Mineral Oil on Retained eyecaps

so I took Roxanne to the vet yesterday in response to you(the forums) replies to how she was behaving...sure enough she has mouth rot :( according to the vet she had it before the breeder sold her to me,and was not showing symptoms,and under the stress of a new environment broke out full blown...the vet gave me antibiotics and that problem is solved for the moment...

but here's my question, according to the vet she's getting ready to shed (I noticed the dull skin color and how her eyes were becoming greyish,but her belly didnt seem pink)...but he was worried her eye caps were becoming retained, so he told me to apply mineral oil until they came off...

well in the confusion of taking care of my poor snake i forgot to ask the man HOW i'm to apply the oil...

so I'm asking you(the forum) what would be the best applicator...my bet is on a Q-tip...but i'd rather be safe than sorry and google seemed of no help on searching "mineral oil use for retained caps"

thank you all again,

Tiny

Q-tip will work fine, obviously be careful not to injure the eye, maybe soak for a little while first. As far as mouth rot goes, the vet will guide you through it and should get under control quickly.

Well..I am still pretty new to the world of bp ownership. That being said, the book I have says that your best bet is to use a Q tip.

If the snake is in blue, don't start messing with the eyes just yet. Raise your humidity and hope for a completely shed, with eyecaps included.

There is no way to tell until after the shed is completely if the eye caps are going to be retained or not.. In my opinion, that vet doesn't seem to know very much. The eyes get cloudy when they are shedding and they kind of look like retained eye caps, but if your humidity is right they should come off with the whole shed.

I would NOT use mineral oil on the snakes eyes. If I remember correctly, the oil will cause the top part of the scales to start flaking off and it will make a mess.

If she is close to another shed I would let her be and see if that does the trick with the next shed.

a few layers of retained caps wont do your snake any harm. Raise the humidity and they will come off with the next shed. With the treatment for the mouth rot, i would not put her under added stress by trying to remove eyecaps.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

If the snake is in blue, don't start messing with the eyes just yet. Raise your humidity and hope for a completely shed, with eyecaps included.

There is no way to tell until after the shed is completely if the eye caps are going to be retained or not.. In my opinion, that vet doesn't seem to know very much. The eyes get cloudy when they are shedding and they kind of look like retained eye caps, but if your humidity is right they should come off with the whole shed.

I would NOT use mineral oil on the snakes eyes. If I remember correctly, the oil will cause the top part of the scales to start flaking off and it will make a mess.

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

If she is close to another shed I would let her be and see if that does the trick with the next shed.

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Originally Posted by cinderbird

a few layers of retained caps wont do your snake any harm. Raise the humidity and they will come off with the next shed. With the treatment for the mouth rot, i would not put her under added stress by trying to remove eyecaps.

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I agree, leave her alone until she sheds. If after that she still has retained caps then I would use fragrance free skin moisturizer. I have used it with lots of sucess.

If you were interested in getting retained caps off, what would you do for a snake that is very head shy?

All ball pythons are head shy, you have to grab them firmly by the head, without harming them of course, and apply lotion to eyes. Just like you would do if you had to inspect their mouth or give them oral or injection medications. Might take some getting used to.

any time i get a snake with a bad shed if the eye caps are retained i raise the humidity and they come right off with his next shed. :gj: