One Eye Cap

[Lucryth]

How should I remove it? The other eye cap is not there, just the one on the left eye.
Should I leave it?
Not too sure what to do here.
The rest of the shed was great, but a bit of the head and one eye cap.

[python.princess]

i'd just leave it. it should come off with the next shed as long as you have the humidity up to par!

[beachvibesbyeff]

How should I remove it? The other eye cap is not there, just the one on the left eye.
Should I leave it?
Not too sure what to do here.
The rest of the shed was great, but a bit of the head and one eye cap.

Personally, what doesn't come off in shed, I remove. Don't let people tell you not to; all you have to do is bathe the snake first, and peel gently, and make certain the snake is always at least moderately damp...so just keep patting the snake with a wet cloth or something where ever it is that you're peeling. For the eye caps, be gentle, and don't immediately go for them...work your hand up from another area so your snake is used to it and ready, that's what I do.

[hoo-t]

... Don't let people tell you not to; ...

Why not? Personally, I'd much rather see someone leave it on than have an inexperienced person permanently blind their snake trying to remove it.

One must be 100% certain that there is a retained eyecap before attempting to remove it. And the snake is not likely to cooperate. I've heard some real horror stories about snakes that no longer have eyes because someone tried to remove retained eyecaps when there were none to remove. Provided there is proper humidity during the next shed, the snake will shed the retained cap on its own. That's the safest way to remove them!

That being said, what I generally do is let the snake hide its head in a wet bath towel in my lap for 30 minutes to an hour, then VERY GENTLY rub the eyecap off with a wet q-tip. PLEASE do NOT let anyone convince you to use tape!!!!!

Steve

[beachvibesbyeff]

Why not? Personally, I'd much rather see someone leave it on than have an inexperienced person permanently blind their snake trying to remove it.

One must be 100% certain that there is a retained eyecap before attempting to remove it. And the snake is not likely to cooperate. I've heard some real horror stories about snakes that no longer have eyes because someone tried to remove retained eyecaps when there were none to remove. Provided there is proper humidity during the next shed, the snake will shed the retained cap on its own. That's the safest way to remove them!

That being said, what I generally do is let the snake hide its head in a wet bath towel in my lap for 30 minutes to an hour, then VERY GENTLY rub the eyecap off with a wet q-tip. PLEASE do NOT let anyone convince you to use tape!!!!!

Steve

You sound a bit extreme. My snake has always cooperated, sometimes she would jerk her head, but that's her instinct...she know's I'm trying to help her out. And I don't know who would confuse a retained eye cap for something else? The eye is either black (normal) or has a layer of skin over it - not rocket science. And I would peel the eye cap off with my hands, I just make sure the area is damp...and to do that, I let her swim around in the shower for about 5 minutes, then take her out, that is all.

[JLC]

You sound a bit extreme. My snake has always cooperated, sometimes she would jerk her head, but that's her instinct...she know's I'm trying to help her out. And I don't know who would confuse a retained eye cap for something else? The eye is either black (normal) or has a layer of skin over it - not rocket science. And I would peel the eye cap off with my hands, I just make sure the area is damp...and to do that, I let her swim around in the shower for about 5 minutes, then take her out, that is all.

How is it that Steve is being "extreme"??? He neither says "you must NEVER try to remove an eyecap" nor "you must ALWAYS remove an eyecap." He just explains the very real risks involved, then goes about explaining a way it can be attempted with the least amount of risk to the animal's eye.

I'm very glad that you are so skilled at recognizing a retained eyecap...and that your snake is so cooperative and understanding...but YOU must understand that this is not the case with many folks who come here looking for help in these matters. I've seen many, many cases of folks believing their snake had a retained eyecap, when it was merely a bit wrinkled due to lack of proper hydration or whatever. We get folks here who don't even know why their snake's eyes have suddenly clouded over and fear they are going blind. It may not be "rocket science" to you....but it IS important to remember that not everyone knows what you know. That's why we're here.

A single retained eyecap poses NO risk to the snake and will likely be rubbed off by the snake itself in a few days anyhow...and certainly very likely to simply come off with the next shed if not before then. Whereas, there IS a significant risk of serious injury to the snake's eye when someone who is not used to the process and unsure of what they are seeing or doing tries to pull off what may or may not be a retained cap. That's not "extreme"....that's just reality.

[beachvibesbyeff]

How is it that Steve is being "extreme"??? He neither says "you must NEVER try to remove an eyecap" nor "you must ALWAYS remove an eyecap." He just explains the very real risks involved, then goes about explaining a way it can be attempted with the least amount of risk to the animal's eye.

I'm very glad that you are so skilled at recognizing a retained eyecap...and that your snake is so cooperative and understanding...but YOU must understand that this is not the case with many folks who come here looking for help in these matters. I've seen many, many cases of folks believing their snake had a retained eyecap, when it was merely a bit wrinkled due to lack of proper hydration or whatever. We get folks here who don't even know why their snake's eyes have suddenly clouded over and fear they are going blind. It may not be "rocket science" to you....but it IS important to remember that not everyone knows what you know. That's why we're here.

A single retained eyecap poses NO risk to the snake and will likely be rubbed off by the snake itself in a few days anyhow...and certainly very likely to simply come off with the next shed if not before then. Whereas, there IS a significant risk of serious injury to the snake's eye when someone who is not used to the process and unsure of what they are seeing or doing tries to pull off what may or may not be a retained cap. That's not "extreme"....that's just reality.

I found it a bit extreme precisely in his third paragraph. (ie. 30 minutes - 1 hour, VERY GENTLY, etc.) I'm not criticizing or arguing against his comments, but for someone who has never helped their snake shed before, it gives a daunting first impression.

This was the case with myself, before I had ever helped my snake shed some extra skin. I kept reading post after post about how you can accidentally peel off flesh, and cause bleeding, etc. and I was not even going to budge. But there wasn't really a sharp or rough enough object in my snakes cage, I'm assuming, so after about a week after her initial shedding process, I decided to give it a go. It took all but roughly 10 minutes, and it went as smoothly as it could have, and it even helped me get over the tiny bit of fear I had for going around/near the snakes head, as I had to peel skin off of it, and she stood still allowing me to do what was needed.

All I'm saying is that, on this forum, helping shed your snake's skin, is given an over-the-top notion, and for people who have never done it before, may feel very overwhelmed by what's been stated previously. I want to tell people out there, who haven't yet, that peeling off your snake's extra skin is not that hard, and given a few easy steps, can be achieved perfectly. Make sure the snake is damp/moist (I recommend soaking the snake in a warm shallow bath for 10-20 minutes), have a source of water handy (to keep the snake moist for each attempt you peel), and go slow and steady.

A retained eye cap DOES pose a risk to the snake. Retained eye caps can be very dangerous for a snake, especially because they can harbor dangerous bacteria as well as make it difficult for the snake to see. To take it a step further, even though it's only one eye cap, the snake may not be able to capture their meal, and if it's live prey, that's not a good problem to have. Also, I'd imagine it's very stressful and an annoyance to be harbored with a retained eye cap.

[JLC]

A retained eye cap DOES pose a risk to the snake. Retained eye caps can be very dangerous for a snake, especially because they can harbor dangerous bacteria as well as make it difficult for the snake to see. To take it a step further, even though it's only one eye cap, the snake may not be able to capture their meal, and if it's live prey, that's not a good problem to have. Also, I'd imagine it's very stressful and an annoyance to be harbored with a retained eye cap.

That's just flat out wrong information. And talk about inciting unnecessary stress in someone who doesn't know any better. Show me a single case where a single retained eyecap caused ANY issues to a snake that is otherwise properly cared for....and I'll show you keepers who have kept thousands of snakes and recommend that anyone not 100% confident in their ability to remove an eyecap should just leave it alone because it'll be fine.

And we go to a great deal of trouble here to HELP people who need help. Granted, sometimes it seems like tons of information comes flying really fast...but that's simply the nature of a busy Internet Forum. And what we do is provide the broadest set of parameters for a person to work with. There's nothing wrong with suggesting that someone soak their snake for 30-60 minutes in order to help with a difficult shed. SOMEtimes 10 minutes isn't enough. I'm glad that's worked for YOU...but again...you have to realize that there is SO much more going on out there than you and your one snake. Whole sets of variables that you have no idea about.

And honestly....I read just about every thread that comes up on this site...and I've never once heard anyone screaming to newbies about how they're going to peel the skin off their snake if they assist with a poor shed.

[snakey68]

it's quite a common occurence to see retained eyecaps which is usually down to environmental issues like too dry in the tank / enclosure. Whenever your snake sheds its always a good idea to check the shed to see if both eyes have shed properly this way you can visually confirm whether it has succeeded or not.

I dont like to see people physically try and remove eye caps unless they are very experienced and know what they are doing, which is one of the reasons why any snake keeper should ensure they have appropriate help at hand such as a reptile specialist or vet etc ( even a local breeder) for such problems that may or may not unfold.

Sometimes it may look like they have an eye cap when they infact do not so someone prodding and poking the eye trying to remove something that is not there can cause lasting damage to a snake that simply needs correction in their environment.

I recently got a ball from a workmate who got it for his 12 year old son but they/he decided it was a problem feeder and they were struggling to keep it healthy.

This snake was living in poor conditions ( due to ignorance ) and was a problem feeder due to this on top of that it had about 4 sheds worth of retained eyecaps, I removed these myself under the correct conditions very carefully got him settled ina new enclosure with hides and proper temps and humidity and he is doing great now and eats like a trooper. This is an example of a snake that needed intervention even a good shed did not remove the retained eyecaps otherwise I would not have touched the eye.

I decided to keep him and gave the boy one of my young males I bred a year ago and set up his tank and made sure they knew what they were doing (this was about 2 month ago ) and the wee lad has got his confidence back and thrilled with his new snake.

I am using this example of the many keepers out there that are ignorant to recognising problems or dealing with them, to simply tell anyone having problems with eye caps etc to just remove it etc is not often of benefit to the snake in question.

Always check environment after the 1st bad shed you get as this will most likely be the cause and correcting this will in all likelyhood sort the problem out in the next shed with no need to go poking around the snakes eyes.

Your going to make your own life easier as well as the snakes if you can make the effort to get this right and monitor it.

If you dont know what your doing ( removing eye caps is a delicate thing) its not worth just attempting, take it to the vet if all else fails (2nd shed etc ) or get a breeder / experienced keeper to show you safely.

Laslty no keeper should feel embarressed asking for advice nor should they do something they dont feel comfortable doing, both of which I have seen lead to a snake getting misstreated and in some cases damaged due to botched jobs from people attempting something they are not experienced in doing. You should not need to interfer with the natural process of shedding other than boosting the humidity to assist either before or after imo.

Good regular sheds are a good indicator of healthy set up (Temps and humidity) and a healthy snake that is eating and growing, when this ceases then 9/10 its the set up that has a problem , husbandry is the key to success.

damm I went on a bit sorry people .......so in short then, let it shed again or put the snake in question into a humid box with a wet towel or cloth the eye cap may just come off, otherwise the 2nd shed ( if proper temps and humidty ) should come off by itself with no need of prodding a delicate eye.

[hoo-t]

Snakey68 -

Great post!

(I gave your rep a little bump)

Steve