Shed on eyes

Our BP has shed that wont come off his eyes. We have soaked him several times but it just wont come off. What should we try to get it off, he is half blind from it, he misses when he tried to strike his food! Thanks for your help in advance!

Hi,

I would try the damp pillowcase method - sometimes the movement against the fabric when they try and escape the bag can help.

How long is it since he had the bad shed? Do you have any good pictures we could see?

Also what type of prey are you feeding him? Live of frozen/ thawed is what I am after rather than species. :)


dr del

is he eating still? like on the regular schedule? if so, u can either wait for the next shed (with better humidity)

OR

get a pillow case warm and damp and put the bp in there and just let him slither in there for a little bit to see if he manages to rub it off himself.
another technique is to gently use a cotton swap, damped in warm water, and try to rub it off (applying no pressure) - my vet showed me how to do this when my bp had retained eye caps, and woudnt eat bc of it.

EDIT: dang, my power went out so del got to the pillowcase idea b4 me ><!

Another trick is to take a damp towel and let him crawl through it while your holding him. Make sure to cover his head and let him crawl out a few times.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

I would try the damp pillowcase method - sometimes the movement against the fabric when they try and escape the bag can help.

How long is it since he had the bad shed? Do you have any good pictures we could see?

Also what type of prey are you feeding him? Live of frozen/ thawed is what I am after rather than species. :)


dr del

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wet pillowcases..i heard that at the show 1. when they get wet the fabric extends and gaps will fill with water, they can get suffocated, ive heard that, but who knows.

and anyway, ive heard a small amount of masking tap (the white or blue kind that doesnt leave residue) softly tapped against the eye can pop them off, someone did it for me once with my spider

Hi,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Thebeastwithinyou

wet pillowcases..i heard that at the show 1. when they get wet the fabric extends and gaps will fill with water, they can get suffocated, ive heard that, but who knows.

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For that to happen you would need to be using really high thread count pillowcases. :)

You can test it your self easily before putting the snake in by gathering some air inside it and then squeezing it. Since it gets less of a problem as the water evaporates if you can pass air through it easily at its wetest (is that a word? :weirdface ) then there is no danger to the snake.

While I remember to mention it turn the pillowcase inside out before doing this so the seams are on the outside. :gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Thebeastwithinyou

and anyway, ive heard a small amount of masking tap (the white or blue kind that doesnt leave residue) softly tapped against the eye can pop them off, someone did it for me once with my spider

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That can work as well but it carries slightly more risks when done by people who have never had to do it before - they might not think to soak the snake first to soften the eyecaps and reduce the chances of them sticking to the new eyecaps beneath.

They may also be wrong about there being a retained eyecap in the first place and seriously damage the animals eye.

Generally I prefer advising people to choose a method with the least possible risk at any knowledge level - I would hate someone to hurt their snake because I told them to do something and forgot to explain some vital step I take for granted. :oops:

Simply leaving it till the next shed while keeping an eye on it has the least risk followed by the pillowcase method then gentle rolling with a damp q-tip so I always advise trying those before the more risky approaches.


dr del

Well everybody all ready got the ideas of how to take the retained shed out...but for it not to happen again I will recommend you to put your bp in a small container with room temperature water...(do this when your snake is in the later stages of shedding like when the eyes clear up) leave it there for 15-25 minutes & take it out & put it back in its enclosure it will start to shed soon as you put it in...& I've been trying this method for along time now & I've never had the retained eye shed problem ever...