eye caps

hi guys!

i have read a few times that leaving an eye cap can cause blindness or infection, but i always thought that you should just leave it alone and it should come off in the next shed. my ball python has never had retained eye caps but i though i would ask anyway incase he ever does, so which one is correct?

thanks!

We had a rescue with 5 retained caps on one of her eyes. We soaked her (she also had encircling stuck shed that had to come off) and let her slither face first through a warm wet facecloth in our hands. That got 3 of the caps off. We weren't sure what to do as we were worried about the eye but after speaking with Adam Wysocki we learned that most of the removal "tricks" we'd read online were just plain dangerous. In other words we'd likely end up doing more damage to her eye than leaving the caps in place until her next shed. We worked hard on her husbandry and sure enough with the next shed 1 more cap came off, the next shed the last old cap came off and underneath all that mess....a perfectly healthy beautiful bright BP eyeball. Adam's advice was bang on.

If at any point though we'd seen anything near that mess of an eye that concerned us, we'd have taken her straight off to the vet. In this particular case though it was just smart to manage her husbandry well and be patient as nature fixed the problem with subsequent good sheds.

I totally agree with Jo. You run a much higher risk of damaging the eye by trying to remove a stuck eyecap than by just leaving it alone. Only in the most neglectful of cases (I would imagine) would eyecaps pose a danger to the snake's sight...and in that case, it needs to be treated by a vet...not by scotch tape or any of the other methods.


My gophersnake was prone to stuck eyecaps when he was a baby, and each time, he'd rub them off himself within a few days of shedding. Doesn't seem to happen now that he's grown...and my bp has never had them, so I haven't had to fret about them in awhile...but I know without a doubt, if it happens again, I'll just leave them alone and allow time to fix the issue.

The local reptile rescue here has a 06 Male that is blind because someone tried to remove eyecaps ..... I would certanny think the best bet is to leave them alone and watch the humidity especially when the next shed comes along.

Our vet said you can use ocular ointment, but I have always thought itbetter to stay away from anything petroleum based.

Neil

thanks for the replies;)

Erm the first time my snake shed, the eye caps stayed on. I had read somewhere you can remove it with water and a cotton ball, but must be very careful. I did so and got it off real easily, and my snake is fine. I was extremely careful though :)