Eye cap question

I have a question about my ball pythons eye caps. I got my current ball just over a week ago. She was in the middle of a shed when I got her, and has since gotten all the skin off except for her eye caps and on her head. This is only my second snake I have ever owned and I had trouble with my last one shedding his eye caps. I also have heard of what can happen if they do not shed them. My first question is: How long shpuld it be before I start to worry about infection or other damage to the eye? And my second question is: What are some things I can do to help my snake shed them?

The easiest way for me is to let them soak, then put a latex glove using your thumb wipe it over the eye gently, mine usually rub against my thumb & it comes right off. It's not multiple layered caps is it?

Humidity is the only reason they dont shed good. Bump humidity when they go in blue (eyes cloud) and keep it high until they shed. As for stuck caps, I personally dont mess with them. Infection is so rare that I have nver heard of a case of it personally. You can soak if you want to but I dont. A member on here had a vet try to remove the stuck caps and that vet removed the main cap under it. The snake lost that eye. Messing with caps is dangerous. I always tell people to leave them alone. When a snake goes into blue if you apply a tiny dab of ointment on each eye once a day, they will come off perfectly when they shed. This can be Bacitracin, Neosporin, A&D. Never pick at the eye or rub using any real force. You can also use a wet hand towel after the soak. Let the snake crawl through the towel to rub skin and/or caps off.

Just be careful. IMO they should not be messed with.

One shed shouldn't be a problem. Get the husbandry correct and the next shed should take care of these caps.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

I had success with removing retained eye caps on one of my ball pythons by placing him in a wet pillow case, securing the end, and allowing him to slither around inside for a couple of hours, which moistened the tissue and allowed the snake to remove the retained caps himself.

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Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

Humidity is the only reason they dont shed good. Bump humidity when they go in blue (eyes cloud) and keep it high until they shed. As for stuck caps, I personally dont mess with them. Infection is so rare that I have nver heard of a case of it personally. You can soak if you want to but I dont. A member on here had a vet try to remove the stuck caps and that vet removed the main cap under it. The snake lost that eye. Messing with caps is dangerous. I always tell people to leave them alone. When a snake goes into blue if you apply a tiny dab of ointment on each eye once a day, they will come off perfectly when they shed. This can be Bacitracin, Neosporin, A&D. Never pick at the eye or rub using any real force. You can also use a wet hand towel after the soak. Let the snake crawl through the towel to rub skin and/or caps off.

Just be careful. IMO they should not be messed with.

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This is excellent advice. Don't fret about one layer of stuck eye cap. Correct the husbandry issues, keep the moisture levels up, especially the next time it goes into blue and the issue should correct itself.

Messing with a stuck eyecap when its only one layer just isn't worth it, you can do a lot more harm than good.

I took your advice and put her in a wet pillowcase for about an hour. It worked perfectly. Thanks for the advice.

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Originally Posted by danman81

I took your advice and put her in a wet pillowcase for about an hour. It worked perfectly. Thanks for the advice.

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No problem! I'm glad it worked for you. :)