Ball python is shedding and her old eye caps are still on.

Hey guys! I'm Mishay.
I have had my baby girl Hermosa for 8 months now! Ever since I got her she has had shedding problems, even the pet store (just reptiles) said that she had troubles.. actually all of her brothers and sisters did. Any ways 1st shed I had to help her shed everything, second shed she shed in pieces so I had to help her shed everything else, 3rd shed was the same as the second one, 4th shed she shed everything but her head, 5th shed she shed everything but her eye caps. So I can see her progress. But this is really serious.. I have tried everything to get her eye caps off even watching hours of youtube videos of ball python eye cap care and such... I have done everything I can except the tweezers (Which I will never do). I figured that since she has progressed a lot with her sheds I should just leave her alone and see if they come off for the next shed. Well now she is in full shed mode!

I have put a nice wet hand towel on top of her cage and the humidity is 60 percent, I make sure her water dish is full of fresh water everyday and I handle her for 5 minutes a day to make sure she is doing okay. I love my girl very much and I just finished giving her a 10 minute bath, I put bio oil on her eyes daily (mineral oil). So I was wondering if there is anything else I need to do? I am really hoping she gets off her eye caps because I don't want her to go blind, I would feel so guilty and would never forgive myself if that happened. Please let me know if I can do anything else. Thank you for reading.
-Mishay

P.S I don't know if I posted this in the right forum. But Either or I hope you guys can give me some tips :)

If you've only been having your humidity at 60% during her shed times then thats probably why she keeps giving incomplete sheds. I believe a ball python's default humidity is 50% so 60% isin't enough to shed properly.
If you could bump that up to 75 -80% she should shed completely, or get a tupperware box with a warm damp cloth and keep her in it for a few hours a day while shes in blue.Or maybe even add some sphangum moss to her enclosure.
The primary reason a snake has problems shedding is usually cause the proper humidity isn't being provided,which sounds like the pet store you purchased her from also had the same issue with improper humidity.

First off, dont mess with the eyes.
Worst case example:
-- http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...light=eye+caps

Previous advice is excellent, just do not soak durring shed phase, this breaks down the essential oils they produce (makes the blue color) and can cause a bad shed.

I agree with the above. Your normal humidity should be 60%ish. I keep mine 60% always and get to about 70% by moving the water bowl on heat tape during shed. Good luck!

Regards,

B

I have a female normal that came to me with stuck shed and retained eye caps. I just boosted her humidity when she had her next shed and the eye caps came off with no problems. I also use tubs though and when my snakes are in shed I use cypress mulch. This substrate really helps to keep humidity high.

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Originally Posted by Hermosa

I have put a nice wet hand towel on top of her cage and the humidity is 60 percent, I make sure her water dish is full of fresh water everyday and I handle her for 5 minutes a day to make sure she is doing okay. I love my girl very much and I just finished giving her a 10 minute bath, I put bio oil on her eyes daily (mineral oil). So I was wondering if there is anything else I need to do? I am really hoping she gets off her eye caps because I don't want her to go blind, I would feel so guilty and would never forgive myself if that happened. Please let me know if I can do anything else. Thank you for reading.
-Mishay

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STOP BATHING HER PRE-SHED. This is stripping off essential oils in her skin that allow her to shed properly. By soaking her before the shed is stuck, you are actually creating stuck shed. I'd personally stop the mineral oil on her eyes, also, since the soaking is a large part of your problem. Leave her cage humidity as-is, and add a humid hide for her (cut an entrance hole in a tupperware with the lid on and fill 2/3 with damp sphagnum moss).

Two things, first, stop bathing her. It is not necessary , it can actually do more harm than good pre shed. It strips them of oils needed to shed properly. Second, your humidity should be 70% during shed. As soon as you notice signs of a shed- pink belly, blue, bump humidity. I would probably not handle her once in a shed cycle to. Just in case that is stressing her out. Eye caps, I would wait and let her get them off with a proper shed. I have seen damage done to eyes, by people trying to remove eyecaps that may very well come off next shed. Just make sure her conditions are as they should be and she should he fine.

okay, well this is so weird cause I asked this question on yahoo, and people just told me to bathe her.. so I will stop bathing her.. thank you so much.. and I will leave her humidity between 50 and 60 :)

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Originally Posted by Hermosa

okay, well this is so weird cause I asked this question on yahoo, and people just told me to bathe her.. so I will stop bathing her.. thank you so much.. and I will leave her humidity between 50 and 60 :)

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Make sure to set up the humid hide, also. Oh, and people on yahoo vs. a BP forum... :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Make sure to set up the humid hide, also. Oh, and people on yahoo vs. a BP forum... :rolleyes:

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I know that is why I came here lol. I think I need to start being on here a lot more.. I just checked up on her and it looks like she may shed in a couple of days :)