

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## h00blah

there's a big dent in that eye. that suggests dehydration or low humidity... when my BP had a stuck eye cap, the only thing i tried was soaking, then letting him rub the towel... it didn't help me either. i didn't dare try to remove it myself in such a sensitive area, so i took him straight to the vet.. 

the vet said it took 3 soaks, then finally she manually removed it... and in the pic, the eye definitely still looks cloudy, so i'm fairly confident that it's an eye cap.. those things loooove our little BP eyes  :Mad: 

best of luck to you  :Please:  i hope he's okay  :Good Job:

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_Reakt20_ (11-08-2011)

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## Reakt20

> there's a big dent in that eye. that suggests dehydration or low humidity... when my BP had a stuck eye cap, the only thing i tried was soaking, then letting him rub the towel... it didn't help me either. i didn't dare try to remove it myself in such a sensitive area, so i took him straight to the vet.. 
> 
> the vet said it took 3 soaks, then finally she manually removed it... and in the pic, the eye definitely still looks cloudy, so i'm fairly confident that it's an eye cap.. those things loooove our little BP eyes 
> 
> best of luck to you  i hope he's okay


yes, his humidity was down for a minute. its back up and at 74% right now. he seems fine other than the way his eye is. i chose not to feed him last night because if his eye is damaged, i don't want it to get infected. we'll see what the vet says on thursday and I'll keep everybody posted.

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## evan385

Looks like a stuck eye cap to me.

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## h00blah

how bout an update?  :Please:

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## Reakt20

he's going to the vet today. His eye isn't dented anymore and he's been soaked a couple times since. I'll let you know how it goes tonight!

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