Weird eyes on a lemon blast

Indeed, I had originally though she just had bug eyes. But when combined with her other odd behaviors, it's making me think it is something more. I suppose there's nothing to do but wait and see at this point. Thank you for your input, peeps.

What's up guys and gals?

So I took my lemon blast in to get looked at by a veterinarian. She has no retained eye caps or visible scarring in her eyes. However, her eyes are not normally shaped. All of her other symptoms, lack of coordination, lack of feeding response, general odd behavior, the vet chalked up to her odd eyes. Pupils respond normally to light, her mouth looked good, no surface parasites.

The vet surmised she had congenitally deformed eyes, aka bug eyes. He did recommend an eye specialist to double check and a fecal test for internal parasites, just to be sure.

The only eye specialist in my area primarily sees dogs and has very little experience with reptiles and charges rather premium rates. Knowing that, do you guys think it's worth it to pursue seeing an eye specialist? As far as I know there's nothing to be done for bug eyes.

Beautiful eyes. While protruding a little, if she eats breeds poops and is relatively happy why mess with it. No point on messing with her for a strictly cosmetic issue.

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Not sure I would breed her - aren't bug eyes genetic? IIRC they crop up in certain morphs.

Personally I wouldn't bother with the specialist. I'll assume she eats f/t so you just put the feeder's head right in front of hers, and she starts to eat. I have a male like that, but with him it's not an eye issue - he's just lazy.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Not sure I would breed her - aren't bug eyes genetic? IIRC they crop up in certain morphs.

Personally I wouldn't bother with the specialist. I'll assume she eats f/t so you just put the feeder's head right in front of hers, and she starts to eat. I have a male like that, but with him it's not an eye issue - he's just lazy.

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Only one way to find out if its genetic! Also as long as the eyes don't effect the animal from a happy healthy life, I think they happen to give the snake a cool look and a bit of character :)


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She doesn't eat of her own volition, no. She gets hungry and hunts around for her food while it sits in front of her face. I've had to assist feed her since I purchased her at NARBC Anaheim last year. That is, put the head of a prey item in her mouth and she takes over from there, eating like a normal ball python.

Other than that and her odd behaviors that stem from not being able to see perfectly (bumping into things and reversing), she's a gem of a snake. Awesome personality, super inquisitive and non-aggressive.

I do still fully intend to breed her, bug eyes aren't well known in either pastels or pins as far as I know. I'm not too worried on that front. My only real worry was that something was seriously wrong with her.

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Originally Posted by anneplath

She doesn't eat of her own volition, no. She gets hungry and hunts around for her food while it sits in front of her face. I've had to assist feed her since I purchased her at NARBC Anaheim last year. That is, put the head of a prey item in her mouth and she takes over from there, eating like a normal ball python.

Other than that and her odd behaviors that stem from not being able to see perfectly (bumping into things and reversing), she's a gem of a snake. Awesome personality, super inquisitive and non-aggressive.

I do still fully intend to breed her, bug eyes aren't well known in either pastels or pins as far as I know. I'm not too worried on that front. My only real worry was that something was seriously wrong with her.

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Sorry that's rough :(
Sounds like something neurological.


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I did bring up the possibility of it being a neurological problem with the vet, especially with her traveling in reverse. He observed her movement and said it did not look typical of a neurological issue. She moves forward easily and navigates pretty well, especially if the surface is warmer or colder than the ambient air. She just bumps into room temperature surfaces and changes direction accordingly.

Being that the veterinarian was confident it was bug eyes and she doesn't have symptoms of anything else, I'm agreeing with his diagnosis.

She's a beautiful snake. I wonder how warm the f/t prey is when you feed? Sounds like you're taking good care of her and she's lucky to have you. As long as she's otherwise happy and healthy, no worries!


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Lots of pastels get bulgy eyes, it's pretty normal. They do look like retained eye caps. Raise the humidity for the next shed.